It’s always intriguing to watch how a good idea evolves into new areas. Such evolution often happens when designers find new applications for their ideas. Brian Merritt and Ryan Hildebrand were part of the early team at Simple that was subsequently sold to BBVA. In mid-February, they announced the formation of Seed, a Y Combinator firm, designed to bring small business banking into the mobile and SaaS-based worlds. Listen to this conversation between Glenbrook’s George Peabody and Seed CEO Brian Merritt. While very early in the company’s development, Brian’s description of the company’s “API first” approach banking makes clear what’s possible when legacy technology and processes are in the rearview mirror.
George, founder of Glenbrook’s Payments on Fire® podcast, is a 20-year payments industry veteran with a background in founding and running IT-based businesses to help clients develop payments strategies. During his 10 years at Glenbrook, George focused heavily on consulting in competitive positioning, technology investment road mapping, and innovation. Before joining Glenbrook, George led teams at Aberdeen Group, Mercator Advisory Group, and several other companies he founded, including Payment Pathways, RapidNet, and DigiFlite. George retired in 2024, but his contributions to Glenbrook live on through the 175+ episodes of Payments on Fire he recorded during his tenure.