We realized that to be really successful, we needed to be about finance and payments as well as location--I think the most interesting things will happen when those two come together. We talked to a number of companies and were most excited about the team and vision at Green Dot.

When did you realize that? Was it a slow change, or was there an epiphany? And was it a company-wide realization, or was there a champion behind it?

slow change i'd say, and lots of discussion about it although i was probably the strongest champion.

not true at all.

if it was true, would you admit to it?

* ready to sell business because it wasn't going anywhere, sequoia knew greendot well and got them to get a return on the $ put in so it wasn't a total buss. Hence the huge (relative to the sale) incentive for founders to stick around since they got nothing from the sale. is my guess.

Not sure if you figured this out, but sama = Sam Altman = ceo of Loopt. I think sama's words on this situation carry a little more weight than your guess.

Oh - so he's going to tell the truth then? I guarantee he has confidentiality agreements about all of that - so I don't believe anything he says for a second. Loopt was a total bust for VC returns.