#Havent gotten a lot of experience with the light board but Im getting better!

[duck-woamn]

My first theatre show has happened today. I actually think we did pretty good! Especially for a show with 3 different grades and different acting levels!

[pigstepmp3-moved]

holy hell, gamers, i finally reached one whole thousand followers! how bonkers is that! when i first made this blog in december 2018, i was just trying to start over in a new fandom. ive been active on tumblr for a looong time (since i was like 11, which is. not great, but we wont get into that). i cant remember quite why i decided to remake, but i never imagined getting a higher following than i did before, but i did! 1000 followers is bonkers, i’ve never had a thousand of anything! i seriously cant thank each and every one of you enough, whether you followed me for 911 or for mcyt or for whatever!

now, since ive reached this absolutely bonkers milestone, im feeling particularly sappy! so under the cut, i have some friends and mutuals tagged who are super great n who are always an absolute pleasure to see on my dash! <3 again, thank you all so much! (ps, if we’re mutuals and i didnt tag u in this, that doesnt mean i dont love and appreciate you!! i mostly am just picking people to tag based off how often i see them on my dash! i love all of u so much <3)

♡ 911 FRIENDS ♡

(aka the ogs, aka the fire fam)

♡ @lovelessmotel ♡ emily!! god, where do i even begin with how much i love and adore you!! i know youre one of my big sisters, but wow i am so proud of how much youve discovered yourself since we’ve met!! like wow, look at this epic, gorgeous person whos one of MY close friends! im so lucky to be friends with you! thank you so much for being my friend, i appreciate you and all the sisterly advice you’ve given me more than i can ever put into words!

♡ @eddiediaz-buckley ♡ sav!! mom!! i love u so unbelievably much!! i am so unbelievably grateful for you and everything youve done for me! all the advice youve given me and all the times youve let me vent to you have been so important to me and i cannot thank you enough for all that. im soso appreciative of you and im so glad that i have someone as amazing as you as my mom/big sister (we’ll never really figure out our fams family dynamics, will we?) (ps, whenever i go outside and have my keys with me, its always so comforting to feel the keychain you got me! its like my moms with me everywhere i go!)

♡ @liesoverthec ♡ bonbonbonbon!!! i love you so much, you wouldnt BELIEVE how much i love you!!! im so glad we met bc you are so unbelievably kind!! there is a very good reason a nickname for u is bonbon bc you are just as sweet as candy!! maybe even more so!! i love having you as one of my big sisters, you give such wonderful advice and talking to you always makes me feel a million times better!! i love you and i am soso glad i get to call you my friend!

♡ @marauder-girl ♡ sabsabsab!! i love u so much, u funky lil future lawyer!! im so proud of u and i can hardly believe ur gonna be my Lawyer big sister!!! thats so awesome!! i cant believe such a rad person is one of MY friends!! how lucky am i!! i love having you as one of my big sisters, youre so kind and funny and talented and your advice has always been so helpful to me too! thank you so much for being my friend and for always being there for me!!

♡ @nighting-gale17 ♡ cait, my love, my wifey!!! wowowow i love u so much!!! im so glad we’re friends, you are so unbelievably lovely!! youre also so unbelievably talented like??? hey queen wanna hand some of ur writing ability over to the unfortunate (like me). i’m so glad we’re friends, youre so sweet and even tho we dont talk as much as we used to, i still have SO much love for you in my heart

♡ @africaneuropean ♡ rae, my father!! i love u so much!! i know we havent talked at all in. who knows how long. but i still have so much love for u in my heart!! you are so iconic and cool and funny, im so glad i met you n became friends with you!! ur one of the coolest people i know, i hope i can be as cool and mysterious and wonderful as you one day

♡ @evaneddie ♡ DHYL!!! dhyl pickle i love u so much!!! whenever u pop into my inbox with random nice messages, every part of me lights up!!! u are so kind to me and for what!! i miss talking to u as much as we used to, you are so sweet and you are such a good friend!! i love u n im SO proud of how far youve come with gif making, i still remember when u first started n youve gotten SO amazing at gifs lately!! i love u soso much n im so glad we’re friends, youre so awesome!!!

♡ @basil-the-writer ♡ des!!! i love u so much!!! i know we’ve never rly talked all that much but im glad we have interacted in the ways that we have!! u are so sweet n so talented!! like the fact that u have the patience for those lil video edits u do?? that is so cool!! all ur edits are so cool, i cannot imagine being able to make stuff like that without dying every single time. u are so cool n i love being able to call u my friend!!

♡ GRIFF ♡

(aka griff)

♡ @yawnralphio ♡ u get ur own section bc u are my only 911 friend who isnt an og, but thats ok bc u are so swaggy!! i love being friends with u griff, u are so cool and funny and i am so glad that u still want to be friends with me despite all of the horrifying things u’ve learned about mcyt from me jdhfajkdhfa. i love u so much n i am so excited to get to know u more n get closer to u!!

