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This Week in Startups · July 6, 2026 · 00:58:01

$100T is managed by "human duct tape" | E2308

Chris Hladczuk, CEO of Hanover Park, reveals how $100 trillion in global assets are managed through inefficient legacy systems held together by armies of accountants using spreadsheets and disconnected tools. Hanover Park has grown from overseeing $1B to $20B in assets in 15 months by replacing this "human duct tape" with AI-powered infrastructure. The episode also features a flashback to Dylan Field discussing Figma's early go-to-market strategy in March 2020.

This summary was generated from show notes and public descriptions, not from a full transcript review. Details may contain inaccuracies.

Novel

AI Replacing Human Duct Tape in Financial Operations
Hanover Park is replacing manual financial workflows with AI, enabling fund managers to eliminate redundant accounting staff and accelerate decision-making across asset portfolios.

Highlights

Human Duct Tape: Manual Labor Holding $100T in Assets
Global asset management relies on armies of accountants manually patching together data from disconnected legacy tools like QuickBooks and Excel, creating systemic inefficiency across a $100 trillion market.

Editorial

Financial institutions are locked into fragmented tech stacks where QuickBooks, Excel, and proprietary fund accounting software do not integrate, making it difficult to migrate or consolidate.
Hanover Park achieved 20x growth in assets under management in 15 months by solving a widespread operational bottleneck that affects every asset manager.
In a 2020 flashback, Dylan Field discussed Figma's go-to-market strategy and expressed concern about SaaS burnout—years before the category's wider reckoning in 2022-2023.

Misc

Hanover Park scaled from $1B to $20B AUM in 15 months
$100 trillion global asset management market still relies on manual data entry and Excel
Legacy financial systems (QuickBooks, Excel) are holding fund data hostage
Dylan Field on SaaS burnout concerns in March 2020, before category collapse
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