Robinhood: Vlad Tenev

How I Built This · 12 Apr 2021 · 1h 21m

What this episode covers

Vlad Tenev, co-founder and CEO of Robinhood, explains how he and co-founder Baiju Bhatt pivoted from building low-latency algorithmic trading software for institutions (Kronos Research) to creating a commission-free mobile stock trading app. Tenev details the regulatory hurdles, including the 'catch-22' of needing capital to get licensed, and the business model reliance on payment for order flow. He also addresses the GameStop controversy, system outages, and the company's commitment to safety guardrails like prohibiting short selling.

Mentioned

Companies
Robinhood, Kronos Research, Google Ventures, TD Ameritrade, E-Trade
Products
GameStop, AMC, Foursquare, Instagram
Also
Tim Draper, NSCC

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