♡ FRUITBLR ♡

(aka mcyt friends)

♡ @fear-epidemic ♡ atlas u are so swaggy and funny!! tumblr funny man!! im so glad we’re mutuals, i love u a whole lot. that one time u me n wilby played bed wars together was so fun even if we’re really bad! n that one time we played on the fruitblr server while on vc was so fun, i loved talking to u n playing with u so much, we gotta do that again sometime. i love u so much chapin n im so glad we’re friends!!

♡ @netheritedream ♡ hari my beloved... i love u so much. like literally so much that its really embarassing. i am so glad u tagged me in that one follow forever post n put the offer on the table to let me join the server. i love being ur dumb lil husband!!! jus like actual fundy, i would risk it all to watch treasure planet with u. i love u sososo much, i wish i could live closer to u so i could actually talk to u more often </333 im going through severe withdrawal, pray for me. im gonna stop talking for now bc if i kept going on, this post would be several miles along n nobody has time for that </3 just know that i love u so much and i love having matching icons n i love being ur husband, i love u so much

♡ @sootswilbur ♡ tommy... i care you so much. little bromther!!! im sososo glad we’re friends bc u are so kind to me all the time n u are so easy to talk to!! ur also so talented, ur writing n ur gifs are so amazing n im so proud of all the awesome stuff u make!! seeing u experiment more with ur gif sets n trying new things is so awesome n inspiring and i love seeing ur experiments work out!! i love u soso much n im so happy to be ur big brother!! (or one of them at least)

♡ @fruitbur ♡ virgil my Other beloved... i love u so much!! u are one of the kindest people ive ever met n im so glad i met u!! i know ive already told u this before but ur tagging system is so sweet n i love seeing u reblog my posts bc im like “yay alastair is gonna tell me that he loves me in the tags :D” i also lovelovelove ur theme, i love the soft pink and the lil aesthetic board that u have pinned, its so nice to look at!!! ily sososo much <333

♡ @theartofmining ♡ hey fruit ily. like genuinely, u are so unbelievably funny that u make my ribs hurt so much. i know we’re like never rly that serious but i love u so much. as much as i joke about hating u, i really am glad we’re friends n i really look forward to becoming better friends with u. i love u a whole lot rain, i love seeing u on my dash bc ur full of good takes n funny posts

♡ @sapnaplive ♡ dream.... bonks our foreheads together... i care u so much. my other half!!! i love u with my whole little heart. u are soso cool and im so lucky to be able to call u my friend!! ur themes are always so cool, i wish i could be half as cool as them!!! ur art is also so epic like??? u are a triple threat: good at art, tumblr themes, AND minecraft building. and ur also so kind!!! u are one of the sweetest people i know, i love u so much and im so glad im friends with u!!

♡ @dreams-little-kitten ♡ corn u are so weird and i mean that in the kindest way possible. u are so cryptic n i love that so much about u. ur like the wilbur to my philza sometimes and i think thats so awesome. that one time u came into my inbox to talk shit about that one cuphead boss was so funny and absurd, i loved that so much. i love You so much. i love how ur just so effortlessly funny, n im so glad i can be friends with u

♡ @dreamsmp ♡  JEL!!!! i love u so much holy cow. u are so sweet!! all the time!!! ur also so talented, ur gifs always look so good!!! i love being friends with u, ur always so nice to me n u always leave rly nice tags when u reblog my gif sets that make me so happy!!! i think about that one time u rbed my fundy gif set n said “FUNDY GIFS” and “GIFS BY FUNDY” it made me so happy!!! i love u a whole lot, im so glad we’re friends :)

♡ @leaguelol ♡ damien!! i love u so much u funky little cryptid!! i love when u pop into the gc just to share cryptic thoughts, u are so strange but i think thats so cool of u!!! i honestly see u kinda like a lil sibling, im always so proud of u when i see ur art on my dash!! u are so talented at art!! i love u so much n i love being ur friend, ur rly sweet n i love seeing u on my dash and in the gc!!

♡ @its5undy ♡ idk why im putting u on this, ur my mortal enemy. jkjk, i actually love u a lot clay! i love joking around with u, ur so funny and for what. im so glad u joined the gc bc i love talking to you so much!! i still love that one time u reblogged that fwt gif set n tagged me in it moments after I reblogged it. i love that u thought about me, that rly warms my heart! i love being friends with u sososo much

♡ @cavalreee ♡ oh hey, another great big fruit!! i dont think we talk all that often, which is a shame, bc ur so sweet!! and also so fucking funny, why is everyone in this friend group so fucking funny, its not fair. i love seeing u on my dash talking with ur other friends, u always have the funniest convos ever. also? ur desktop theme is SO epic, it threw me off the first time i saw it but its so swaggy, just like u!! i love u soso much azzie, n i hope we can talk more in the future bc ur so cool

♡ @technosoot ♡ i love u even tho ur a br*t /j /j /j. jannat u are so unbelievably sweet. im so glad u joined the gc bc u are such a kind presence both in there and on my dash! u radiate very Warm, Friend energy. ur friend shaped. i love u so much n i love being friends with u!! im very eager to become closer friends with u bc u seem like a really amazing friend to have

♡ @sortasortaspicy ♡ les where are u in the gc i miss u </3 i love u so much, u fit in so well from the very beginning n brought so much more fun and laughter into the gc. i dont know u all that well n i dont think we’ve talked one on one like. at all. but id love to get closer to u bc ur so rad and ur so sweet!!

