The takeaway appears to be that the modern mortgage in the US places several intermediaries between borrower and lender. The opportunity would be to develop th

The takeaway appears to be that the modern mortgage in the US places several intermediaries between borrower and lender. The opportunity would be to develop the software that can replace the unnecessary entities, driving down costs and profiting the innovators. We can take this idea to its extreme and possibly learn something. Imagine a world in which home buyer and seller transact directly using software. In a world eaten by software, we might expect this to be the norm. Impossible? Find the one player who can't be removed under any circumstances. Add them back in, and try again. Continue until only the minimum roster of players remain. Assume all laws remain in their current form. I suspect a16z, along with many other fintech startups have run this analysis already and have come to a depressing conclusion: the players in place now are essential given the current regulatory framework. They may not have automated as much as they could have, but they're reluctant to go further given their regulatory burden. That's where an organization such as a16z can come in. With software startups increasingly requiring nothing from venture capital, the last bastion of relevance will lie in the twilight zone between technology and regulation. Companies who need to get laws changed for their business models to work will need deep pockets.