10. Fintech, Consumer, Marketplaces & Crypto

Scope. This section covers four sectors that venture capital often groups together because they share a core trait. Their value depends on people and money moving through a network, not on selling seats of software to companies. Fintech makes money from the balance sheet, interchange and regulatory permission. Consumer companies make money from attention, brand and repeat purchases. Marketplaces make money from liquidity and take rates. Crypto makes money from protocols, tokens and the cost of capital. Each has produced some of venture's largest outcomes (PayPal, Stripe, Nubank, Facebook, Airbnb, Uber, Coinbase) and some of its most spectacular write-offs (FTX, Synapse, Quibi, the 2021 direct-to-consumer cohort).