Ep 163: Notarize Founder and CEO Pat Kinsel on Disrupting A Centuries-Old Process

LawNext

If ever there was a process ripe for disruption, notarization would seem to be it. A function that may date back to Ancient Egypt, it has changed little for centuries – still typically done in person, on hard-copy paper, using physical seals, and recorded in written ledgers.

Pat Kinsel, founder and CEO of Notarize, believes society has grappled for too long with how to scale this simple process of authenticating signatures. His company is striving to do that, both for consumers who need a one-time notarization and for businesses for which notarizations are part of the normal course.

Since its founding in 2015, Notarize has become the category leader in transforming this traditional paper-based process into a digital one. Along the way, it has raised $213 million, grown to nearly 500 employees, and was recently ranked 24th on the Financial Times’ list of The Fastest Growing Companies of 2022.

Kinsel, who is also a partner at the venture capital firm Polaris Partners, was previously cofounder and CEO of Spindle until it was acquired by Twitter in June 2013. Earlier, he was at Microsoft incubating new concepts and bringing them to market. He serves on the board of Lob and was the lead investor in Drizly.

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