July 6, 2026
Bam Azizi: The Pivot That Created a Unicorn
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In this episode of Skin in the Game, Saxon Baum sits down with Bam Azizi, founder and CEO of Mesh and the first unicorn founder in the FLF portfolio.
Bam's story is one of grit, resilience, and relentless execution. They talk about his journey from growing up in Iran to immigrating to the U.S., earning a PhD, launching and selling his first company, NoPassword, and eventually building Mesh into one of the most exciting infrastructure companies in fintech.
Along the way, Bam shares what it was like building a company as an immigrant founder, the lessons he learned from hearing thousands of investor "no's," and why resilience matters more than almost any other trait in entrepreneurship.
They also dive into the evolution of Mesh, from its early consumer-focused days to becoming the infrastructure layer connecting digital assets, stablecoins, and traditional financial institutions. Bam walks through the pivotal decisions that shaped the company and why he believes we're still in the early innings of a massive shift in how money moves around the world.
The conversation covers fundraising, enterprise sales, founder lessons, stablecoins, tokenization, and the future of financial infrastructure. Whether you're building a startup, investing in technology, or simply curious about where finance is headed, there's a lot to take away from this one.
Most importantly, it's a conversation about what it really takes to build something meaningful when there is no Plan B.
