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Caryn Seidman-Becker: Rebuilding CLEAR
Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy8 July 2025·1 hours 26 minutes
My guest today is Caryn Seidman-Becker. Caryn is the Chairman and CEO of Clear. She bought the company out of bankruptcy for $6 million in 2010 and built it into the identity platform millions use in airports and stadiums today. Her Wall Street background investing in Apple, Amazon, and Priceline taught her to recognize when products become platforms, which shaped her vision for Clear as the "definitive secure identity platform" far beyond travel. Caryn shares the gritty early days of literally hunting down hardware in airport storage facilities and rebuilding the entire business from scratch. She embodies an incredible "bias for action." We discuss turning around a business, scaling a platform, and why she believes your face will soon be your key to everything. Please enjoy my conversation with Caryn Seidman-Becker.
For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.
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This episode is brought to you by Ramp. Ramp’s mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Go to Ramp.com/invest to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus.
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This episode is brought to you by Arcana. Arcana is the world’s most advanced portfolio intelligence platform, trusted by institutional investors managing trillions in AUM — including market neutral, long-short, long-only, and capital allocators.
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This episode is brought to you by Ridgeline. Ridgeline has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. Head to ridgelineapps.com to learn more about the platform.
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Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com).
Show Notes:
(00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like the Best
(00:05:43) The Vision for CLEAR
(00:09:08) From Wall Street to CLEAR
(00:13:42) The Origins of CLEAR
(00:14:23) The Bankruptcy and Rebirth of Clear
(00:34:41) Building the Business Model
(00:47:46) The Future of Airport Innovation
(00:48:33) Investing Insights and Strategies
(00:52:17) The Importance of Free Cash Flow
(00:55:26) Biometrics and Privacy Concerns
(00:59:40) Expanding Clear's Vision
(01:04:13) Personal Mission and Genetic Screening
(01:12:28) Leadership and Company Culture
(01:14:23) Future of Technology and Identity
(01:25:38) The Kindest Thing Anyone’s Ever Done For Caryn