I know I just posted about a movie yesterday, but I just watched the documentary STANDOUT: The Ben Kjar Story, and I am completely ruined in the best possible way.
It is the true story of Ben Kjar, a wrestler who became Utah Valley University’s first NCAA Division I All-American despite being born with Crouzon syndrome.
There is a specific moment that absolutely broke me.
You see Ben on the podium alongside Anthony Robles, another extraordinary wrestler who had just won the NCAA Division I national championship despite being born with one leg.
What an incredible moment!
Here were two people standing among the best in their sport who had been given every reason to believe they didn’t belong there. They had endured physical barriers, cruelty, rejection, and people making assumptions about what they were capable of before they ever had the chance to prove them wrong.
And there they were. On the podium.
I couldn’t help but think about the startup journey.
In the venture world, being a neurodivergent founding team is often viewed as a liability. Building a fintech product specifically for neurodivergent adults is often viewed as a niche market. We are constantly underestimated.
But watching Ben and Anthony reminded me of a profound truth: the trials we face do not disqualify us. They can become the exact crucible that gives us the grit to build something unstoppable.
We will not let being underestimated stop us. We will not let the lack of traditional privilege keep us out of the room.
We are building Pistachio Pay because the financial system is broken for millions of people. And the people who have had to fight the hardest to survive a system that wasn’t built for them may be the exact people equipped to build something better.
Money should work with your brain.
Pistachio Pay is being built to reduce the mental load of money management for neurodivergent adults.