Venmo

Venmo, founded in 2009 by college roommates Andrew Kortina and Iqram Magdon-Ismail, turned the mundane act of splitting a bill into a social media spectacle, where every avocado toast and bar tab is documented for the world to see. Acquired by Braintree in 2012, and later by PayPal, Venmo’s rapid ascent in the fintech world made it the de facto payment app for millennials who prefer emojis to dollar signs. But behind the slick interface lies a slew of controversies, from lax privacy settings that exposed users’ spending habits to questions about the platform’s profitability. Venmo’s “free” model, reliant on optional fees, has sparked debates about its long-term sustainability. Despite these hiccups, Venmo remains a cultural phenomenon, a verb in its own right, cementing its place in the digital economy. The legacy? Proof that in the age of oversharing, even your financial transactions can be curated for maximum social impact.