It was 2019. Jason Alco was a year out of college with a degree in computer science, working his first job as a software engineer and giving himself 10 months to find an idea worth quitting for.

At a party in the Hollywood Hills, Jason met someone who, after chatting, said, “Let’s connect,” and pulled out what looked like a credit card.

Instead, he tapped the card to Jason’s phone and a push notification appeared…

Jason’s eyes lit up.

“How did that work without downloading an app?”