ZacTownsend.com

Work

I am currently building Meanwhile, a life insurer.

I previously was a leader in the financial services practice of McKinsey & Company. I have past government experience as the inaugural Chief Data Officer of California and Senior Technology Policy Advisor to Newark, NJ Mayor Cory Booker.

I am a Y Combinator graduate, who built a banking API business called Standard Treasury and sold it to Silicon Valley Bank.

Podcasts, Video, Etc

• Life insurance and your money, with Zac Townsend
  Complex Systems Podcast, May 8th, 2025. (Apple, Spotify)
• Bitcoin Life Insurance? How Zac Townsend and Meanwhile Are Rebuilding a $1T Industry
  Entrepreneur Perspectives, May 8, 2025. (Apple, Spotify, Website)
• Why Most People Will Lose Their Bitcoin When They Die | Zac Townsend
  The Mark Moss Show, March 19, 2025. (Apple, Spotify, Omny)
• Meanwhile's CEO Zac Townsend on the world's first Bitcoin life insurance company
  Smart Humans, Vincent Private Markets, January 19, 2025. (Apple, Spotify, Website, Transcript).
• Here's how Meanwhile is trying to unleash the multitrillion dollar insurance industry onto bitcoin
  The Scoop, The Block, December 19, 2024. (Article)
• Transforming Insurance with Bitcoin: A Conversation with Zac Townsend, CEO of Meanwhile
  The Leadership in Insurance Podcast - Insurtech & Innovation, October 28, 2024.
• Life Insurance On A Bitcoin Standard with Zac Townsend
  What is Money?, August 13, 2024. (Also a podcast)
• Bitcoin Life Insurance Is Coming Fast!
  Pomp Podcast, April 22, 2024. (Also a podcast)
• Bitcoin backed insurance? Zac Townsend CEO of Meanwhile is making it happen
  The Insurance Podcast, Feb 20, 2024.
• Bitcoin Life Insurance with Zac Townsend
  Stephan Livera Podcast, January 31, 2024.
• Zac Townsend Interview - Building a Bitcoin Life Insurance Product
  Thinking Crypto, December 19, 2023.
• Life Bitcoin Insurance and AI Mapping with Zac Townsend and Ali Husain
  The Charlie Shrem Show, December 12, 2023.
• Life Insurance, Now In Bitcoin with Zac Townsend (Meanwhile) -
  WAGMI Ventures Podcast, December 7, 2023.
• Bitcoin pops above $30,000 as WisdomTree and Invesco join the bitcoin ETF rush:
  CNBC Crypto World, June 21, 2023.
• Meanwhile CEO on Future of Bitcoin Life Insurance
  Coindesk TV, June 9, 2023.

