# Figure Co-Founder: How Figure Became A $10B Business | Mike Cagney Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/empire-1487353/figure-co-founder-how-figure-became-a-10b-business-mike-cagney Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/empire-1487353/figure-co-founder-how-figure-became-a-10b-business-mike-cagney.md Podcast: [Empire](https://stenobird.com/podcast/empire-1487353) Published: 2026-05-19T16:28:00+00:00 Episode link: https://chrt.fm/track/713ACD/traffic.megaphone.fm/BWG8602527905.mp3 Audio file: https://chrt.fm/track/713ACD/traffic.megaphone.fm/BWG8602527905.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/empire-1487353/episodes/figure-co-founder-how-figure-became-a-10b-business-mike-cagney Duration seconds: 4478 ## Resource This week, Mike Cagney joins the show to discuss Figure and how it became the leading non-bank HELOC lender in the U.S. We deep dive into how Figure leverages blockchain rails to scale the next evolution of capital markets before Mike shares his thoughts on tokenization, being a public vs private company, how to fix tokens and more. Enjoy! -- Follow Mike: https://x.com/mcagney Follow Jason: https://x.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Empire: https://x.com/theempirepod -- Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (03:20) How Do Blockchains Disrupt Capital Markets? (09:28) Why Did Mike Build Figure? (27:00) Will Figure Launch a Wallet? (38:05) SoFi’s Superbowl Ads (45:42) Tokenizing Equities (55:08) The Provenance Blockchain (01:01:46) Being a Public vs Private Company (01:07:18) How To Fix Tokens (01:12:27) What’s Next For Crypto In 5 Years? -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, Rob and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed. ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/empire-1487353/episodes/figure-co-founder-how-figure-became-a-10b-business-mike-cagney/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/empire-1487353/figure-co-founder-how-figure-became-a-10b-business-mike-cagney.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.