Michael Hexner co-founded Wheel Works in 1976 and has served as CEO and Chairman until it was sold in 1999. Other roles in his career have included sevring as an administrative assistant in the Nixon White House, and as a Guest Lecturer at the Haas School and the University of Santa Clara. Since August 2016, he has been a Director at Heritage Global Inc and most recently at the Promise Academy in San Jose He acts as a Business Advisor to the WeTrust project.

Hi Michael, thanks for chatting with us. What first made you interested in the WeTrust project?

I met Patrick at a social occasion, and we stayed in touch for a few months. He mentioned you guys were talking about applying blockchain to finance. Coincidentally, I was talking to another young man working on a similar project applying blockchain to microfinance. I thought it was coincidental, and asked Patrick to stay in touch and send me some updates. About four months ago, he sent me a link to your abstract and your website. I was very impressed with the idea of a Trusted Lending Circle as a means of accelerating banking for the 2 billion plus adults who aren’t part of any current economic systems. I was intrigued with the concept of a dApp as part of the solution. That’s what got me interested — the basic thinking you guys are hitting on. What kept me interested is that in meeting with him and George, I was impressed with the curiosity they had, with their willingness to open ideas up to examination, and to consider other, different ways of doing things. I like people who are smart, and I was impressed by how smart everybody on the team was, while also being willing to learn. Those two traits don’t always go together.

When did you first hear about blockchain? What piqued your interest about it?

When I first heard of Bitcoin, the concept actually didn’t catch my interest. It was only later, when I learned about how blockchain could bring about this decentralization, while still retaining transparency, that I became really interested. I saw potential in the technology as a way of helping mankind.

What do you feel are some pain points or roadblocks WeTrust may encounter going forward, and how could we avoid them?

One of the big pain points is the fact that we need to remain agnostic to the ways the Trusted Lending Circles operate. If we start taking positions on the forepersons or borrowers, telling people they need to do things in a certain way, it could create unnecessary issues. This will also help us avoidliabilty, so that if there are disputes within some of the Trusted Lending Circles, WeTrust won’t be seen as taking an adversarial or negligent postionby the people in the dispute. . It’s also important that existing trusted social communities are the ones that form the first Trusted Lending Circles.

Any idea of an existing trusted group that would make ideal first customers for a Trusted Lending Circle?

There are certain groups for whom forming a Trusted Lending Circle within WeTrust makes all the sense in the world — they exist for their members but lack the platform to facillitate the service of improving banking for their members.. For example, you could use students at a university, or the PTA at a school, or a church. Target existing groups that have a sense of trust within themselves and maintaining their social capital within the group is important to the members. .

Thanks for the vote of confidence and the great ideas, Michael!

To learn more about the WeTrust project, join our slack!