Written Media

• Meanwhile Bets on Bitcoin to Reinvent Life Insurance
  IIReporter, April 25, 2025.
• Meanwhile Announces Series A:
  • Meanwhile's $40M raise was Framework Ventures' 'largest equity investment'
    Blockworks, 14 April 2025.
  • Bitcoin can help captives hedge inflation, says Meanwhile's CEO
    Captive Insurance Times, 11 April 2025.
  • Bitcoin Life Insurance Firm Meanwhile Raises $40M to Expand Globally
    CoinDesk, 10 April 2025.
  • Meanwhile raises $40 million
    Coverager, 10 April 2025.
  • Exclusive: Crypto startup Meanwhile, which collects and pays out life insurance policies in Bitcoin, raises $40 million
    Fortune, 10 April 2025.
  • Bitcoin-denominated Meanwhile Raises $40M for BTC Life Insurance
    IIReporter, 10 April 2025.
  • Framework Ventures, Fulgur Ventures co-lead $40 million Series A for bitcoin life insurance startup Meanwhile
    The Block, 10 April 2025.
• Bermuda grants licence to bitcoin-only life insurer Meanwhile
  Captive Insurance Times, August 24, 2024.
• Pioneering Meanwhile first to receive BMA's IILT licence
  Royal Gazette, August 20, 2024.
• BMA licenses Meanwhile as a digital life insurer
  Bermuda Insurance Magazine, August 13, 2024.
• Bitcoin life insurance company sees beauty in boring
  Axios, November 8, 2023.
• Meanwhile announces seed funding:
  • Life insurer with premiums paid in cryptocurrency
    The Royal Gazette (Bermuda), June 6, 2023.
  • Bitcoin Life Insurance Startup Raises $19M in Seed Rounds Led by Sam Altman and Gradient Ventures
    Bitcoin.com, June 6, 2023
  • Sam Altman joins investors in $19 million round for crypto life insurance startup
    The Block, June 6, 2023.
  • Meanwhile secures $19m in funding across two seed rounds
    Reinsurance News, June 6, 2023.
  • Bitcoin-Denominated Life Insurance Provider Sets Up Shop With $19M Funding
    Coindesk, June 6, 2023.
  • The Bitcoin Powered Life Insurance, MEANWHILE, Raises $18M with Sam Altman & Gradient Ventures
    Blockster, June 6, 2023.
  • Meanwhile Digital Asset-Denominated Life Launches with $19M Funding
    Insurance Innovation Reporter, June 6, 2023.
  • The First-Ever Bitcoin-Denominated Life Insurer Embraces AI
    Tokenist, June 6, 2023.
  • Meanwhile, a Bitcoin life insurer backed by Sam Altman and Google's VC fund, raises $19 million at $100 million valuation
    Fortune, June 6, 2023.
• What the anti-mining bill means for the crypto industry in Texas
  Cointelegraph, May 30, 2023.
• Report: What States Are the Best for Data Innovation?
  Government Technology, July 31, 2017.
• CalData Project Seeks to Improve Data Use Across State Agencies
  Government Technology, March 27, 2017.
• Comparing California's Data Officer to Other States
  Techwire.net, September 29, 2016.
• California's Chief Data Officer Discusses Vendors, Innovation and Silicon Valley
  Techwire.net, September 21, 2016.
• California's Open Data Portal Goes Open Source for the Apps
  Route Fifty, September 2, 2016.
• California Launches First True Open Data Portal
  Techwire.net, September 2, 2016. (Also here).
• California Hires First-Ever Chief Data Officer
  Techwire.net, June 30, 2016. (Also here and here).
• Silicon Valley Bank Acquires Standard Treasury:
  • Build Your Own Bank? SVB Lets Customers Do Just That
    The American Banker, August 25, 2015.
  • Silicon Valley Bank Eyes API-Based Banking
    PPYMNTS.com, August 7, 2015.
  • Standard Treasury Hired to Aid Silicon Valley Bank's API Banking Services
    Payment Week, August 7, 2015.
  • Silicon Valley Bank acqui-hires Y Combinator startup Standard Treasury to evolve digital banking
    Silicon Valley Business Journal, August 6, 2015.
  • Silicon Valley Bank Hires API Startup Team to Expand Digital Banking
    American Banker, August 6, 2015.
  • Silicon Valley Bank Buys API Shop Standard Treasury
    Bank Innovation, August 6, 2015.
  • Silicon Valley Bank acquires startup team to build out API platform
    Finextra Research, August 6, 2015.
  • API Banking Startup, Standard Treasury, Joins Silicon Valley Bank
    Silicon Valley Bank Press Release, August 6, 2015.
• 30 Under 30: Enterprise Tech
  Forbes, January 5, 2015.
  (Also full enterprise tech list, YC list, NYU List).
• 2014 Innovators to Watch
  Bank Innovation, July 1, 2014.
• Standard Treasury Raises $2.7M to Help Banks Deliver Digital Services
  Wall Street Journal Blog, May 29, 2014.
• Top 8 Memes and Themes from Bank Innovation 2014
  Finovate, March 6, 2014.
• 6 Entrepreneur Myths Demystified
  Sofi Blog, January 21, 2014.
• 6 top startup picks from Y Combinator Demo Day
  Silicon Valley Business Journal, August 21, 2013.
• Celebrities (but not Ashton Kutcher) share their top cloud & infrastructure picks at YC
  Venture Beat, August 20, 2013.
• Standard Treasury Wants to Bring Banks into the 21st Century
  Programmable Web, July 23, 2013.
• YC Startup Standard Treasury Plans To Make Millions By Making It Easier For App Developers To Work With Banks
  Business Insider, July 18, 2013
• Standard Treasury Is Set to Close First Clients on Road to "Revolutionizing" Bank Technology
  Bank Innovation, July 12, 2013.
• YC-Backed Standard Treasury Aims To Make Software That Eats Commercial Banking
  TechCrunch, July 9, 2013.