♡ EPIC PEOPLE  ♡

(aka mutuals who are so cool n id love to be friends with u pls talk to me)

@eurytherm ♡ @vampkings ♡ @weelbur ♡ @wilburtheesoot ♡ @quackityskarl ♡ @wimblrscoot ♡ @technofarmer ♡ @wooteena ♡ @bloodforblood ♡ @smpsapnap ♡ @literallynotfound ♡ @hearty-an0n ♡ @enderanboo ♡ @springbonniecpu ♡ @pandascanpvp ♡ @tommylnnits ♡ @strawberrygogy ♡ @timedeo ♡ @nymika-arts ♡ @h-isforhome ♡ @eboykarl ♡ @joe-alkaysani ♡ @betwecouldmakesome ♡ @squirrelstone ♡ @maddieandchimney

[eva-michael-white]

EVALUATION:

To begin with, my research was very varied, i tried to explore as many techniques and processes that i could. I focused on traditional handcrafts and textile processes, exploring the technique and their role in history and society. I really enjoyed learning new skills, and i’ve since thought of lots of ways i can use them outside of this project in my own life. I also did more print experimentation, i got some vintage relief plates in amsterdam that i really enjoyed playing around with-especially the peice in which i incorporated cross stitch. Two artists that particularly really inspired me are Yinka Shonibare and Tilleke Shwartz- both these artists take traditional and historical things and distort them and use them in unconventional ways. Shonibare’s victorian dresses remade with african wax fabric are so incredibly striking they really inspired me, the bold colours and prints used in a style that typically did not use print or pattern very often is such a wild contrast it really stuck with me throughout the project. Shwartz’s embroidery is also sonething that i thought about quite alot throughout, embroidery and cross stitch are so often these pretty floral designs even now that Shwartz’s very different approach really stands out as unique.

My project evolved from this idea of historical techniques and processes into historical dress, heavily inspired by my visits to the Victoria & Albert museum and various museums in Amsterdam. I chose to work from a historical period amd try and make it historically accurate in construction because i really wanted to better my construction skills and forcing myself to make fitted garments with so many details and different aspects to them really showed yet sttengthened all of my weak points. My construction skills have gotten so much better, i understand alot more about not only how clothing works but also history. I think this project has also really made me step up my attention to detail, my hand sewing has gotten so much better and all those times when i’ve gone back to redo something that wasnt quite right has really payed off.

I think i’ve really fulfilled my statement of intent: i really enjoyed learning all new skills for the workshops, i got lots of primary research, i did far more planning and sketching and mathst than i’d ever done previously. Two areas where i didnt fullfill my plan as much was to use more printmaking (although this was because of the pandemic) and using unusual materials. I think if i were to do it again i would have experimented more woth this, using plastic or metal perhaps.

I have achieved what i set out to do, creating structurally accurate historical garments whilst exploring print and pattern as well as fabric manipulation and handcrafts, learning new techniques, learming new methods, refining my skills and learning more about construction and how garments work. I do think i could have planned my time better, although i for the most part did stick to my time plan the extra day here or there to finish up a garment meant i didnt have enough time to make the final bodice which i am quite dissapointed about as it meant i didnt have a complete set. If i had more time or didnt have a pandemic i would have changed my designs quite alot, i was thinking of designing and printing all of my fabrics for the outerwear but since i was printing at home with limited materials and space that meant it wasnt possible. I also wouldve liked to make my other designs, based off animals, plants, and the sea. This would have taken too much time, so also wasnt really an option. I also would have photographed my final outcomes alot better if i could have, it was really hard to do it all by myself hauling lamps around and positionong my phons on an ironing board. Its a bit dissapointing because you cant see all the detail and quality of finish in the photos, once i’m able i’m going to organise a proper photoshoot with some friends.

I am really glad i chose to do this, because these construction skills and understanding will be very useful next year at university where i will be studying costume. Also my exploration into historical dress has really inspired me, and i feel i have a much better understanding of different eras of dress and fashions i didnt understand previously. The working at home has also helped me to think about how i work when im not at college, although not being on campus didnt affect me a great deal because i had all my fabric and materials, i have my own sewing machine, i have my own space to work in, it did make my think about how i manage my time personally and how i approach my own projects. Working at home does definitely have its drawbacks, especially in lockdown, since my laptop, room light, and sewing machine light all broke around the same time and i havent been able to get them fixed which has been slightly inconvenient to say the least.

