In A Pinch
Claim This Podcastby Pinch AI
Podcast Overview
<p><b>In A Pinch</b> is a podcast hosted by founders of Pinch AI, self described fraud nerds! Each episode features unfiltered interviews with industry experts who have seen it all. We dive deep into the rising tide of first-party fraud, dissecting the psychology and the mechanics behind the "trenches." Expect tactical advice, cautionary tales, and expert perspectives on managing abuse without ruining the customer experience.</p>
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
2/5/2026
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Recent Episodes
May 28, 2026
Ep 6: Michael Rasile
<p><b>Michael Rasile</b> — touring drummer turned fan-experience leader at Front Row and partner at Ceremony of Roses — joins Arthi and Jayan to talk about what really happens inside the war room when a major artist drop goes live. He walks through the Harry Styles drop that "looked like a roulette machine," the trade-off between blocking freight forwarders and protecting Billboard chart eligibility, why the line between a super-fan and a fraudster is razor-thin, and the under-discussed rise in chargeback abuse he believes is being fueled by AI cynicism toward the internet.<br />----------------------------------------<br /><br /><b>SHOW NOTES</b><br /><b>Guest</b>: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-rasile-704644111/" target="_blank"><b>Michael Rasile</b></a> Founder & Director of Customer Experience, <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.thefrontrow.io/" target="_blank">Front Row</a> Partner, <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.sonymusic.co.uk/label/ceremony-of-roses/" target="_blank">Ceremony of Roses</a> (Sony Music)<br /><b>Hosts:</b> Arthi Rajan Makhija & Jayan Tharayil, Cofounders, <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.pinch.ai/" target="_blank">Pinch AI</a><br /><br />In this episode we cover:</p><ul><li>How a touring musician ended up running merch ops for some of the world's biggest artists</li><li>Why he calls his work a "fan experience" company, not a customer experience one</li><li>What a typical day in the life of artist merch ops actually looks like (spoiler: a lot of "hurry up and wait")</li><li>The Harry Styles drop that he says he'll "never forget as long as I live"</li><li>The "freight forwarder belt" (Florida, Delaware, Oregon) and the trade-off between blocking resellers and protecting Billboard chart position</li><li>Why the line between a super-fan and a fraudster is razor-thin — and the fiduciary duty Michael feels to get the call right</li><li>The chargeback feature he wishes Pinch would build next (and the alpha we're already cooking)</li><li>His craziest fraud story: 50,000 $10 t-shirt orders in five minutes, on the weekend of his mom's 60th birthday, during COVID</li><li>The behavior shift he's seeing in chargeback abuse and why he thinks AI cynicism is partly to blame</li><li>His three-pillar playbook for any ops lead taking over an artist e-commerce drop with no fraud tooling</li><li>If you operate, protect, or build for any high-velocity e-commerce business — not just music — this one is worth your 40 minutes.<br />----------------------------------------<br /><br /><b>CHAPTERS:</b><br />00:00 Intro — meet Michael Rasile</li><li>02:06 From touring drummer to merch ops: the pandemic pivot</li><li>05:31 Both sides of the merch table — building a fan experience company</li><li>08:11 A day in the life of artist merch operations</li><li>10:49 Inside the war room when a drop goes live</li><li>13:30 The Harry Styles drop: "like watching a roulette machine"</li><li>15:09 Freight forwarders vs. Billboard chart eligibility — when to cancel, when to let it ride</li><li>19:10 What "good" looks like with Pinch: protecting the super-fan</li><li>22:41 Closing the loop — the chargeback feature Michael wants next</li><li>25:28 Lightning round</li><li>25:50 Craziest fraud story: the $10 tee Billboard fiasco</li><li>30:11 What keeps him up at night — chargeback abuse and the AI trust gap</li><li>34:09 Advice to a new ops lead with no fraud tooling</li><li>38:36 About Front Row</li><li>40:14 Wrap</li></ul><p>----------------------------------------<br /><br /><b>KEYWORDS</b><br />artist merch, music merch, e-commerce fraud, freight forwarders, chargeback abuse, fan experience, super-fan, bots at checkout, drop protection<br /></p>