Writing

My writing has appeared in the Financial Times, Slate, the American Banker, San Francisco Chronicle, The Mercury News, San Francisco Examiner, TechCrunch, BankInnovation,Blockworks, Coindesk and more:

• Crypto for Advisors: Bitcoin Inheritance Strategies
  Coindesk, April 9, 2025.
• California doesn't need DOGE, but there's plenty of wasteful spending and bureaucracy to cut
  CalMatters, March 12, 2025.
• Why a U.S. Bitcoin Strategic Reserve Is Critical to Fending Off China
  Coindesk, December 31, 2024.
• Kamala Harris's Unrealized Capital Gains Tax Would Hurt All Crypto Investors
  Coindesk, October 2, 2024.
• Crypto investors must embrace new tax rules or risk falling behind
  Blockworks, July 24, 2024.
• Bitcoin's Future as Currency
  CoinDesk, April 1, 2024.
• How Clear and Effective Crypto Regulations are Born
  CoinDesk, October 16, 2023.
• Bitcoin Beyond the Currency -- the Disruption of Industries
  Nasdaq, August 1, 2023.
• With so little data collected, SF can't be accountable on Prop. C spending ' or any other
  San Francisco Chronicle, November 8, 2018.
Build a public bank in S.F.
San Francisco Examiner, May 17, 2018.
• Vote your values with your dollars: Support an SF public bank
  San Francisco Chronicle, May 6, 2018.
• Fintech in the US is stymied by old-fashioned regulators
  Financial Times, April 16, 2018.
• Analog Regulators Can't Keep Up With the Digital Age: To regulate new technologies like self-driving cars, we need new policymaking tools
  Slate, March 28, 2018.
• Regulators need to step up their game to stop tech-based discrimination
  American Banker, March 7, 2018.
• Financial technology matures as government steps in
  TechCrunch, June 19, 2016.
• Tech industry, regulators' relationship needs a reboot
  San Jose Mercury News, March 7, 2016.
• California should take its business to community banks
  San Francisco Chronicle, Sunday Insight section, February 14, 2016.
  (No paywall here on my blog).
• Why I'm Mentoring for America
  Code for America's Blogging for America, November 1, 2013.
• Ultimately, banks are "big data" and technology companies (letter to the editor)
  Financial Times, October 4, 2013 .
• Introducing the idea of an open-source suite for municipal governments
  Harvard Ash Center, December 05, 2012.
• Fairness in Civic Technology and City Services
  Living Cities Blog, December 03, 2012.
• Dreaming Bigger in the Civic Technology Movement
  Living Cities Blog, August 06, 2012.
• The Other Open Source for the Civic Sector
  Google's Policy by the Numbers Blog, May 29, 2012.
• A Job Vital to the State's Poor Goes Unfilled
  Albany Times-Union, November 12, 2011.
• Townsend, Z., Buckley, S. P, Harada, M., Scott, M. A. "The Choice Between Fixed and Random Effects", in The SAGE Handbook of Multilevel Modeling, Scott, M.A., Simonoff, J. and Marx, B.D. (eds.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

I occationally write on my blog:

• Process vs data: who wins in the vertical AI race, May 7, 2025.
• Know Your Enemy: How Three Years at McKinsey Shaped My Second Startup, May 4, 2025.
• Idiot to insider: the basics of building a life insurer, December 11, 2024.
• The 100-Year Startup: Life insurance and abundance, December 4, 2024.
• Winning the AI application layer will require vertical business models, October 25, 2024.
• Empathy on entrance price: Bridge.xyz and Astranis, October 21, 2024.
• Digital Only: The Challengers Taking on Big Banking in the UK, April 18, 2018.
• Let's Get Organized and Fix Housing Affordability in San Francisco, April 11, 2016.
• Building a Fair and Functioning San Francisco Together, April 5, 2016.
• Broken Promises: The Housing Market in San Francisco (And Ten Ideas to Fix It), March 30, 2016.
• Does the California Fair Pay Act Go Far Enough?, March 15, 2016.
• Analyzing Some (Miscited) Entrepreneurship Research, September 8, 2015.
• Standard Treasury Joins Silicon Valley Bank, August 6, 2015.
• What Business Is Square In Exactly?, July 29, 2015.
• Standard Treasury's Series A Pitch Deck, July 28, 2015.
• My Brief Time Fighting Human Trafficking, March 31, 2015.
• Standard Treasury as a Startup Bank, January 13, 2015.
• My Mental Health Story: Depression, Plagiarism, and Analysis, October 29, 2014.
• Losing 58.3 Lbs For Science, October 10, 2014.
• Building the Next Generation of Financial Infrastructure, August 28, 2014.
• Mental Health, Trauma, and Startup Founders, August 22, 2014.
• Founders and Mental Health, June 16, 2014.
• APIs, App Stores, and the Era of Mass Customization in Banking, April 21, 2014.
• Startup Banking's Looming Leviathan, April 16, 2014.
• Going Through Y Combinator (S13): Nine Lessons Learned, Mar 4, 2014.
  (Translated in to Japanese)
• Five Lessons from Building A Great Core Team at Standard Treasury, Feb 25, 2014.
• Building A Founding Team at Standard Treasury, Feb 24, 2014.
• The Path Not Taken by Simple (Bank) to Remake Finance, Feb 20, 2014.
  (Republished at Bank Innovation)
• Giving Credit Card Processing Away, Nov 18, 2013.
• A (Successful) YC S13 Application, Oct 18, 2013.
• Advice on the YC Application, Oct 17, 2013.
• Getting in to YC, Oct 15, 2013.
• Why I Invest in Online-to-Offline Businesses, Oct 8, 2013.
• Ultimately, Banks are "Big Data" and Technology Companies, Oct 4, 2013.
  (Republished from the Financial Times)
• Credit Card Processing as a Commodity Business, Sep 27, 2013.
• Credit Card Processing is a Hard Business, Sep 26, 2013.

I have written for McKinsey & Company:

• Financial data unbound: The value of open data for individuals and institutions
  McKinsey Global Institute Article, June 24, 2021.
• Disrupting the disruptors: Business building for banks
  Financial Services Article, April 15, 2021.
• What the embedded-finance and banking-as-a-service trends mean for financial services
  Banking and Securities matters, March 1, 2021.
• COVID-19: Making the case for robust digital financial infrastructure
  McKinsey Global Institute Article, January 26, 2021.
• How US customers’ attitudes to fintech are shifting during the pandemic
  Financial Services Article, December 17, 2020.
• Ecosystem 2.0: Climbing to the next level
  McKinsey Quarterly, September 11, 2020.
• Seven ways for financial institutions to react to financial-technology companies
  Banking and Securities matters, July 27, 2020.
• The emerging era of PaaS: payments as a service
  Global Payments Report, September 2019.
• Scanning the fintech landscape: 10 disruptive models
  Banking and Securities matters, May 8, 2019.

Online Identities

LinkedIn
Twitter

Angel investment

I very, very rarely make angel investments (this is a comprehensive list):

• Bridge (acquired for $1.1B by Stripe)
• Astranis (last public valuation $1.6B)
• Camber (Series A & B by A16Z)
• Griffin Bank (Series A)
• Kettle (Series A by Acrew, Homebrew, True, etc)
• Compound (merger/acquisition after Series A by Greenoaks / Lachy)
• 1 dissolution