To conclude, i’m really happy with what i’ve achieved and i’m proud of myself and the work i’ve produced being stuck in my house woth broken lights and limited space. The quality of work i’ve produced has been the best i’ve ever done, my attention to detail and patience with finishing is the best its ever been, and i’ve learnt so much on this project i’m incredibly glad to have done it.

All work is my own or properly sourced.

[whichwitchami]

do you have any tips for working with a spirit/ouija board? im making my own and havent worked with one before!

Hi! 

So the very first thing I want to do is tag @theouijagirl because 1. her blog did wonders for getting me over my fears using a spirit board, 2. you’ll find a lot more information there. I’m still super new to using spirit boards and don’t necessarily follow all the ‘conventional’ rules. So take what I say with a grain of salt and check out some other sources. 

What is a spirit board?

A spirit/ ouija board is another tool of divination. A board uses the alphabet and numbers laid out in a pattern and a planchette to spell out responses from whatever you’re contacting. This can be a super nice, carved wooden board, or a piece of paper and a shot glass. Hasboro games makes a glow in the dark one! As with all divination tools, it doesn’t have to be super fancy or expensive to work. 

Spirit board Vs. Ouija board?

I honestly prefer the term spirit board, but as far as I understand, there’s no real difference in the terms. Some people (aka google) say that Ouija comes from the French oui (yes) and the German ja (yes). I have no idea if that’s accurate tbh. I like using spirit board simply because ‘ouija’ has so many ‘negative’ connotations from popular media. It’s all about preference honestly. 

About those negative connotations

One of the things that @theouijagirl and several other blogs have pointed out, is that boards are sold at stores and marketed for like 8-10 year olds or something like that. If they were truly dangerous, they wouldn’t be sold as a board game along with Monopoly and Chutes and Ladders. Yes, the media paints a terrifying picture of Ouija boards (Paranormal Activity, the Exorcist...), but as long as you use them safely, you’re fine. 

There is the possibility as with all spirit communication, to gain the attention of something less than pleasant. Do the things you normally would, set up wards or protections, be polite yet cautious when speaking, don’t believe everything the spirit tells you, and cleanse your space when you’re done. The board isn’t any more or less dangerous than a pendulum or tarot cards. 

What you bring to the board is what you get back

What do I mean by that? This relates back to the Psychologist Carl Jung and his idea of the collective unconscious (Psychology, when talking about a spirit board really? I know but bear with me). This idea is that there’s this huge entity type thing that is the unconscious of all of us, all who have been, all who will be etc, and we have the potential to tap into that through divination. 

So using the idea of the collective unconscious: what you bring to the board is what you get back. AKA, what you feel when you go to the board is what you’re going to find in the collective unconscious. For example, if you’re afraid you’re going to go to the board and summon a demon to your house, you’re going to attract a negative entity to your space. Maybe not a demon, because if demons exist, I promise you they have much bigger things to worry about than the witch whose using a spirit board. 

If you approach the board with an open mind, you’ll get a much better experience. That’s all I’m saying in this confusing and psychology heavy section. 

How do I use a spirit board?

So you have your layout of yes/no, the alphabet and numbers, also a section that says ‘goodbye’ and your planchette (The thing that moves around on top of it) 

Some people do a little ritual before they get started, what this looks like and whether or not you do one is up to you. I like to take a few deep breaths and remind myself that I control the experience on my board, not the spirits that come to say hi. 

Place the planchette on the board and lightly place one or two fingers from each hand on it. You want to use a light touch to ensure you’re not pushing the planchette around the board. The general idea is that a spirit will use your energy  to push the planchette around to spell out its message. If you don’t want it to use your energy, light a candle or have some charged crystals nearby the spirits can draw from. 

From there, start asking your questions. I like to start off just by asking who is around and if they have a message for me. You can attempt to call a specific spirit, but keep in mind that the board is kinda like chat roulette. That guy dressed as batman can claim he is batman, but is he really? I’m not saying you won’t contact your grandmother, but use reasoning and critical thinking. Don’t believe everything you’re told. Go about asking your questions/ having your conversation. Remember to be polite, no one likes to be talked to in a rude way. When you’re done, say goodbye. You can keep contacting other spirits or put the board away. 

some people say that you have to say goodbye by moving the planchette to ‘goodbye’ then flipping the board over. I just say goodbye and take the planchette off. It’s generally  not advised to leave the planchette on the board while not in use. 

Who can I contact via spirit board?

part of this will depend on your belief system, but so far the only limitation I’ve come across with who I can contact is people who are still alive. It’s just not really gonna work out that way. 

I’ve contacted dead pets, living pets, dead relatives, spirit guides, spirit companions, deities, my higher self... I think that’s it. you can contact any spirit you can think of, but like I said, be careful. It’s easy for spirits to lie and say they are someone they’re not. Use your intuition along with the board to make sure you’re protecting yourself. 

