Cornerstone & Forbes Writer Ron Shevlin: Neobanks, The Dead, & How Community Banks Fight Back
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In today’s episode, I sit down with the ever-snarky Ron Shevlin, Director of Research at Cornerstone Advisors and frequent columnist at Forbes.
Cornerstone is a leading research platform focused on financial services, where Ron spends his days advising community banks, mid-size institutions, and credit unions on strategy, market research, technology, fintech, and more. At Forbes, Ron writes the “Forbes Fintech Snark Tank.”
With community banks, credit unions, & small to medium financial institutions facing major crossroads, advice is more crucial than ever. Thankfully, Ron comes on to talk about how they can fight back, what they can learn from The Grateful Dead (it’s actually quite compelling), the current state of neobanks, and more.
Ron was engaging, informative, and always entertaining. One piece I have to highlight is of course…
What Can Community Banks Learn From The Grateful Dead?
3 things…
- Always, always, always question your business model. Back in the 70’s, the music business model was selling records to make money — Top the charts and you’re set. You sign to a label, and then you go on tour to drive more album sales. Fans weren’t allowed to record the concert, and the concerts were usually just sterile reproductions of the album. The Dead did the exact opposite. They toured 5 nights a week for 4 hours a night, never playing the same set twice or the song the same way. They then, without much label support, then turned it into albums. They were the original purveyors of the experience economy, building an entire aura around their shows.
- Technology is key. The Dead leaned into technology (wall of sound, recording techniques) and vertical integration.
- Build and nurture the best community in the world. The famed ‘Deadheads’ sustain the Grateful Dead Machine and create endless new revenue channels + stickiness.
How does this tie to community banks? I’ll leave that to Ron at about the 24:00 mark…
In today’s episode, we discuss:
- How these institutions can “fight back,” especially through the lens of community and affinity
- Why community banks need to “find their bullseye”
- The tech problems facing these institutions
- How Ron is thinking about the neobank space and how the top leaders will play out
- and of course a fun rapid-fire round.
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Ryan Zauk
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Ryan Zauk is an MBA Candidate at The Wharton School, where he runs the Wharton FinTech Podcast. He currently works with the US International Development Finance Corp looking at technology impact investments in developing markets. He has a passion for music, media, and all things FinTech.
You can reach him at rzauk@wharton.upenn.edu or on Twitter.
