The Power of Modern Day Emails

I have recently decided to create and maintain an e-mail list for my customers, potential customers and professional connections, and it was actually a big and non-conventional decision.

Behind the scenes, I (like you, probably) receive tons of emails from people I meet at conferences, meetups or virtually, and some of these emails are very specific (asking about compliance or regulations, or asking for introductions to someone I know) and others are more casual (links to something I may find interesting). If I like that person, I very much like to hear from them and know what they are up to. Meaning – emails still have a role. I do appreciate that personal emails give you a space, in a sense that they are non-instant, and you can respond whenever you feel like, or not respond at all, or re-read something, when you need it.

Don’t get me wrong –  I’m am on Messengers, Slacks, Telegrams, Keybases, WhatsApps & Co more than I ever wanted 😉  Writing emails may feel like is a very formal and old-fashioned and often redundant thing to do. At the same time, it’s very symbolic.

We all care about best strategies for talking to regulators, looking if more banks are opening up to crypto, solving issues with hiring and firing people, pushing your businesses forward, comparing different jurisdictions and business models, managing better your time and your teams, testing new KYC tools – list really goes on…

Like yesterday. I met with regulators in one of the countries we have business, we talked, and it was very clear that they felt bound by something written in a law a long time ago. Logically, they understood that this specific requirement may not make a lot of sense, or may be achieved by different means, but as regulators, they have to enforce the law – regardless.

There was a moment when I felt really frustrated by the situation. It was not personal – quite opposite, it was a very friendly and open conversation, but “existentially” at some point it felt like a dead-end: how do we move past this that and solve the issue? I did not really see at the time a way forward. Like, there was no way that this FinTech startup would start collecting physical documents with notarized signatures by registered mail (I’m talking figuratively) and there was no way that the parliament in this country was going to change the law in the next 2 months.

A lot of compliance people know, that there is always a way and that the common sense will prevail, but at the time, I just did not see the “how”. Later that night, I talked to a friend from PayPal, we went down the memory lane of how we were introducing remembered login experience with PayPal Touch and how many issues it caused from the regulatory perspective, with respect to strong authentication requirements. But we solved it, after a while. Funnily enough, during this conversation with a friend, I had an a-ha moment, and now I have an idea how to combine different regulatory provisions and successfully argue the case.

Lessons learnt:

• Talking to someone can un-block you, when you feel stuck.
• Regulators love quotes, comparison tables, and data.
• Think about the spirit of the law, when the letter of the law is not something that you feel you can do. Maybe you will find a way to achieve the same thing by other means?
• Don’t try to solve the issue in one meeting, it often works better, when there is a process and a dialogue, where trust is built over time.

Anyway. Back to emails. One of the other arguments in my head against sending email updates was my fear to make this long-term commitment. I did not want to start something and then not follow through. But now, I reached a point, where I’m ready, because I know I value my network, I care about what they think and I want to demonstrate that my business is legit, long-term focused, and sort of “here to stay” and stay connected.

I hope you are thinking big and long-term and taking brave bold steps. Have a great day!