Living pets seems to throw a lot of people off, but its super fun. We contacted a friends dog once, and now its a running joke amongst us to say ‘yes, yes’ really fast, because that’s how he would send positive messages via the board. When contacting an animal, just remember they’ll talk like an animal. If you try to contact a chicken, you might not get super coherent responses. 

My primary way to contact my deities is using the spirit board as of late. It’s a great way to get a full and clear message from them without having to fuss over the nuances of tarot messages. 

Zozo, Mama, and other tricksters and myths

I first heard about Zozo from theouijagirl. The myth is that Zozo is this big scary demon who sometimes takes over your spirit board and just spells that out over and over. Some versions of the myth say they spell out mama. 

If you look at a traditional spirit board, Z/O and M/A are the furthest letters from each other. Big, sweeping motions across the board are scary, and the easiest emotion to feed off of is fear when you’re a hungry spirit who wants power. I’m not saying that Zozo does or doesn��t exist, but 99% of the time, if your board is spelling out Zozo or Mama, its a trickster spirit trying to get quick energy from you. 

If that happens, tell the spirit that this is your board and that action is not allowed. Ask them politely to leave. If they ignore you, be firm, tell them to leave. Wait for the planchette to move to ‘goodbye’. If you’re inexperienced or shaken up by the event, maybe take a break. Otherwise you can continue by asking another spirit to come to the board. If this keeps happening, definitely take a break for a while. More often than not the spirit doesn’t mean harm, but its better safe than sorry. 

Spelling the alphabet backwards or going backwards through the numbers is another myth I’ve seen. Supposedly when this happens and the spirit gets all the way through the letters and numbers, they can leave the board and wreak havoc in the world. I’m not 100% sure I believe this, but I’ve never let a spirit complete the task just in case. It’s a nuisance and a waste of time at the very least since there’s no message in it. 

Same thing goes for going to all four corners of the board in a certain order I think? Be safe/ don’t let the spirit waste your time and just ask them to stop/ say goodbye if this is happening. 

The planchette leaving the board mid session: Another myth of spirit boarding. I personally don’t think it really means anything. Some say it’ll let the spirit out. I’ve let the planchette leave the board before and point to me or someone I’m with, I think it’s the spirit giving us a hug. 

“can you tell me when I die?” spirits lie guys. there’s a huge chance you’re talking to some random spirit named bob who has no idea when or how you’re going to die. Don’t let them scare you with such messages. 

Some things you should do 

as I’ve said, be polite, be critical, but don’t think that everyone is lying. Ask questions that will help you know whether or not it really is your grandma, and trust your intuition. If it feels weird, or you’re getting inconsistent answers, move on. Always move the planchette to goodbye before you leave. It’s just polite. 

It is a good idea to have some rules for the board. What and how many are up to you. Mine are pretty simple: if I ask you to leave, you leave. Spelling Zozo/mama is unacceptable, no going through the alphabet/ numbers backwards. You can have more, you can have less, just make sure you enforce them. 

You have the power, not the spirits

This is your board and your experience. You are in control. If a spirit is breaking your rules, its’ perfectly acceptable to say “Nu-uh. This is my board, and this isn’t allowed. Please leave.” If they refuse follow up with. “this is unacceptable on my board. I’ll ask you one more time to leave, if you don’t, I’m ending the session.” Don’t take their shit. Say goodbye. Either end the session fully or just move the planchette to goodbye and start over. I’ve gotten pretty good at getting spirits to go away, but the first few times they’d just come right back and I would have to end the session all together. 

The power is in your hands, not theirs. Don’t let them take control. 

Parting Thoughts

I still have a healthy uneasiness when it comes to spirit boards that I don’t really have with  my pendulum and tarot cards. I feel like that’s pretty obvious throughout this post. Just remember to have fun and not take it too seriously, while still protecting yourself. The spirit board is just another tool for divination, a tool that you control. When you learn how to set your fear aside and use it wisely, it can be the best tool for clear, straightforward answers and great conversation between the spirits that love you. 

Seriously go check out theouijagirl for more! As I said, her blog was the main reason I got over my fear of spirit boards and grew comfortable with them. Check out her stories, tips, etc. 

As always, if you have anything to add, feel free! If you have any questions or need clarification, message me! 

[fmservers]

Nyca Partners’ Hans Morris hunts for great fintech investments amid volatility

Hans Morris is a name to know in fintech, and as finance and tech sectors prepare for tougher time next year, he has some incisive thoughts to share about the kinds of companies that will succeed (or not) in a financial downturn. The managing partner of investment firm Nyca Partners, Morris also serves as the chairman of the board of Lending Club and is a director of other start-ups including AvidXchange, Boomtown, Payoneer and SigFig. At Nyca, which is on its third fund, Morris spends much of his time meeting with entrepreneurs focused on payments, credit models, digital advice and financial infrastructure.

