Terence McMenamin, CEO and Co-Founder of Techdollar – Interview Series

Terence McMenamin, CEO and Co-Founder of Techdollar, is an entrepreneur and fintech executive with experience spanning education technology, digital assets, and private markets. A previously exited edtech founder, he has spent more than six years building and scaling crypto products and financial infrastructure. Prior to launching Techdollar, McMenamin served as Head of Strategy at Dinero Labs, which was later acquired by Plume Network, where he helped design structured institutional investment products and collaborated on the launch of a high-yield ETH fund backed by Galaxy and managed by Nomura’s Laser Digital. He also co-led incubations at Build-a-Bera and helped raise more than $40 million from institutional investors. At Techdollar, McMenamin oversees product strategy, company vision, and go-to-market execution as the firm seeks to unlock liquidity for private market participants.

Techdollar is a fintech company focused on providing liquidity solutions for employees, founders, and investors who hold equity in private companies. Rather than requiring shareholders to sell their stakes, the platform enables users to access capital through loans secured against their private company shares, allowing them to unlock value while retaining long-term ownership and upside potential. By combining audited ownership verification, private market data, and a streamlined underwriting process, Techdollar aims to address one of the biggest challenges in private markets: the inability to easily access liquidity before an acquisition, IPO, or secondary sale event. The company is positioning itself at the intersection of fintech, alternative lending, and private market infrastructure as demand grows for flexible financing options tied to private company equity.

You have built companies and investment platforms across venture capital, crypto, and institutional yield products before launching Techdollar. What specific gap in private markets convinced you that now was the right time to found Techdollar, and how did your experiences at Dinero Labs and Monarch shape the company’s vision?

Every venture I’ve built revealed the same underlying reality from a different perspective: financial markets are often slow to recognize new asset classes until someone forces a repricing event.

At Dinero Labs, we helped structure an institutional ETH product that transformed how traditional finance viewed digital assets. The experience showed me that what appears to be a speculative asset today can become a recognized financial instrument tomorrow once the supporting infrastructure matures.

I saw the same opportunity in private company equity. Today there are hundreds of private AI unicorns and high-growth technology companies worth trillions of dollars collectively. Employees, founders, and early investors often hold significant equity but have very limited options to access liquidity without selling their shares. Meanwhile, secondary markets have matured enough to provide real pricing signals, yet much of the lending industry still treats these assets as highly speculative.

The gap exists because the secondary market matured faster than private credit markets. We built Techdollar at the intersection of credit, digital assets, and private markets to help close that gap.

Techdollar is positioning itself as the credit layer for private markets. Why do you believe private company equity is becoming an increasingly important form of collateral for lenders?

Private company equity has evolved significantly over the last decade.

Previously, lending against startup shares was difficult because there was little price discovery, limited liquidity, and no reliable way to value positions. Today, active secondary markets, OTC trading desks, and growing amounts of transaction data provide much better visibility into the value of many private companies.

When markets can establish real pricing, assets begin transitioning from speculative holdings into viable collateral.

There is also a broader economic consideration. Many of today’s leading private companies are building critical infrastructure for the next generation of technology and industry. As these companies become increasingly important to the global economy, lenders are beginning to view their equity as a legitimate financial asset rather than simply a venture capital bet.

Traditionally, founders and employees seeking liquidity have been forced to sell shares on secondary markets. What advantages does an equity-backed loan provide compared to a direct secondary sale?

Selling shares is often a permanent decision. Once equity is sold, the owner typically triggers a tax event and gives up future upside in the company.

An equity-backed loan provides an alternative. The borrower retains ownership of the shares, preserves future appreciation potential, and can access liquidity without selling their stake.

Many employees and founders remain highly confident in the long-term prospects of the companies they helped build. They do not necessarily want to exit their positions; they simply need access to capital.

Our objective is to make liquidity faster and more accessible while allowing individuals to remain aligned with the long-term value creation of their equity holdings.

Many startup employees hold significant paper wealth but struggle to access liquidity. How large do you believe this opportunity has become, particularly in sectors such as AI, robotics, aerospace, defense, and other frontier technologies?

The opportunity is enormous and continues to expand.

