SXSW Pitch Finalist: Passbase
The Forrest Four-Cast: February 26, 2020
Passbase is tackling a huge and essential challenge: how to build a secure, private, and convenient digital world.
One of 50 finalists for SXSW Pitch 2020, Passbase is an off-the-shelf identity verification solution that allows developers, with just a few lines of code, to confirm the identity of users through a combination of liveness detection, one-to-one facial comparison, and forensic ID authenticity checks. It gets up and running fast with simple pricing, minimal engineering effort, and global document coverage.
They’re also pushing to enrich this identity data with information relevant to anti-money laundering compliance, social accounts, and even background checks. It does all this with a strong emphasis on user-controlled data and individual privacy.
See the Passbase pitch in the category of Enterprise & Smart Data Technology, 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm Saturday, March 14, before a live audience and a panel of expert judges.
Winners in each of the 10 categories will be announced at the Pitch Awards Ceremony, at 6:30 pm Sunday, March 15. SXSW attendees are also invited to Meet the Finalists from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm Monday, March 16. All SXSW Pitch events take place at the Hilton Austin Downtown.
Dave McGibbon, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer, left his dream job at Google X, to start the company in October 2018. He talked about the importance of the people you’re surrounded by, meeting former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, and why pride is overrated.
What is your top goal for Passbase for 2020?
Authenticate one million people.
If you weren’t working for Passbase, what would you be doing?
Trying to build something else that matters. Seems like the only logical thing to do.
With the exception of your Passbase, what tech trend is your team most excited about?
The concept of data sovereignty. This idea will drive a massive shift regulations and consumer choice over the coming decades.
What is the most overhyped tech trend of 2020?
I believe cryptocurrency generally is overvalued. I believe in decentralization, creative encryption, data sovereignty, and many of the principles that underpin blockchain technologies. However, I believe the final form will not be something as flashy as crypto. My thesis is that blockchains are supposed to be boring. Consumers care about what a product does, not how it does it. Once blockchain and blockchain-adjacent technologies become like relational databases (hidden, boring, functional) then they will be extremely valuable.
What has the startup experience taught you about life?
Who you surround yourself with is everything. The founding process extremely challenging and when things get hard you need people to lean on both for advice and support!
Which living person do you most admire and why?
Hard question. I don’t like to glorify people; we are all human after all. If I have to choose, I would say Elon Musk. His ability to inspire social change using the power of private markets is impressive, and he has generally targeted areas that need changing. I don’t think billionaires will save the world, but in terms of having positive social impact, Musk has pushed a few industries in positive directions.
What do you think is the most overrated virtue?
Pride. Overexerting your ego can be damaging. You should believe in yourself, not because you think you are good or right but because you are willing to be proven wrong and learn from it.
Tell us your favorite thing about being based in New York.
I love New York because it’s deeply honest. I find that in many places culture gets in the way of being honest. Whether it’s due to “hospitality” or people’s desire to be perceived as “chill,” I just find those cultures stifling. New Yorkers will tell you how it is and I love that.
Which talent would you most like to have?
If I could live two parallel lives, I would push much deeper into computer science. The ability to command bits and the fabric of digital reality is fascinating and powerful.
What’s your actual super power?
I’ve been told my super power is being able to explain anything, no matter how complicated, to anyone. This comes from a combination of a couple things:
(1) A first-principles approach to understanding problems and systems. I mean really taking the time to understand how things work at the atomic level.
(2) A dedication to synthesizing information into understandable analogies and frameworks. I take a lot of inspiration from waitbutwhy.com’s writer Tim Urban here.
(3) Lastly, an empathetic approach to conversations. I try to understand people and meet them where they are.
Together this gives me a really great ability to explain complex things!
What motto or quote do you live by?
If something seems is complicated, you don’t understand it well enough.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten — or given?
A wrong decision is better than no decision.
Tell us about something you love.
I’m a huge electronic music fan. Generally, in the deep and tribal variety. Our team at Passbase actually DJs this music together after hours for fun!
What do you do when you are low on energy?
Diet Coke. Guilty pleasure.
Tell us about a memorable celebrity encounter.
While at Google, my best friend and I hosted Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor, to speak about this impact of technology on the future of labor at Google Campus. Bob (as he asked us to call him) was an outspoken anti-Trump activist and that day an anti-Trump rally popped up on campus. I ended up needing to serve as Bob’s impromptu bouncer as we took him through an excited group of anti-Trump campaigners. Memorable indeed.
If you were offered the opportunity to colonize Mars (but with no guarantee that you would ever return to Earth), would you go?
Eventually, I would consider a one-way ticket to Mars. It really depends on if my friends and loved ones would be in and the social circumstances of society moving to Mars.
I fear that a migration to Mars could come to represent a schism in society between those who can afford to flee a polluted earth and those who cannot. In that case, I think it’s our duty to continue to invest in earth’s longevity while also becoming an interplanetary species. I think we underestimate the social impact of becoming an interplanetary species. Luckily, we have time to figure that out.
Look for more interviews with other finalists in this space between now and the start of SXSW Pitch on Saturday, March 14. Visit this page to see all previous interviews in this series as well as a list of all finalists.
If you are an entrepreneur, check out the SXSW 2020 Startups Track, which runs March 13–17. This track brings together founders and funders and showcases exciting new companies, products, services, and business models across different verticals and industries.
Hugh Forrest serves as Chief Programming Officer at SXSW, the world’s most unique gathering of creative professionals. He also tries to write at least four paragraphs per day on Medium. These posts often cover tech-related trends; other times they focus on books, pop culture, sports and other current events.
