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Fraudsters live in the darkness. And weirdly...so does advice on how to catch them? We think it's time to change that, so started a podcast series called Risk and Reason where we interview leaders at some of the largest companies at the forefront of catching fraud in a digital age. First episode is dropping Friday! Subscription link in the comment (we're picking one of the first 100 subscribers to win a gift card :)).

AI isn’t a product. It’s a feature. And the real divide isn’t AI-native vs not. It’s AI-first vs AI-second. In 2024, a friend and I joked we should quit and start AI companies. We’d been grinding in SaaS while AI-first teams (Harvey, Hebbia, Cursor…) were taking off. But 16 months later, something became clear: 👉 AI-First = AI is the product 👉 AI-Second = AI makes an existing product dramatically better And the best example of AI-second is Ramp. Most of their SKUs don’t even mention AI; yet their entire platform is smarter. It's another tool to help customers "save time and money". That’s the model. Most software companies shouldn’t “pivot to AI.” They should become AI-second: embedding AI into the systems, workflows, and KPIs that already matter. And here’s the nuance: AI-second companies will build AI-first features. AI-first companies must build AI-second workflows. The lines will blur. Because the real race is: AI-first companies building software moats. AI-second companies embedding AI everywhere. Both can win. But “AI-native” won’t matter for long. What will matter is how well you use AI inside products people already trust. Full essay in comments.

"Our product team cares about user experience," but got trampled by our legal & risk teams. Until Footprint... An invisible SDK invisible and flexible user flow gives back all the power - while keeping risk & compliance flows top notch.

Fast reviews. Happier customers. Footprint’s new AI agents handle the tedious parts of review so customers move forward instantly and your team spends more time delivering delight, not digging through data.

A prospect asked me last week why I care so much about fraud. My answer: because it’s not just some kid in their mom’s basement. Fraud today is run by multinational organizations. The same groups that traffic drugs, weapons, and people are also trafficking identities. They use the same playbooks — scale, logistics, and coordination. They hire people to open mule accounts. They test your signup flows. They move stolen data across borders like supply chains. So when a fraudster drains someone’s savings or exploits a promotion, it’s not just a one-off scam. That money may be funding something far darker. Every dollar lost to fraud isn’t just a business cost — it’s a contribution to organized crime. That’s why I care. At Footprint, we’re not just building fraud prevention. We’re trying to disrupt a criminal economy that thrives on our blind spots. Because if we can make it harder for these networks to move money — even a little — we’re not just protecting companies. We’re protecting people.

Fraud groups have become so large they should go public on the NYSE. The Huione group in Cambodia (ties to North Korea) is thought to have made over $4 billion between 2021 and 2025 from romance scams on US consumers. To put that in perspective, Figma went public this year at a $25B market cap with the same $1B run rate of revenue. Why is this important? Fraud groups are no longer one-off emails from a Prince in Nigeria who is giving you money. These are professional organizations. With massive teams and resources at their disposal. Probabilistic models and stitched together point solutions won't stop them. Holistic platforms built for the AI-age are needed. It's what we spend all day thinking about Footprint :)