AI alone represents trillions of dollars in private company value, and that figure grows substantially when robotics, aerospace, defense, and other frontier technology sectors are included. Many of the most influential companies in these industries are choosing to remain private for longer periods, extending the time employees and early investors must wait for liquidity events.

At the same time, traditional lenders often focus on borrowers with very large collateral positions, leaving many employees underserved.

We believe there is substantial demand for financing solutions tailored specifically to individuals who have meaningful equity exposure but lack practical liquidity options.

Valuation transparency remains one of the biggest challenges in private markets. How does Techdollar assess collateral value and manage risk when lending against assets that may trade infrequently?

Risk management begins at the company level.

We focus on companies that have active secondary market activity, institutional backing, and realistic pathways to future liquidity. This creates a framework where collateral can be evaluated using observable market signals rather than relying exclusively on historical funding rounds.

We also employ conservative loan-to-value ratios that vary depending on the quality and liquidity of the underlying asset.

In addition, we maintain access to live valuation data where available, conduct ownership verification through independent audits, and work with multiple liquidity venues to ensure collateral can be sold efficiently if necessary.

The objective is straightforward: only lend against assets that can be valued responsibly and liquidated if required.

Having spent years working in crypto, digital assets, and institutional finance, what lessons from those industries influenced the way you designed Techdollar’s lending and underwriting model?

Several lessons proved particularly valuable.

The first is the importance of real-time pricing. Digital asset markets demonstrated the benefits of continuously monitoring collateral values rather than relying on periodic valuations.

The second is that institutional capital demands strong structures. Investors care about legal certainty, verified ownership, conservative collateralization, and transparent governance.

Finally, I learned that infrastructure itself is rarely the end product. The real value comes from the financial services built on top of that infrastructure. Our focus is not on the rails used to move money but on creating efficient, well-structured lending products.

Private credit has become one of the fastest-growing segments of alternative finance. What major changes do you expect to see in private credit markets over the next five to ten years?

I believe private credit will become much more sophisticated in how it evaluates private company equity.

Today, many lenders apply broad assumptions to all private assets. Over time, increasing amounts of market data, secondary trading activity, and liquidity information will allow lenders to price risk more accurately.

I also expect access to expand beyond founders and senior executives. Equity-backed lending could eventually become a standard financial benefit available to employees throughout high-growth companies.

As markets mature, credit products tied to private equity may increasingly resemble securities-backed lending products available in public markets, with faster execution, improved pricing, and broader accessibility.

Regulatory compliance is increasingly important in both lending and private markets. What are the key legal and operational challenges Techdollar must navigate as it scales?

The foundation is ensuring enforceable security interests, verified ownership, and compliance with transfer restrictions associated with private company shares.

From a regulatory perspective, there are multiple layers to navigate, including lending regulations, state-level requirements, securities considerations, consumer protection frameworks, and operational compliance obligations.

As the market grows, one of the most important operational challenges will be creating scalable recovery and liquidation processes. Building those systems responsibly is critical to supporting long-term growth.

Do you see blockchain and tokenization playing a meaningful role in the future of private market liquidity, or will traditional financial infrastructure continue to dominate this space?

I believe both will play important roles.

Blockchain technology offers meaningful advantages for settlement, transparency, and fund movement. Those benefits are real and increasingly useful.

However, tokenizing collateral is not always the optimal solution. Traditional legal frameworks remain highly effective for establishing ownership rights and enforcing security interests in private company shares.

Rather than viewing blockchain and traditional finance as competing systems, I see them as complementary tools. The most effective approach is to use each where it delivers the greatest advantage.

Looking ahead, what is your long-term vision for Techdollar, and how do you see the company transforming the way founders, employees, and investors access liquidity from private company equity?

Our long-term vision is to make equity-backed credit a standard part of the private market ecosystem.

Today, many sophisticated wealth strategies are available only to founders, executives, or individuals with access to private banking relationships. We believe employees and shareholders throughout an organization should have access to similar financial tools.

Over time, we want equity-backed lending to become a seamless layer integrated directly into private market infrastructure. If successful, employees and investors will no longer view selling shares as the only path to liquidity. Instead, they will have access to a broader set of financial options that allow them to retain ownership while accessing capital when needed.

Thank you for the great interview, readers who wish to learn more should visit Techdollar.