Alex Du dropped out of Stanford GSB five months before graduation to become employee #1 at Column. Six years later, he's COO of a nationally chartered bank that's rebuilding banking infrastructure from scratch.

In this episode, Alex and Todd Sorrel (CEO of 6lock) dive deep into what it takes to build a championship culture in an industry that's never been known for it. From owning 100% of your infrastructure stack to understanding why that 0.001% of edge case payments creates 90% of the value, this conversation is essential listening for anyone building in fintech or serving private markets.

Topics covered:

• Why Alex left Stanford 5 months before graduation
• The TAM + Team + Problem framework for early-stage companies
• How Column bought a bank and rebuilt the core from scratch
• Building championship culture: "Culture eats strategy for breakfast, lunch, and dinner"
• The 0.001% game — why edge cases create all the value in payments
• Column's approach to AI in banking infrastructure

Chapters:

00:00 - Introduction

02:50 - The Stanford Dropout Story: When Plaid's Co-Founder Calls, You Show Up

09:44 - No One Likes Their Banking Partner And That's a Huge Opportunity 12:51 - Culture Eats Strategy For Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

32:29 - Why Column Had to Own the Entire Stack

42:16 - The 0.001% Game: Why All the Value in Payments Lives in the Edge Cases

48:57 - How is Column Approaching AI?