Poker, tech culture, and networking rituals

Alex and Ellis break down why SXSW no longer feels like a true tech conference and how events like Nvidia’s GTC have become the new center of gravity for the industry. They talk about the growing spectacle around Jensen Huang, the shift from product-driven moments to marketing-driven ones, and what it says about where tech culture is headed.
Then they’re joined by Mercury CEO Immad Akhund to talk about building one of the most important fintech companies for startups. They discuss how Mercury approaches banking differently, the challenges of serving founders, competition in fintech, and what it takes to build a trusted financial platform in the AI era.

Follow ACCESS on Instagram:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/accesspodcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow Alex:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://sources.news/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/alexeheath/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow Ellis:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://meaning.company/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/hamburger⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices