Co-Founder & CEO - AI-powered financial crime compliance platform
New York, NY • Former US Treasury OFAC Officer • Supported US Special Forces in Afghanistan
Why he's VIP: Peter is a rare combination of extraordinary founder story (Afghanistan Special Forces, Treasury OFAC, Korean bank compliance) and growth inflection point ($8.5M oversubscribed Series A, credit union expansion through CUSO, 4 open roles). He has money, momentum, and a strategic positioning problem that is exactly what Jamie solves - Castellum.AI is stuck in fintech compliance niche media when the story is big enough for mainstream business audiences.
The play: Jamie should record a Loom audit of castellum.ai applying his framework: "Who is this for? What problem does it solve? Is the customer's language or the company's language on the homepage?" The gap between Castellum's compliance-speak and the actual dramatic story (correcting governments, AI arms race against financial criminals) is massive. Then reach out through LinkedIn, email, and warm intros through the fintech/credit union ecosystem.
The hook: Peter spent his career on both sides of financial crime enforcement - fining banks at Treasury, then helping banks avoid fines. He has an AI agent that passed the CAMS certification exam. He publicly corrects OFAC and the United Nations on their own sanctions data. This is a founder story that transcends compliance - but Peter's entire media presence is trapped inside fintech trade press. Jamie can show him the gap between where his story lives and where it should live.
Strong fit - right-sized company at the right moment. At $12.9M raised with 11-50 employees, Castellum.AI sits squarely in Jamie's sweet spot. This is a post-Series A company that just got fuel and needs to figure out how to deploy it strategically. The oversubscribed round means investor confidence is high, but the go-to-market challenge - reaching 130+ credit unions and dozens of banks through Curql and BTech's networks - is a positioning and messaging problem, not just a sales problem.
Why it works: Peter is the decision-maker. The company is small enough that the CEO still drives strategy. The $15K price point is well within their budget (they just raised $8.5M). Most importantly, the core challenge - "how do we tell our story beyond compliance circles" - is exactly the kind of strategic positioning work Jamie's Unstuck Growth Intensive is built for. Peter knows compliance. He does not know brand narrative and go-to-market storytelling. That is Jamie's lane.
Risk: Peter is already media-active in fintech circles (PYMNTS, AlleyWatch, FinovateFall). He might feel like he has the media angle covered. Jamie needs to show the difference between "fintech insider press" and "mainstream founder visibility" - and why the latter drives enterprise sales, recruiting, and future fundraising in ways trade press cannot.
Peter's career arc tells a story in a single sentence: "I used to shut down banks. Now I build AI to keep them open." He fined banks and froze illicit assets at Treasury. He discovered "the US government didn't even know where Canada's sanctions list was." He watched compliance officers at Woori Bank drown in 38,000 false alerts per month. Then he built the company that solves all of it. This is not a typical founder story - it reads like a thriller. The challenge for Jamie is helping Peter realize this narrative has value far beyond fintech trade press.
Venture-backed (Series A), $1-10M revenue range, 11-50 employees, CEO is the direct decision-maker. Right-sized for the $15K Intensive. The strategic positioning problem - compliance story trapped in niche media - is exactly what Jamie solves.
The core challenge - "how do we tell our story beyond compliance circles" - is a positioning and messaging problem, not a product problem. Peter knows compliance inside out. He does not know how to translate that expertise into a mainstream founder brand. That gap is Jamie's exact lane. The $15K price is pocket change relative to the $8.5M they just raised.
Each angle is a standalone way in. Jamie should pick the one that feels most natural and lead with massive free value.
What Jamie does: Record a 10-minute Loom walking through castellum.ai. Apply his framework: "Who is this for? Is the customer's problem stated above the fold, or is it all about the product?" Show the gap between Castellum's compliance language ("AML/KYC screening," "watchlists," "false positive reduction") and the actual story ("We correct the UN's sanctions data. Our AI passed the professional certification exam. We stop financial criminals using AI"). The homepage tells the technical story. It should tell the human one.
Why it works: Peter is a compliance expert, not a marketer. He thinks in data quality and regulatory frameworks. Jamie thinks in positioning. The Loom delivers immediate, specific value - showing Peter that his own website undersells his most compelling asset: the founder story. Compliance officers buy from people they trust. The story builds trust faster than any product demo.
What Jamie does: Send a thoughtful LinkedIn message: "Peter - I read your PYMNTS interview. 'We actually correct governments on a regular basis.' That is one of the most audacious things a startup CEO has ever said. But it's buried in a fintech trade publication. That line should be in Forbes, not PYMNTS. Your story - Afghanistan, Treasury, building an AI that passes the CAMS exam - is bigger than the audience that's currently hearing it. I think there's a strategic conversation worth having about that."
Why it works: It names the thing Peter probably already feels. He has done PYMNTS, AlleyWatch, FinovateFall - but none of those reach the general business audience. Jamie is not criticizing his media strategy - he is pointing out that the story deserves a bigger stage. That is flattery and insight combined.
What Jamie does: Create a one-page PDF: "5 Things That Break After an $8M Series A - and the one most compliance tech founders miss." Not about Castellum specifically - about the pattern Jamie sees across post-Series A companies in vertical SaaS. Send it with a personal note: "I wrote this after working with 20+ founders at your exact stage. Number 4 (the messaging ceiling) might be relevant given what I am seeing at Castellum."
Why it works: It positions Jamie as someone who understands the post-Series A challenge without being salesy. The PDF gives Peter something concrete to evaluate. The "Number 4 might be relevant" creates curiosity without being presumptuous.
What Jamie does: Frame the conversation around the CUSO expansion: "You have 130+ credit unions in your investor base through Curql. Their compliance officers don't read TechCrunch. They listen to podcasts recommended by peers and attend industry events. Your story - the former OFAC officer who now helps credit unions stay compliant with AI - is the perfect trust-builder for that audience. But it needs to live on mainstream platforms they encounter outside their compliance bubble."
Why it works: It connects Jamie's value to Peter's most urgent business priority: converting the 130+ credit unions in Curql's network into customers. By framing founder visibility as a customer acquisition tool for the credit union channel, Jamie makes the conversation about revenue, not ego.
Jamie should pick ONE of these and record a 5-10 minute Loom. The goal: deliver so much free value that he has to respond.
Hit multiple channels in the same week. The goal is not to be annoying - it is to be impossible to miss. Each touchpoint delivers value, not asks.
Send a connection request with a short, specific note (not a pitch):
Record the Website Positioning Audit (Loom 1 above). Keep it under 10 minutes. Be specific about the compliance-language-vs-story gap. End with actionable advice. This is the centerpiece of the entire outreach.
Do NOT send it via LinkedIn. Hold it for the email on Day 3-4.
Send a personal email (not from a campaign - from Jamie's personal email) with the Loom embedded:
Look for mutual connections through the fintech/credit union ecosystem. Curql, BTech, Framework Venture Partners all have networks Jamie can tap:
If no response, send a brief follow-up with a new piece of value:
Send a physical package to Castellum's New York office. Pattern interrupt. Ideas:
These are not templates. They are starting points Jamie should rewrite in his own voice. The specific details are what make them work.
Peter Piatetsky is a dream lead for Jamie's Unstuck Growth Intensive. He has the budget ($8.5M Series A just closed), the decision-making authority (he is the CEO), and a crystal-clear positioning problem that Jamie is built to solve: Castellum's story is trapped in compliance niche media when it should be a mainstream business narrative.
The website positioning audit is the way in. Jamie pulls up castellum.ai and shows Peter the gap between compliance jargon and the extraordinary story underneath - Afghanistan, Treasury, correcting the UN, an AI that passed the CAMS exam. That Loom will be impossible to ignore because it reveals something Peter already knows but has not articulated: his website undersells the most interesting company in compliance tech.
Even if Peter does not buy the $15K Intensive immediately, getting Jamie in front of this founder opens the credit union and fintech ecosystem - Curql (130+ credit unions), BTech (12+ banks), Framework (RBC). One conversation with Peter creates access to hundreds of potential referrals. This lead is worth the personal attention.