But unlike many successful fintech VCs, Morris doesn’t have to read about how Wall Street’s history influenced the trajectory of those sectors. He played an active role in shaping them. His experiences — heading Smith Barney’s FIG effort (at 29 years old), overseeing Citigroup’s institutional businesses, serving as president of Visa and advising companies at General Atlantic — have also provided him with an unparalleled financial services rolodex. And for those who believe that financial history rhymes, Morris’ opinions are now especially welcome. Fintech may be entering a new, post-financial crisis phase in which the low-hanging fruit has been picked and macro headwinds outweigh tailwinds. In the discussion below, Morris talks candidly about how he’s approaching investing next year and how he’s viewing fintech M&A possibilities. He was also eager to share his thoughts on ethics in financial services (a favorite topic), the prospects for challenger banks, why he’s branched out into real estate tech, the future of blockchain and some of his favorite bank CEOs.

Gregg Schoenberg: Hans, it’s always good to see you, but I’m especially glad to be sitting down with you now, given that the financial world is convulsing at the moment. Before we get into that, though, I want to kick off with something else: Do you buy into the idea of techfin vs. fintech?

Hans Morris: I don’t. My basic organizing principle, which you and I have discussed before, is around declining information costs. As these costs decline, it disrupts the traditional profit pools in financial services. It’s always been like that. What I would say is that in recent times, some tech companies have done a very good job at building a trusted relationship with consumers, and in some cases with businesses. That trusted relationship obviously provides a significant competitive advantage of information. But that advantage lessens later on. There are so many examples we could point to of companies that were ‘it.’ Then, suddenly, they say, ‘Oh no, our tech is expensive, creates a bad experience and will cost a lot to fix.’

GS: Let’s talk about the present. As you know, the Fed has been tightening, equities are hemorrhaging, the yield curve is getting spooky and talk of a recession is intensifying. To me, Lending Club, right or wrong, was one of the original poster children of the post-crisis fintech boom. But now, I think we’re in a regime change and that the next crop of successful financial innovators will look a lot different. What’s in store for an area like credit delivery?

HM: In credit delivery, I think it’s now pretty well-realized by investors, and certainly realized by capital markets investors, that credit delivery requires capital. So today, I feel that anyone who’s going to be successful in credit intermediation needs to have a very good understanding of balance sheet risk, liquidity risk, and capital requirements. I pay a lot of attention to capital requirements, and the ability to fund something in the teeth of a crisis.

GS: Let’s say we enter a recession next year and see continued volatility across the capital markets. I understand that each recession and bear market is different, but with the fresh capital you’ve closed on, where are you looking to go on offense?

HM: Among the thousands of fintech companies that have gotten some funding, there are companies that are really struggling to get their Series B or Series C done.

GS: Names that have lost their momentum?

HM: Yes. They’ve lost their momentum, and they’ve lost the perception of momentum among venture investors. But in some cases, these companies still possess some very good fundamentals, yet the valuations are a lot more attractive. If that dynamic becomes even more extreme, I think there could be some good opportunities.

GS: Isn’t it also true that the fintech names that suck up a lot of the venture money aren’t always the best underlying businesses?

So when you talk about high-valuation companies, I think it’s unrealistic for banks to be acquirers.

HM: It’s an interesting dynamic. Generally, as long as companies can continue to raise capital, they will keep going even if that isn’t necessarily a rational thing to do. But in some cases, where you see a bunch of companies pursuing a similar strategy, it would be better to pursue a merger because we don’t need tons of companies doing personal financial management, etc…

GS: Do you see the big banks with strong balance sheets, the JP Morgans of the world, getting the green light from regulators to be more aggressive in M&A?

HM: Regulators have clearly been one reason there hasn’t been more activity. The second thing is goodwill. Keep in mind that for a bank, goodwill is a 100% reduction to tangible Tier One capital. So even for JP Morgan to say, ‘We’ll take a billion dollars of our Tier One capital and invest it in a company with no income and maybe positive EBITDA, but maybe not—

GS: —That would take a ton of capital or a ton of conviction.

HM: Well, that company would have to be a very powerful growth engine or solution. So when you talk about high-valuation companies, I think it’s unrealistic for banks to be acquirers. Where banks can be acquirers, and this is what we’ve seen, is where you have a company valued at $60 million, maybe a $100 million, etc…

GS: A Clarity Money.

HM: Yes, a company where the acquisition moves a bank much further along in a development cycle. Where the the bank can say, “Instead of us taking two years to get our real product out, we can get out a state-of-the-art product right now, and it comes with a great team and DNA. That’s appealing.

GS: Appealing, but realistic?

HM: It’s hard to pull off. Often, the team leaves, everything dissipates, and the acquirer ends up writing off the whole thing.

GS: Moving forward, who do you think is poised to make M&A work?

HM: There’s a couple of examples where it’s worked. One is PayPal, which in recent times has done an excellent job of acquiring things and integrating talent into the company. I’m quite impressed in terms of how Bill Ready, who is now COO, Dan Shulman and the management team have changed the tech profile of PayPal.

GS: Well, they’re not a 200-year-old financial institution founded on a winding alley in downtown New York.

HM: Yes, but it was very old-school Silicon Valley, and they had a lot of technical debt. Of course, they had this great mafia 20 years ago, but all those people are gone. I don’t think there’s a single person in the top 100 at PayPal that was there 15 years ago.

GS: Let’s talk specific themes. You’ve already mentioned personal financial management, which I share your skepticism about. What’s your take on the prospects for challenger banks?

HM: I think we’re likely to have a war for deposits with too many different types of firms competing for deposits. Just look at the United States last year. All of the deposit growth we saw was explained by Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and JP Morgan Chase. Everyone else shrank. But if you have Monzo and Revolut come to the US and you look at Acorns, MoneyLion, Chime and fifteen other prepaid models or fully chartered bank models, they’re all going to have a pretty slick interface, and they’re all going to be out there competing for deposits.  

GS: How about the robos and free trading platforms?  As you know, a lot of the younger customers on these platforms haven’t experienced a sustained period of tumultuous equity market conditions.  

I pay a lot of attention to capital requirements, and the ability to fund something in the teeth of a crisis.

HM: I think a great majority of American households should be using a roboadvisor. However, the question is around the relationship between the customer acquisition and the revenue opportunity. In fact, a big part of our thesis with SigFig was to really help drive the pivot over to enterprise-based customers. But generally, and without knowing the details, my sense is that Betterment, Wealthfront and maybe Personal Capital have enough brand to get to the scale necessary to be self-sufficient. I think most of the others are not in that position.

GS: Turning to the mortgage and broader real estate sector, is your view that even if we have a deepening downdraft in housing, the real estate start-ups backed by you and others can do well anyway? Because they are essentially taking an industry stuck in the 1980s and ’90s and dragging it into the modern era.

HM: There’s a lot of room for tech improvement in real estate, and that includes residential real estate as well as institutional real estate. The problem with real estate, and mortgage-related models, is that the capital needs are also significant. So if you end up owning property, the bill adds up very quickly.

GS: I guess it depends on where a company buys them.

HM: True. Look, we remain bullish on them, but I share your concern that if activity stops or if you start having real decreases in property values in certain sectors, some of these companies may end up holding the bag.  

GS: When I saw the Ribbon deal, I was wondering how you and other backers looked at the opportunity at this point in the cycle.

HM: Well, for one thing, you can estimate the likelihood of someone getting a mortgage pretty efficiently. You can be right 99 percent of the time, but even if you’re only right 90 percent of the time, you’re going to be fine. That’s because the certainty that the company offers to the customer is worth it. They also have a great management team and a CEO who is really smart. They’re not naive.

GS: So given all the hype and ups and downs we’ve seen in blockchain, I’m wondering if you remain a long-term blockchain guy.

HM: Here’s the simple fact: The whole financial services industry is composed of ledgers. The reconciliation between entities of that information is a significant expense, particularly in the capital markets businesses. But I don’t buy into the view that it’s going to work better in all cases. The evidence so far is that it works well in some cases.

GS: Where can it work well?

HM: Distributed ledgers can work well when having synchronous data is an essential attribute, and when speed is not necessarily a central attribute.

GS: So, even if the implementation takes longer than the the hype machine suggested it would, financial institutions will get there?

Because money attracts crooks.

HM: They will get there. The cost of change is very, very high. The benefit of it is real. The question is, ‘How’s that cost of change compare to the ongoing benefit?’ In enterprise applications, the ones that will succeed are not ones where you say, ‘Lets rebuild everything within the core functions,’ because the cost and complexity are too great. The much better way is to start at the edge of an enterprise delivering immediate value, and then become an architecture for more things to move over to that.

GS: It’s easier said than done…

HM: If you take the capital markets area, I think it often requires an individual who has a bigger-than-life personality and the leadership skills to match it.

GS: Speaking of leadership, let’s talk about that within the context of fintech, where, as you know, we’ve seen mixed outcomes. You and I have talked a fair bit about how fintech isn’t like other tech sectors, because you’re dealing with money and livelihoods.

HM: Yes, and the activities are regulated, for a very good reason.

GS: When you look at a deal, does the character of the leader trump everything else?

HM: I’d say that the character and capabilities of a leader make a big difference. And to me, in financial services, the errors made, whether it’s 10 years ago or today, are similar. I mean, you have to tell the truth. You have to.

GS: Why is it so important to you?

HM: Because money attracts crooks.

