Ideas on Ice: Fintech Edition
Most founder events are about what people are building. This one is about the ideas they walked away from, and why.
Ideas on Ice is a self-selected roundtable for early-stage fintech builders who are actively exploring spaces, but may not yet have landed on the “one big idea” they want to build.
We know that every serious builder has spent months doing the hard work to validate their ideas. But a lot of early exploration happens in silos. One builder goes deep on a space to meet users and stress-test the idea before choosing to put it down. Another enters the same space weeks later, starting from zero.
This layer of founder learning in the form of abandoned theses, negative signals, market nuance, and judgment calls is highly valuable. But almost none of it comes to light.
This is the room where it does.
We’re inviting 25 high-signal builders in one room to share their reflections on ideas they explored, tested, and decided not to pursue.
Format:
Round-robin, moderated discussion.
Each builder takes a few minutes to share one space they explored and put on ice. You'll get to hear what they found, what broke their conviction, and what they'd tell someone entering the same space today.
For the first edition, we're bringing together builders in the fintech space exploring:
AI-native advisory and distribution
Agentic payments
CFO and audit workflows
AI-led financial institution tooling
Personal financial concierges
The room is designed for candid conversations around regulation, trust, distribution, infrastructure, and GTM.
Who this is for:
Builders who have gone deep on a fintech space to meet users, map incumbents, test early hypotheses, and form a real view. If you've explored a fintech idea in detail and paused on it, bring your learnings to this room.
You'll leave with:
Connections with people exploring the same territory
Concrete signals on what's worth building and what isn't
A sharper wedge, or a better reason to change direction
Note: Application-based event. Space is limited to 25 seats to keep the room tight.