April 18, 2026
Ep 5: Michael Vergara
<h2>Summary</h2><p>We sit down with Mike Vergara - a fraud and risk leader with more than two decades in the space, spanning RSA, PayPal, Blackhawk, and now Trustly. Mike brings a rare product-first lens to risk, and the conversation draws out how he's built multi-tiered risk systems that are not just defensive but powerful business enablers. We get into why the "I Love You" virus era looks quaint compared to today's adversaries, how a Brazilian credit-card-sharing lesson reshaped PayPal's global models, why first-party abuse is fundamentally harder than third-party fraud (including the rise of "affluent abusers" who return their couch before they move apartments), how PayPal built "human-in-the-loop" before the term existed, and what the AI era means for risk leaders and product managers. A candid, insightful episode for anyone building or leading in fraud, risk, product, or fintech.<br /></p><hr /><h3>Show Notes</h3><p><b>Guest:</b> Mike Vergara — VP of Risk Management, Trustly</p><ul><li><b>Hosts:</b> Arthi Rajan Makhija & Jayan Tharayil<br /></li></ul><p><b>Key Topics Discussed:</b></p><ul><li>Mike's career journey from RSA through PayPal, Blackhawk, and Trustly</li><li>Why risk is a scale, not a binary — and the limits of the InfoSec mindset</li><li>Building multi-tiered risk systems on "people and data"</li><li>The Brazil credit-card-sharing lesson that reshaped PayPal's global models</li><li>Risk as a business enabler — committing numbers to the CFO</li><li>Dolphins in the net: CAC as the hidden ROI of nuanced risk</li><li>Why first-party abuse is harder than third-party fraud</li><li>Affluent abusers, policy abuse, and the "I didn't know" defense</li><li>Trust vs. friction — letting customers know you're watching</li><li>Gift card fraud and victim-assisted scams at Blackhawk</li><li>Pinch's "three strike" problem: stolen card, empty-box return, chargeback</li><li>ML vs. LLMs — and why explainability still matters</li><li>Building "human-in-the-loop" at PayPal before it had a name</li><li>What a great risk PM does that AI can't — and the eBay Live story</li><li>Rapid-fire: crisis leadership, consumer trust in the AI era, and the PayPal risk mafia</li></ul><hr /><h3>Chapters</h3><ul><li>00:00 Mike's Career Journey — From RSA & Public Key Infrastructure to Trustly </li><li>01:54 From InfoSec to Product Thinking — "How Much Is a New York Times Article Worth?" </li><li>05:44 Building Multi-Tiered Risk Systems — People, Data & the Brazil Lesson </li><li>10:00 Risk as a Business Enabler — Committing Revenue Numbers to the CFO </li><li>11:16 The Business Case for Nuance — Dolphins in the Net & the Hidden ROI of CAC </li><li>15:51 First-Party Abuse vs. Third-Party Fraud — Why Intent Is So Hard </li><li>19:24 Affluent Abusers, Policy Abuse & Letting Customers Know You're Watching </li><li>25:45 Lessons from Blackhawk — Gift Card Fraud & Victim-Assisted Scams </li><li>29:32 Pinch's "Three Strike" Problem — Connecting Return & Redemption Systems </li><li>31:37 ML vs. LLMs — Strengths, Weaknesses & Why Explainability Still Matters </li><li>35:30 Building "Human-in-the-Loop" at PayPal Before the Term Existed </li><li>38:35 The Modern Risk PM in the AI Era — and the eBay Live Story </li><li>44:22 The "In a Pinch" Round — Crisis, Consumer Trust & the PayPal Risk Mafia </li><li>50:37 The Most Creative Abuse MO Mike Ever Tipped His Hat To </li><li>52:45 Closing</li></ul><hr /><h3>Keywords</h3><p>fraud prevention, risk management, Trustly, Blackhawk, RSA, first-party abuse, third-party fraud, return abuse, policy abuse, multi-tiered risk, human-in-the-loop, gift card fraud, victim-assisted scams, affluent abusers, product management, risk as business enabler</p>
March 30, 2026
Ep 4: Philipp Barthold
