2013 – 2017
Studied (mostly) math, CS and biology in high school
Grew up in the Midwest
Slept little, read much. Bred rare orchids, petitioned to skip six grades
Scott A. Smith
I spent the past 5 years building one of Gen Z's most beloved fintech products.
I'm a lifelong student of hospitality and have lived in Berlin, San Francisco, Cambridge, Ithaca, Ann Arbor, New York and Detroit.
My greatest fear as a kid was "filling up" with knowledge. As an adult, my greatest fear is to reach the end with a reading list longer than the one I started with.
My life is a quest to find veins of knowledge so potent that the opportunity cost of abandoning other curiosities can be written off, at least temporarily.
Life is long
Birth – 2013
2013 – 2021
2021 – Present
Learning
2017 – 2018
Gap year
2018 – 2019
University of Michigan
Transferred
2019 – 2021
The Hotel School at Cornell
Studied hospitality
2021
Y Combinator S21
Building
Started an auction business
Sold everything from cars to room-sized rotary ovens
Started my 2nd business
Built websites for reptile breeders and sold snakes online
2013 – 2017
Started my 3rd business
An e-commerce business
2018
Discovered startups
2021 – 2026
Founded Mine (fka Fizz)
Debit card for young adults that built credit
- Led growth to 1M+ users and 25 employees. Raised $30M from Kleiner Perkins, SV Angel, YC and 8 unicorn founders.
- Acquired June 2026
Working
Apprenticed at the family businesses
Healthcare, education, real estate, food service
Scouted for 2 VC funds
Found my cofounders
2021
Vista Equity Partners
More background
Interviews I've done
I'm currently curious about
- Citizen medicine (the curative kind, not peptides)
- Spectral autoimmune pathology
- Psychology of money under the umbrella of resource availability (I believe DSM-5 conditions can be diagnosed by looking at spending habits, and that most economic behaviors can be linked to metabolism)
- Influencing
Investing
I like helping founders solve their weirdest problems and occasionally earn the right to invest.
Select investments:
-
Hone
AI engines that own outcomes
hone.com -
SID
Agent search, faster and cheaper
sid.ai -
Ironsite
Vision and data for construction
ironsite.ai -
Replit
Vibe coding
replit.com -
Haven
Accounting for startups
usehaven.com
Get in touch
I'm an active angel investor
- I make select angel investments and love getting to know fellow builders.
I help people find non-linear roles built for the coolest version of themselves
- I love to pair talented people with teams that are inflecting. Get in touch if you're looking.
I enjoy helping founders who are facing uphill problems
- I relish being the first call for news bad and good. I'm always eager to think through comms, GTM, hiring, branding and fundraising.
I have written a bunch, for myself and others. Most of it is nonpublic
- I like to help structure team-, customer- and investor-facing narratives.