How Trail of Bits Unlocked 6 Figures of Interest by Switching its Primary Operations to Meow
Company Overview
Trail of Bits is a leading cybersecurity research, engineering, and auditing firm that works with some of the most security-conscious organizations in the world—including Facebook, government agencies like DARPA, and the largest crypto protocols. Founded in 2012, the company helps clients build safer software through expert audits, tools, and infrastructure.
With a strong focus on operational excellence and risk management, Trail of Bits is highly disciplined about where—and how—it manages its capital.
Note: Dan Guido, CEO of Trail of Bits, became an investor in Meow in 2022 based on the strength of their founding team and his familiarity with them from prior work.
The Problem
Q: What wasn’t working with your previous banking setup?
A:
We've had a challenging journey with banking providers. Bank of America gave us zero interest and wouldn't provide loans because they didn't understand software businesses. Silicon Valley Bank was so narrowly focused on venture-backed startups that we didn't fit their portfolio model as a bootstrapped company.
Signature Bank initially showed promise with their personal touch and willingness to understand our business. They provided a line of credit and some treasury services, but the processes were manual and old-school, requiring constant calls and coordination. When Signature Bank failed, we quickly switched to Mercury for operations and JPMorgan as a backup. However, concerns about Mercury's banking partner led us to seek a more stable solution. As a cybersecurity firm, we couldn't risk being caught in another banking failure. Traditional banks like JPMorgan offered stability but lacked the modern interfaces and programmable workflows a technology company needs.
The fundamental problem was clear: we couldn't find a banking provider that combined high yield, operational efficiency, and the enterprise-grade security our risk profile demanded.
The Switch
Q: What made Meow the right fit for Trail of Bits?
A:
Meow offered what we'd been searching for: a primary business checking account from federally chartered and regulated banking partners that pays competitive interest on all our funds, even operational cash, without sacrificing functionality or security.
What truly differentiated Meow was their transparency. They provided direct insight into their banking relationships and exactly where our money was held. This level of visibility was unprecedented compared to other fintech companies we evaluated.
The technology stack also impressed us. Meow's authentication uses Google's enterprise-grade security, allowing us to require hardware security keys for access, leaps and bounds ahead of what any other bank would use. Their approval workflows are flexible and easy to configure, enabling fine-grained permissions for financial operations.
Q: What else has been great?
A:
The shared Slack channel with the Meow team has been transformative. The CEO personally reaches out about new features and ensures we're maximizing the platform's capabilities. When we make requests, we feel like they're heard and responded to. It's a level of interaction that I have not had with many services that we pay for, much less a bank or a banking service.
Meow's integrations with our existing tools have dramatically improved our financial operations. Their platform connects seamlessly with our PEOs (Justworks and Deel), our expense management system (Ramp), and our internal communication platform (Slack). This ecosystem speeds up our recognition of incoming payments from clients, the categorization of our payments for payroll and expenses, and it generally helps our finance team operate as a streamlined system, rather than a more traditional enterprise with a lot of Google Sheets that we send around.
The Security Layer
Q: As a leading cybersecurity firm, how did you vet Meow’s product from a risk standpoint?
A:
Our evaluation was rigorous. We verified that Meow works with reputable banking partners that are federally chartered and regulated. Unlike other fintechs, they provided transparency about these relationships and specific information about where our funds would be held.
The security layer that Meow built on top of these banking providers—including robust access policies and granular spending controls—aligned with our approach to system design. As a cybersecurity firm, we appreciated that Meow was engineered to be not just safe the way it was designed, but also safe the way that we were using it.
The Outcome
Q: How much did you actually save or earn by switching to Meow?
A:
The financial impact has been substantial. By moving our operational and much of our savings capital to Meow, Trail of Bits is now earning interest that has resulted in approximately $300,000 to $400,000 annually.1
That allows us to pay for an entire additional employee simply because we changed our banking provider to a different company. And the service is better. So it's a win-win in any way that you look at it.
We now use Meow as our primary financial system. It handles all of our payments, all of our receivables. It funds payroll. We send wires. It is our main base of financial operations for the company.
Summary
Trail of Bits didn’t “invest” in anything—they just stopped settling for 0% yield on a business checking account. They earned 6-figures of interest just by choosing Meow and its partner banks for a higher APY on its operating funds.1
"It allows us to pay for an entire additional employee simply because we changed our banking provider. And the service is better. So it's a win-win in any way that you look at it."
- Dan Guido, CEO, Trail of Bits
Highlights
- Trail of Bits’ primary business operations now run through Meow
- Trail of Bits now earns interest on every dollar held in its operating account from Meow’s partner banks automatically1
- Security-first design with hardware security key support and granular approval workflows
- Integrates with Trail of Bits' existing financial tools including PEOs, expense management, and communication platforms
- Direct access to the Meow team through a dedicated Slack channel
Disclaimers
Meow is a financial technology company, not a bank. The banking services described in this case study are provided by Grasshopper Bank N.A.; Member FDIC. The FDIC's deposit insurance coverage only protects against the failure of an FDIC-insured bank. This case study applies to Meow Technologies and not advisory services. Trail of Bits is a client of Meow, including Meow Advisory LLC, and Dan is a personal investor in Meow Technologies Inc. The case studies discussed herein were selected based on objective non-performance based criteria and are provided for illustrative purposes. There is no guarantee that Meow will find similar opportunities in the future. Additional information about these investment case studies can be obtained by contacting Meow.
- The Annual Percentage Yield (APY) earned on deposits at Meow, held at Grasshopper Bank N.A., can be found at meow.com/rate-sheets. APYs are subject to change. Please contact Meow for current rates and terms.