Tip of the Spear: Melissa Keir, Fintech Executive, Former Marqeta

January 22, 2026

By The Artemis Fund
The Artemis Fund believes technology can create prosperity for all. With offices in New York, Texas, Massachusetts, and Nevada, Artemis leads seed rounds for companies creating resilient families, individuals, and businesses across the US.
Tip of the Spear is an interview series highlighting The Artemis Fund’s expert network. In this edition, we sat down with Melissa Keir, strategic fintech executive and former VP of Global Partnerships & New Market Entry at Marqeta.

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Q: What was your first job, and what did you take from it that still shapes how you work today?
A: My first job was in the children’s department of a public library outside Chicago. We had two PCs where kids could sign up for 30-minute sessions to play games like Oregon Trail. My role was to supervise; make sure the kids behaved and didn’t damage the computers.
It was a great first job. Kids would come after school, play, and then head home. I had regulars. It wasn’t profound, but it was my first real work experience. I was getting paid, the environment was pleasant, and I remember thinking: this is what work can feel like. That stuck with me.
Q: Looking back, were there any “sliding door” moments that changed your trajectory?
A: Yes. The biggest one was when I left multifamily housing and moved into payments.
I was working at RealPage, which had acquired the startup I originally joined. It had been my first startup experience; I’d relocated from Chicago to San Francisco for it. The exit wasn’t huge, but it was meaningful for me. Eventually everyone from the original startup started leaving. I looked around and thought, why am I still here if everyone else has moved on?
Around that time, I was introduced to Jason Gardner, who also came from multifamily, and he asked me to interview at Marqeta. At that point Marqeta was a loyalty play, and I vividly remember walking out of the interview thinking, they probably won’t be around in a year or so. I didn’t see how they’d compete with Groupon, Belly, and LevelUp.
But I liked the team, I was ready for a change, and I thought: why not? I figured I’d try it for a year and pivot if needed. I had no idea what the future had in store for Marqeta.
Q: You helped take Marqeta from startup to global player. What surprised you most about scaling fintech infrastructure across different markets?
A: Looking back, the surprises came less from the global expansion and more from the sheer pace of the company. Things were moving so fast that there often wasn’t time to pause and think deeply. A lot of the learnings were retrospective. We learned by making mistakes, then course-correcting.
Post investment from Visa, we started shifting into a more mature mode: still fast-paced, but more proactive and thoughtful. It’s a natural evolution for any company that’s scaling quickly.
Q: For founders considering international expansion, what do you think is most misunderstood about the tradeoffs and timing?
A: Not all companies expand into new geographies, but Marqeta did, and it was a steep learning curve. We moved aggressively at first, and in hindsight, I don’t think we fully appreciated how much work was required. It’s not something that generates revenue on day one; it’s an investment, and you’re often operating at a loss for three to five years before you see real traction.
Payments also has regulatory complexity that is often overlooked. It’s a lot more nuanced than it seems from the outside. In short: expanding internationally is harder, slower, and more resource-intensive than most founders expect.
Q: As fintech matures, what parts of the ecosystem still feel “broken” or ripe for reinvention?
A: I don’t know that I’d call anything “broken,” but several areas feel wide open. AI is one. We’re still in the early days of understanding how it can enhance payments and create frictionless consumer experiences.
I tend to look through the lens of the consumer: people want things faster, safer, and with less effort. If you can surface the right information or call to action in the app someone is already using (securely and seamlessly) that’s where meaningful change will happen. AI can be the engine behind that.
Buy now, pay later (BNPL) fits into this too: the question is how to make it easier, safer, and more integrated. Consumers want confidence that their payment is secure and that the experience will just work.
Lastly, deposit tokens are another channel that will have huge potential to reshape money movement and payments.
Q: What’s a common trait you see in really resilient founders?
A: The most resilient founders have a deep conviction about their vision with an openness to stay curious and responsive to change.
Thinking back to COVID, companies like Instacart and DoorDash had to scale faster than they were prepared for. Internally it must have felt chaotic, but from a consumer standpoint, they didn’t miss a beat as they provided an essential service in a time of uncertainty.
On the other side, founders whose businesses suddenly went sideways had to pivot quickly, communicate clearly, and keep their teams aligned. Those moments happen frequently. Maybe not at COVID magnitude, but still significant. Resilience is the ability to adapt without losing the core of what you’re building.
Q: What’s one thing you wish more early-stage founders understood about scaling through partners or selling into enterprise?
A: First, founders should be clear about what they want to own as their core IP. Knowing what is truly yours is foundational.
Partnerships often get overlooked, partly because early-stage startups are willing to do anything: lean in, take on extra work, or operate to their own detriment. That creates a fear that a partner won’t match your effort or urgency.
The right partnerships can be transformative. They can accelerate your roadmap, unlock revenue, and help you achieve things much faster than building everything yourself. The key is being thoughtful upfront about what you want to own and where collaboration can unlock value.
Q: What do great partnership or go-to-market leaders do differently in the early days?
A: Leaders with first-hand startup experience bring a different lens. Even when you’re hiring industry experts or people from larger organizations, having people who’ve lived the early-stage chaos matters. They understand how to balance scrappiness with structure, and how to build foundations that can evolve as the company scales without prematurely optimizing for being 100x bigger.
Q: Is there a trend, company, or founder you’re especially excited about right now?
A: I’m very interested in how AI evolves. Beyond fraud and security use cases, I think the consumer experience side of AI will be fascinating to watch: personalization, intelligence layered into everyday interactions, transparency around payments. We’re still scratching the surface.
Q: What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve ever received?
A: I got this advice while at Marqeta, though it was something I was vaguely aware of before, it just landed differently when I heard it.
I wanted to take on more responsibility, get promoted, be seen as someone who could step up. I was talking with our Chief Revenue Officer at the time, who was also a mentor. He said:
“I think you can do more. But you need to be able to tell me, clearly, what you’ve delivered and what you’ve brought to the organization.”
He then listed major accomplishments from different people and asked, “Now what’s your story?”
I had small wins, but nothing that felt like a signature achievement. I told him I’d think about it and bring something back next time.
Walking away, I realized: I’d never thought about branding myself inside an organization. I’d always assumed that because I worked closely with people, they automatically knew the impact I was having. That’s not true, especially as companies scale.
It was a mindset shift. Branding yourself externally when job-hunting is obvious, but doing it internally is just as critical.
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