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WePay's (YC S09) next chapter

blog.wepay.com

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Re: WePay's (YC S09) next chapter

#51

Post by ianhawes »

joering2 wrote: post #25
mbesto wrote: post #21

This is really interesting, because if I understood it correctly, WePay was basically a layer that sat on top of Vantiv's PayFac and made it easier for businesses (SaaS) to take payments on behalf of many merchants. In other words, let's say you setup a SaaS called "GymSAAS" that billed monthly fees (and took cut of each transaction) and your client was "Globo Gym" . GymSAAS could use WePay to collect the money for G…

No its not. What you describing is called "collusion fraud" and if caught it can land you/your company on MATCH list.

No, you're wrong. Collusion fraud is (generally) when a merchant uses stolen credit cards to process payments then absconds with the money before the customer disputes the charge.

What the parent is describing is PayFac (payment facilitator) which is where the card network and acquirer are aware of the merchant/sub-merchant relationship. You can determine if a payment is through PayFac by the tell-tale asterisk after the first 2 characters on the statement descriptor. For example, Square transactions process as "SQ*[Merchant Name]"

Re: WePay's (YC S09) next chapter

#52

Post by tommynicholas »

elvinyung wrote: post #33
austenallred wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A $220m+ acquisition is absolutely a home run, and likely a win for all involved, even with $80m raised. FB and WhatsApp are once-in-a-decade type returns. In baseball parlance perhaps a World Series winning grand slam or a perfect game. You needn’t exit for $19B for it to be a great outcome.

I mean, don't common stockholders (i.e. all employees) still basically get shafted in a down acquisition?

It's not a down acquisition

Re: WePay's (YC S09) next chapter

#53

Post by tommynicholas »

amorphid wrote: post #39
elvinyung wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, don't common stockholders (i.e. all employees) still basically get shafted in a down acquisition?

Say investors own 60% of the company. In an acquisition worth $220 million, 60% of the company would be worth $132 million. It's common for investors to have a 2x liquidation preference, meaning they get up to twice their money back before anyone other shareholders get $1. $80 million invested means investors get $160 million, more than the $132 million. $60 million would be left over for the founders and employees.…

2x liquidation is not standard anymore - 1x is far more likely. This was an "up" acquisition too so it's possible they exceeded 2x for most if not all investors.

Re: WePay's (YC S09) next chapter

#54

Post by quuquuquu »

erikb wrote: post #43

The enterprisiest announcement I've read in a long time. And I work at a big corp. Wouldn't be surprised if many people who read this actually don't even understand that it basically says "hi guys, we got bought." It's also hard to figure out what WePay has actually been doing. Great enterprise speak again. So, that's what the banking world looks like? Even more enterprisy than the Enterprise despite being a start-up…

>so that's what banking looks like?

Unfortunately I'd say yes. Consider that Goldman Sachs has 38,000 employees and the average compensation is 350k-400k per year, per their recent quarterly filing.

It is an elite world based on signaling and deep relationships, because there is a lot of money at stake.

Re: WePay's (YC S09) next chapter

#55

Post by pc86 »

quuquuquu wrote: post #54
erikb wrote: post #43

The enterprisiest announcement I've read in a long time. And I work at a big corp. Wouldn't be surprised if many people who read this actually don't even understand that it basically says "hi guys, we got bought." It's also hard to figure out what WePay has actually been doing. Great enterprise speak again. So, that's what the banking world looks like? Even more enterprisy than the Enterprise despite being a start-up…

>so that's what banking looks like? Unfortunately I'd say yes. Consider that Goldman Sachs has 38,000 employees and the average compensation is 350k-400k per year, per their recent quarterly filing. It is an elite world based on signaling and deep relationships, because there is a lot of money at stake.

I'd be interested in seeing the median salary, I imagine that's quite a bit lower.

Re: WePay's (YC S09) next chapter

#56

Post by sanj »

I met Bill and Rich a decade ago in the Andala Coffee House in Cambridge.

They were kind, warm, quick with a joke, and even quicker to offer support, insight, and help to the fledgling group of young entrepreneurs.

I've taken vicarious delight from watching their success!

Re: WePay's (YC S09) next chapter

#57

Post by cookiecaper »

joering2 wrote: post #18
cmer wrote: post #17

I had breakfast with Bill a few years ago in Palo Alto. It was clear pretty quickly that WePay wasn’t a good fit for us, but he still managed to navigate me through the competitive landscape and helped me figure out which product was right, pitfalls to avoid, regulations, etc. He even offered his help for the future, even though we were giving him zero business. I’m writing all this because I left with the feeling th…

Probably like many others, in the first part of 2012 I invested about $10k in some bitcoins that I still continue to keep untouched today. Tell me once again what should I stay away from??

Please cash in at least some of that; it's too sad to think of a conventional amateur investor approach of "always hold out for more" wiping out that potential fortune. Take your 5000x gain and be happy with that phenomenal performance instead of being concerned about the infinite "I could've gotten more if I just sold on Magic Date X".

A materialized gain that you can actually use is more valuable than a paper gain that may not be there when you need it, especially in an instrument as volatile and immature as Bitcoin.

Re: WePay's (YC S09) next chapter

#58

Post by cookiecaper »

pbreit wrote: post #3

“WePay and its employees will operate as Chase's payments innovation incubator in Silicon Valley" Uh, oh. Does such a thing ever work?

For what it's worth, Chase has quickly been becoming the most consumer-focused and technically-capable financial institution that I routinely interact with. They may have someone competent in the leadership over there, and I find acquisition of WePay another potential positive indicator of that.

Re: WePay's (YC S09) next chapter

#59

Post by quuquuquu »

pc86 wrote: post #55
quuquuquu wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>so that's what banking looks like? Unfortunately I'd say yes. Consider that Goldman Sachs has 38,000 employees and the average compensation is 350k-400k per year, per their recent quarterly filing. It is an elite world based on signaling and deep relationships, because there is a lot of money at stake.

I'd be interested in seeing the median salary, I imagine that's quite a bit lower.

I completely agree, I bet you have 100 people making 10m+ per year, and 20,000 staff and interns at the back office in New Jersey making 45,000 maximum, hired from SUNY schools.

What do you think of my estimation?

Re: WePay's (YC S09) next chapter

#60

Post by roymurdock »

gk1 wrote: post #50
erikb wrote: post #43

The enterprisiest announcement I've read in a long time. And I work at a big corp. Wouldn't be surprised if many people who read this actually don't even understand that it basically says "hi guys, we got bought." It's also hard to figure out what WePay has actually been doing. Great enterprise speak again. So, that's what the banking world looks like? Even more enterprisy than the Enterprise despite being a start-up…

I thought it was fairly clear. Chase wants to get into the fintech space so they acquired WePay.

Is there a a good definition for companies in the "fintech" space? Is it anyone building a product that lets consumers/enterprises receive and send payments over mobile/desktop/internet rather than physically going into a branch?

Curious as it seems to me (uninformed) that basically all banks already have fintech offerings and are built around networking and payments technology at their core.

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