Why trust is becoming the rarest currency in the world.
- Volcano Summit
- Jun 27
- 2 min read
Dear Volcano Community,
According to this year's Edelman Trust Barometer, 70% of people are now unwilling or hesitant to trust someone who doesn't share their values, information sources, or cultural background.
The world isn't just polarized.
People are spending more time with those who think like them, read the same things, and see the world in similar ways.
Our circles are getting smaller. Our perspectives are narrower.
Which makes what happens inside communities like Volcano increasingly rare.
Last year, during our fireside chat Building Without Shortcuts: Culture, AI and Long-Term Thinking in Fintech, Adalberto Flores Ochoa, (Kueski) and Antonia Rojas, (Attom Capital) explored a question that feels even more relevant today:
How do you build something that lasts when the pressure for quick wins is everywhere?
Kueski's story offers an unexpected answer.
When Adalberto and his co-founder started lending in Mexico, nearly 65% of their loans defaulted. Most people would have walked away. Instead, they kept going, gathering data, improving their models, and learning from every mistake. More than a decade later, Kueski has issued over 30 million loans and expanded access to financial services for millions of people.
But what stood out most wasn't the technology. It was the discipline.
Throughout the conversation, Adalberto returned to a recurring theme: building for the long term often means making decisions that look irrational in the short term.
At one point, he shared how Kueski chose to let go of highly talented team members whose behavior was hurting the culture. The decision created operational challenges at a critical moment for the company, but they made it anyway.
His reasoning was simple:
That idea feels increasingly important today.
As AI automates more decisions and the world moves faster, trust becomes harder to build and easier to lose. Trust isn't created in a keynote, a press release, or a funding announcement.
It's built through consistency.
Through choosing the long-term relationship over the short-term win.
Through communities that continue showing up for each other.
Perhaps that's why Volcano continues to grow.
Founders, investors, operators, and builders who have experienced this community before know what tends to happen when the right people gather in one place, and they've seen the pattern repeat enough times to trust it. And in a world where trust is becoming harder to find, that may be one of the most valuable things a community can create.
Our very anticipated date, September 5th–7th, is rapidly approaching.
If this community has earned a place in your calendar, and a piece of your trust, this is where that trust turns into momentum.
With gratitude,
The Volcano Team 🌋
P.S. The full session is live on our YouTube Channel
If you'd like to revisit the conversation, the full session Building Without Shortcuts is available on our YouTube Channel. It's a masterclass on how culture becomes a competitive edge and why long-term thinking is the only way to scale in fintech.
We are releasing a new session from last year every Wednesday at 11:00 AM, so make sure to subscribe to our channel so you don't miss any of these!
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