BILLIONS · 2026-06-04 · 54 min
Is traditional international banking officially obsolete? On this episode of BILLIONS, I'm sitting down with Steven Schwartz, co-founder of Whop, the internet marketplace that is quietly constructing a brand-new financial infrastructure for global creators.What started as a simple $75 sneaker bot sold in Facebook groups has exploded into a massive global network. Today, Whop is a powerhouse where nearly 40,000 people earn over $300 million every single month, and the platform processes nearly $1 million daily in physical product sales alone. Steven breaks down how they partnered with stablecoin giant Tether to unlock open financial networks for unbanked regions across the globe, why they are deliberately driving traditional credit card processing fees to zero, and why 70% of his entire corporate team consists of former founders. In this masterclass, we break down: The Facebook Group Bootstrapping: How Steven and his co-founder Cameron built an iOS app to flip Yeezys and turned a micro-win into an addiction. The Core Pivot: Moving from niche downloadable software keys to hosting full community ecosystems with integrated chat rooms and video courses.
The man who built a bank for people banks don't want - Jason Wilk [Dave]81 / 100
Why focus on only ONE product built a $1B super-brand (on just $6,000) - Pete Maldonado [Chomps]
Why the world’s biggest tech companies may never IPO again - Peter Singlehurst [Baillie Gifford]
Why high valuations are secretly killing tech unicorns - Martino Cadoni [Deepl]
Very few growth moats will survive AI - Sandy Diao [Descript]