Private, Secure, Embedded: ASA's Story + Lessons in Grit and Growth

Episode Summary

In this episode of The Breakout CEO podcast, Jeff Holman speaks with Landon Glenn, founder of ASA, a fintech startup on a mission to transform how we bank.

Landon shares his founding story: difficult early years on a small orchard to building Banzai (a financial literacy platform in schools), to now launching ASA.

He discusses key moments of validation (patents, partnerships, core processor integrations), what motivates him, and the hurdles ASA must overcome next, including audited financials, product expansion (stock / crypto embedding), and moving toward a NASDAQ listing.

By emphasizing security, privacy, financial empowerment, and literacy, Landon gives a blueprint for how grit, vision, and strategic execution can combine to scale a deeply ambitious fintech platform.

Featured Breakout: The Sequence of Breakout Moments That Define ASA

The moment: Filing ASA’s first patent (and having it issued three months before Apple’s related filing) was a defining early signal. It proved that a small startup could innovate at the highest level. Soon after, Landon recruited Austin Adams, the former CIO of JP Morgan Chase, as Chairman of the Board. For investors and partners, these milestones marked ASA as more than just another fintech idea.

The turn: With credibility in hand, Landon leaned into accelerators, challenge competitions, and pitch opportunities. ASA began winning awards and, more importantly, attention from banks and credit unions. The tipping point came when ASA struck a deep enterprise partnership with ShareTech, a core processor serving 300 credit unions and more than a million members. Integration at that level is trust, staying power, and scale.

The breakout: ASA positioned itself not as a consumer-facing app, but as an “app inside the bank app,” extending what financial institutions can offer while protecting privacy and security. Instead of competing with banks, ASA became the partner that helps them innovate faster. With long-term integrations, a strong board, and technical credibility, ASA’s path to expansion began to crystallize.

The lesson for CEOs: Breakout isn’t one moment. It’s a sequence. Patent wins, board credibility, and strategic partnerships each step compounds momentum. For scaling CEOs:

• Stack validations. Each milestone makes the next one possible.
• Protect trust. Privacy and security are non-negotiables.
• Build foundations early. Audited financials, systems, and the right investors prepare you for scale long before IPO conversations.
• Stay humble, stay sponge-like. Ask questions, absorb feedback, and be willing to pivot when the data points elsewhere.

Listen to the full episode for Landon’s detailed journey, including how he positioned ASA as a trusted partner to financial institutions and the roadmap he’s building toward public scale.

Soundbites From Landon Glenn

• "If someone tells me I can't do something, there is nothing in the world that will come between me and accomplishing that thing."
• "Everything I've ever done has undertones of financial education, financial empowerment, and helping people to be able to live a better life."
• "As you put the effort in and you tell the story, a lot of times they see your drive and determination and that nothing can stop you—those are the people they want to bet on and those are the people they want to do business with."
• "When you're innovating and trying to create a new space and change the industry, those little moments are so big."
• "The feedback we got along the way, the pivots, the challenges, those hard moments where you just don't know what the path forward is or if there's a path forward—you figure it out. There's always a way."

Conclusion

Landon Glenn’s story with ASA is one of grit, persistence, and vision steadily reinforced by a sequence of breakout moments. Each patent win, strategic hire, and core partnership added credibility, trust, and momentum, creating a foundation that could carry the weight of bigger ambitions.

What makes ASA compelling is the way it blends bold vision with practical execution. From protecting user privacy to working hand-in-hand with financial institutions, ASA has positioned itself as both an innovator and a trusted partner.

The road ahead is ambitious, with audited financials, product expansions, and a NASDAQ listing on the horizon but as Landon makes clear, success is rarely about a single leap forward, it’s about stacking the right moves in sequence until the bigger picture comes into focus. ASA is well on its way, and its story serves as a powerful reminder of how vision, resilience, and relentless execution come together to redefine an industry.

If you leave this episode with anything, let it be this: don’t wait for the perfect moment, create your sequence of breakout moments. Every patent, partnership, mentor, investor move, product win builds toward something bigger.

About Landon Glenn and ASA

Landon Glenn is the founder of ASA, a fintech platform that sits “inside the bank app” to enhance what banking can do — with deep focus on security, identity, payments, and data privacy. Prior to ASA, he founded Banzai, a financial literacy platform used in schools across the U.S., and he has been driven throughout by a passion for financial empowerment and transformational impact.
LinkedIn: Landon Glenn

‍ASA is building embedded banking infrastructure: financial institutions partner with ASA’s platform to offer users enhanced, secure financial tools (payments, identity, data connectivity) without sacrificing privacy. The goal is to unite traditional banking, AI/ML, and even DeFi elements in a seamless, secure experience.
Website: https://asavault.com/

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About Jeff Holman and Intellectual Strategies

Jeff Holman is a CEO advisor, legal strategist, and founder of Intellectual Strategies. With years of experience guiding leaders through complex business and legal challenges, Jeff equips CEOs to scale with confidence by blending legal expertise with strategic foresight. Connect with him on LinkedIn.

Intellectual Strategies provides innovative legal solutions for CEOs and founders through its fractional legal team model. By offering proactive, integrated legal support at predictable costs, the firm helps leaders protect their businesses, manage risk, and focus on growth with confidence.

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About The Breakout CEO Podcast

The Breakout CEO podcast brings you inside the pivotal moments of scaling leaders. Each week, host Jeff Holman spotlights breakout stories of scaling CEOs—showing how resilience, insight, and strategy create pivotal inflection points and lasting growth.

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