After 25 Years at Amex, One Big Bet on Bank Partnerships

David Blaha spent 25 years building relationships at American Express before becoming Chief Revenue Officer at Extend, a virtual card platform banks and fintechs use nationwide. His take: the smartest fintechs don't compete with banks, they arm them.  • How COVID turned virtual cards from a niche fix for interviewees and non-carded employees into an everyday bill pay tool for small and mid-size businesses • Why Extend builds the capability and lets banks sell it, instead of competing with neobanks like Ramp and Brex head on • What David had to unlearn from 25 years at Amex, from a full support team to booking his own travel and building his own systems to fill the gap • Why closing a deal with a major bank or card network takes years, not months, and what actually earns you the next stepThis one's for founders and revenue leaders trying to sell into institutions that move slower than they do, and for anyone who left a big company support system, and had to learn to move quickly without one.