This month marked the nails in a coffin for a business idea I was validating and researching and I’m publishing this post such that I can continue to learn in public.

Like many people who work on these projects I structured my approach and meticulously took notes in a document which I collaborated on with other people I respect the objective opinion of. 

This post is effectively a narrated version of the document. If you wanted to replicate the way I structure my thoughts I have attached the document at the end of the post. If you can find a fault with it, please let me know in the comments or on Twitter. More on that later.

What even is this? Well, for this one post only, I am taking a break from my normal writing to create a searchable, shareable guide to:

• Earning crypto while browsing the web
• Buying USDC stablecoins
• Earning 8% interest (paid daily) on USDC balances on Nexo

Full disclosure I’m going to write about banking and moving money. Not only that but this whole adventure is inspired by the hair-loss inducing frustration I experience when I try to move money between banks in the US.

Seems odd am amirite? Well not if you were brought up on the sweet sweet nectar that is the UK banking infrastructure. So if you’re curious as to how they compare, and how America may one day be, and how together we can build a bank to change every aspect of your life - read on.

Over the past year and a half I have spent a considerable amount of time researching, thinking about, and (not joking) pulling my hair out due to - the US banking system.​

The sharing economy narrative:

• Technology was supposed to unlock all of our assets
• We were supposed to borrow each others stuff easily
• Stores were going to need a new business model as people stopped buying stuff

Market trends I’ve been thinking about that make this relevant:

• There is growing movement towards early Financial Independence
• Buying a bunch of stuff is no longer a satisfying consumer past time
• Being able to rent/borrow should make life easier

But I find myself disillusioned with the state of the sharing economy so far. This whole story overlooked the key principles in human nature and business building.

The problems. 

So after several intros that I never hear back on, and using several people in my network for intros I’m fed up. This has to be easier. I finally got frustrated enough to map out an MVP solving this, this month and then through the power of introductions - found something better.

I sat down during a cruise to mull over my thoughts on the experience so far and to write some comprehensive feedback to the CEO/head of experience for Royal Caribbean (RC).

Little did I know this writing was going to take on a life of its own.

It was a 2 week family cruise with a party of 16. We took the Explorer of the Seas.

As someone who exercises and travels regularly I have encountered a repeating issue over the last year. I’m going to explore this into products.

Within the space of a month is my wedding and my dad's 60th birthday. Both feel like pretty major life milestones. Both have me feeling nostalgic and yearning for a way to store memories better.

For my dad's 60th I spent 100+ hours digitising, cataloguing, storing on the cloud and organising all physical tapes of our family memories. Memories from as far back as 1950, which were locked away in a VHS, that were guaranteed to never be seen again, can now be accesses in my fathers palm any time he is connected to the internet.

This present and these life events got me thinking about a company a friend of mine started and an entirely new category that can be created. Enter Kinecho.

Less than half way through the year and I'm already questioning why I started writing again

Can we talk about how messed up the UK housing market is?