Lessons From Backing The Best Founders In Fintech | Micky Malka

Micky Malka is the founder of Ribbit Capital and the co-founder of Node, the first gallery built for digital artists. He calls himself an entrepreneur at heart and an investor by design — a line vague enough to defy labeling, which is the point. The only label he wants is the one on his tombstone: He was a rebel. At 25, Malka put every dollar from his first exit into a branchless bank in Brazil, moved there with his wife, and twice came close to killing the company and losing everything. At its peak, Lemon Bank ran 7,000 locations serving 50 million customers, most of them unbanked. He sold it in 2008. Twelve years later, the same insight persuaded Walmart to do a first — a jointly owned company. It became OnePay, the biggest financial brand you have never heard of. He founded Ribbit Capital in 2012 and has spent the 14 years since backing Revolut, Robinhood, Nubank, Coinbase, and Credit Karma — usually early, and usually before anyone else would. He met Vlad at Robinhood before there was an app or a single customer. Ribbit does not run like a fund: no partner is assigned to a company, decisions are made as a group, and the whole team can read his inbox. Malka does not call it an investment firm. He calls it his sixth startup, and the first one he will never have to sell — because, by his own standard, the best entrepreneurs never do. Show notes: https://www.davidsenra.com/episode/micky-malka Made possible by Ramp: https://ramp.com Deel: https://deel.com/senra AppLovin: https://applovin.com/senra David Senra Website: https://www.davidsenra.com X: https://x.com/davidsenra Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidsenra LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidsenra Facebook: https://www.linkedin.com/company/senrashow Threads: https://www.threads.com/@davidsenra Spotify: https://spti.fi/TVrr557 Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4msoZtb Micky Malka Ribbit Capital: https://www.ribbitcap.com X: https://x.com/mickymalka Chapters 00:00:00 Why Micky Malka Refuses to Be Labeled 00:03:00 Writing Your Way to Conviction 00:05:41 Buying Berkshire at 13 and Learning Buffett's Operating System 00:11:48 Token Factories, AI Bankers, and the Future of Money 00:18:38 The Infinite Game: Why It's Better to Be Behind 00:22:09 Gen Z Founders and the Chaordic Company 00:29:00 Why Young Founders Want to Build Atoms, Not Just Bits 00:34:29 Bringing Beauty and Taste Back to Technology 00:36:56 Revolut, Founder DNA, and Earning Deep Trust 00:45:54 Building OnePay With Walmart 00:50:53 From Lemon Bank to OnePay: A 20-Year Idea 00:56:00 Compounding Trust and Protecting Your Reputation 01:00:30 Node and the Rebel Case for Digital Art 01:07:34 What It Means to Live as a Rebel 01:10:50 Why Ribbit Is Built Like a Startup 01:14:41 Charlie Munger and the Power of Time

David SenrahostMicky Malkaguest

Aug 2, 20261h 16mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: August 2, 2026
Duration: 1h 16m
Channel: David Senra
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Micky Malka is the founder of Ribbit Capital and the co-founder of Node, the first gallery built for digital artists. He calls himself an entrepreneur at heart and an investor by design — a line vague enough to defy labeling, which is the point. The only label he wants is the one on his tombstone: He was a rebel. At 25, Malka put every dollar from his first exit into a branchless bank in Brazil, moved there with his wife, and twice came close to killing the company and losing everything. At its peak, Lemon Bank ran 7,000 locations serving 50 million customers, most of them unbanked. He sold it in 2008. Twelve years later, the same insight persuaded Walmart to do a first — a jointly owned company. It became OnePay, the biggest financial brand you have never heard of. He founded Ribbit Capital in 2012 and has spent the 14 years since backing Revolut, Robinhood, Nubank, Coinbase, and Credit Karma — usually early, and usually before anyone else would. He met Vlad at Robinhood before there was an app or a single customer. Ribbit does not run like a fund: no partner is assigned to a company, decisions are made as a group, and the whole team can read his inbox. Malka does not call it an investment firm. He calls it his sixth startup, and the first one he will never have to sell — because, by his own standard, the best entrepreneurs never do. Show notes: https://www.davidsenra.com/episode/micky-malka Made possible by Ramp: https://ramp.com Deel: https://deel.com/senra AppLovin: https://applovin.com/senra David Senra Website: https://www.davidsenra.com X: https://x.com/davidsenra Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidsenra LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidsenra Facebook: https://www.linkedin.com/company/senrashow Threads: https://www.threads.com/@davidsenra Spotify: https://spti.fi/TVrr557 Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4msoZtb Micky Malka Ribbit Capital: https://www.ribbitcap.com X: https://x.com/mickymalka Chapters 00:00:00 Why Micky Malka Refuses to Be Labeled 00:03:00 Writing Your Way to Conviction 00:05:41 Buying Berkshire at 13 and Learning Buffett's Operating System 00:11:48 Token Factories, AI Bankers, and the Future of Money 00:18:38 The Infinite Game: Why It's Better to Be Behind 00:22:09 Gen Z Founders and the Chaordic Company 00:29:00 Why Young Founders Want to Build Atoms, Not Just Bits 00:34:29 Bringing Beauty and Taste Back to Technology 00:36:56 Revolut, Founder DNA, and Earning Deep Trust 00:45:54 Building OnePay With Walmart 00:50:53 From Lemon Bank to OnePay: A 20-Year Idea 00:56:00 Compounding Trust and Protecting Your Reputation 01:00:30 Node and the Rebel Case for Digital Art 01:07:34 What It Means to Live as a Rebel 01:10:50 Why Ribbit Is Built Like a Startup 01:14:41 Charlie Munger and the Power of Time

SPEAKERS

David Senra
host
Host of the podcast “Founders with David Senra,” interviewing entrepreneurs and reading sponsor ad segments.
Micky Malka
guest
Founder of Ribbit Capital and entrepreneur-investor focused on fintech and long-term founder partnerships.

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of David Senra, featuring David Senra and Micky Malka, Lessons From Backing The Best Founders In Fintech | Micky Malka explores micky Malka on rebels, conviction, tokens, and compounding trust Malka rejects professional labels and frames his identity as “entrepreneur at heart, investor by design,” using fluidity and curiosity to keep learning and evolving.

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