GS: On that note, when I look at some of those who subscribe to the whole blitzscaling ethos, I see it as incompatible with our current climate and especially problematic to financial services. Blitzscaling doesn’t endorse breaking the law, of course, but this whole idea of consciously letting fires burn is a recipe for disaster in today’s financial services sector, right?

HM: Yes, I think so. I’d add that we have a rule in our firm: Don’t invest in any business model where you’re tricking the customer into a profitable relationship. But unfortunately, I feel that there are many business models that do just that.

GS: That’s a bold rule given that terms of services agreements remain dark dens of iniquity.

HM: Well, it’s more than just that. Look at Robinhood. I think it’s a remarkable company made up of unbelievable entrepreneurs. But I do feel that if you say, ‘Payment for order flow is the business model,’ or ‘Margin lending is the business model,’ you’ve got to spell that out. I mean, ‘payment for order flow?’ Most people would be like, ‘What does that mean?’

GS: You might as well be speaking in Ancient Greek.

A VC once said to me that we have too much knowledge about some things. I think there’s some truth to that.

HM: Exactly. I feel, in financial services, the best companies, the most successful long-run stories, will do the right thing for their customers, always. That also means not making a high-profile release of a new product, like a high-interest checking and savings account yielding way above anyone else, before you’ve actually checked with the regulators.

GS: On that latter reference, how accountable is Robinhood’s board for the company’s recent blunder?

HM: I honestly don’t know in what way the board was involved in this, but I think it’s a good example of where a board should put the brakes on an idea until the risks are clear. Sometimes management teams, and investors, don’t want to hear that, but it’s an essential role for financial services companies.

GS: In your career, you have seen your fair share of financial icons rise and fall. Have you ever passed on a deal that wound up being a huge success because something didn’t smell right?

HM: Yes, we have passed on things that turned out to be really good investments, but that’s part of our equation.

GS: In 1997, Howard Marks—

HM: —He’s fantastic, isn’t he?

GS: He’s phenomenal. In one of his famous memos, he asked ‘Are you an investor? Or are you a speculator?’ Given that there are quite a few VCs who have come to fintech in recent years, I’m wondering if you see a lot of speculators.

HM: Most of the folks that I interact with are investors, not speculators. The crypto stuff is pure speculation by almost everybody.

GS: Yes. I wasn’t implying that we discuss crypto.

HM: To the core of your question, I’ll tell you this: There’s this very, very successful VC investor I had a debate with over a deal. My point was that the company in question would need to raise a lot of capital to scale. But that long-term consideration wasn’t especially relevant to him, because he felt the company would have options down the road. We passed on the deal, but now, I look back and regret that decision.

GS: Are you suggesting that you could benefit from having a little more of a speculative instinct?

HM: A VC once said to me that we have too much knowledge about some things. I think there’s some truth to that.

GS: I’m sure that your institutional knowledge has been an important asset on many other occasions. I’ll move on to our last topic, Hans, because I know you have a fund to manage. You know all of the big bank CEOs, right?

HM: Yes.

GS: There’s Jamie Dimon, who defies easy description. At Goldman, you’ve got a banker as CEO. At Morgan Stanley, you’ve got an ex-management consultant. At Citibank, you’ve got—

HM: —You’ve got Corbat. Michael is just an excellent manager who gets things fixed. It’s interesting: Jamie is a fantastic manager of people too, but Jamie brings in his team. Corbat is very good at taking on an existing team and just making them better. Brian [Moynihan] is also really good. I mean he was a lawyer, and when he got the job, I had no idea what he was like. But I’ve noticed that the people who have worked for him are really loyal.

GS: I think the CEOs of the big banks tend to be a reflection of the times in which they operate, right? We went through the period of the trader CEO, which is now gone. As you look down the road, what are the heads of the big banks going to look like?

HM: I’ll answer that question by turning you to Microsoft. What explains the turnaround there? Is it because Satya [Nadella] is such an amazing engineer? No; he’s a great people person. He’s a fantastic manager who put in place a high-quality decision process, which is key to managing a complex organization.

GS: Implicit in my question is whether or not these organizations are going to be as big and complex as they are now. Specifically, I’m referring to the supermarket model that you were involved in helping to construct. Does that remain in place?

HM: Keep in mind that liquidity is a very, very important aspect of a financial marketplace, and having access to core liquidity that doesn’t change frequently is very important. The professional money obviously switches very quickly. But things like core deposits, pension flows and corporate cash tend to have the longest time-frames to build access to. But when a bank has access to deposits that don’t move much, it enables it to fund the liquid financial assets. That’s so important for when you hit a liquidity crisis.  

GS: So the big bank model is here to stay?

HM: Yes, I think it’s going to be around for a long time.

GS: Well on that note, Hans, I wish you luck in navigating whatever the future brings. Thanks for sitting down with me and sharing your wisdom.

HM: It’s always a pleasure speaking to you, Gregg. Thank you as well.

This interview has been edited for content, length and clarity.

Via Gregg Schoenberg https://techcrunch.com