<h2>Summary</h2><p>We sit down with Philipp, CTO of Lux Experience — the parent company behind iconic luxury fashion retailers Mytheresa, Net-a-Porter, and Mr. Porter. Philipp shares his journey from building neural networks for payment fraud detection in 2004 to running technology for one of the world's largest luxury e-commerce operations. The conversation dives deep into the unique fraud challenges of high-end retail (including a wild fake FedEx truck heist), the realities of bridging data silos post-acquisition, the promise and limits of blockchain for product authentication, and why agentic commerce may be the biggest underestimated disruptor in e-commerce. A candid, insightful episode for anyone in fraud, risk, retail tech, or leadership.</p><hr /><h3>Show Notes</h3><p><b>Guest:</b> Philipp Barthold — Chief Technology Officer, Lux Experience (MyTheresa, Net-a-Porter, Mr. Porter)</p><p><b>Hosts:</b> Arthi Rajan Makhija & Jayan Tharayil</p><p><br /><b>Key Topics Discussed:</b></p><ul><li>Philipp's career journey from economics and neural network research (2004) through PayPal, eBay, Magento, and Adobe to his current CTO role at Lux Experience</li><li>Leadership philosophy: running organizations as networks rather than dictatorships — distributing knowledge and decision-making power while maintaining robust processes</li><li>How fraud and abuse differ in luxury retail vs. mass market — high AOVs, high resale value, and the ability to invest more in per-transaction risk assessment</li><li>Counterfeit return fraud as the most damaging abuse vector in luxury, and the reputational risk of restocking counterfeit goods</li><li>Wardrobing and influencer return abuse — and the opportunity for dynamic, surgical returns policies</li><li>The legendary fake FedEx truck warehouse heist story</li><li>The challenge of siloed data across warehouse, ERP, and transaction systems — and a use-case-by-use-case approach to unifying customer data</li><li>Philipp's advisory role at BVNK and whether blockchain can realistically help verify product authenticity (spoiler: there are lower-hanging fruits first)</li><li>AI adoption at Lux Experience — starting with catalog data enrichment, AI-generated product videos, and enhanced product tagging as a foundation for future agentic commerce</li><li>The risks of agentic commerce: rogue agents, prompt injection, policy exploitation at machine scale, and why luxury still values the human discovery experience</li><li>Predicting future VIP customers from their very first purchase and how that classification flows through fulfillment, customer care, and fraud review</li><li>Philipp's "In a Pinch" moment: staying calm during large-scale IT migrations and remembering that "it's just a website"</li></ul><p></p><hr /><h3>Chapters </h3><ul><li>00:00 Philipp's Career Journey — From Neural Networks to Luxury E-Commerce</li><li>07:17 Fraud & Abuse in Luxury Retail — What Makes It Different</li><li>10:08 Counterfeit Returns — The Most Damaging Fraud in Luxury</li><li>11:49 Wildest Fraud Stories — The Fake FedEx Truck Heist</li><li>13:30 Data Silos — The Real Barrier to Fighting Fraud at Scale</li><li>16:49 Blockchain, BVNK & Product Authentication — Hype vs. Reality</li><li>19:14 AI Adoption at Lux Experience — Starting with Catalog Data</li><li>21:37 Agentic Commerce — Opportunities, Risks & the Unknown</li><li>25:50 Predicting VIP Customers from Their First Purchase</li><li>28:48 The "In a Pinch" Round — Staying Calm in Crisis</li><li>30:30 Looking Ahead </li><li>31:33 Closing</li></ul><p></p><hr /><h3>Keywords</h3><p>return abuse, luxury retail, e-commerce, agentic commerce, counterfeit returns, AI, data architecture, organized retail crime, wardrobing, warehouse fraud, VIP prediction</p>
6 total episodes available
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Frequently asked questions
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- What is In A Pinch?
<p><b>In A Pinch</b> is a podcast hosted by founders of Pinch AI, self described fraud nerds! Each episode features unfiltered interviews with industry experts who have seen it all. We dive deep into the rising tide of first-party fraud, dissecting the psychology and the mechanics behind the "trenches." Expect tactical advice, cautionary tales, and expert perspectives on managing abuse without ruining the customer experience.</p> - How often does this podcast release new episodes?
This podcast updates daily.
- Where can I listen to this podcast?
This podcast is available on 4 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
- Does this podcast accept guests?
Yes, this podcast regularly features guests.
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