About

Practitioners, not theorists. We have built what we advise on.

Firm Philosophy

Why LAC exists

There is a widening gap between legacy payment systems and what modern infrastructure makes possible. Most firms advising on that gap have never actually built anything on either side of it. They audit. They recommend. They hand over a slide deck and move on. The companies left holding the deck are no closer to a working platform than when they started.

LAC Strategic Ventures exists because that model is broken. Allan Lacoste has spent over two decades building payment platforms, launching PayFac programs, and driving revenue through infrastructure that actually ships. When we advise a client on embedded payments architecture, vendor selection, or go-to-market, the guidance comes from direct operational experience, not frameworks borrowed from someone else's case study.

We are a small, deliberate practice. We take on a limited number of engagements so that every client gets senior attention from day one through delivery. No junior analysts. No handoffs. The person who scopes the work is the person who does the work.

Founder

Allan Lacoste

Allan Lacoste

Allan Lacoste

Managing Principal, LAC Strategic Ventures

Allan brings over 25 years of experience in payments, complex sales, and revenue leadership. He has built and launched payment platforms from the ground up, led full P&L organizations, and operated at the intersection of product, infrastructure, and commercial strategy throughout his career.

Built and launched Applied Pay and Duck Creek Payments from the ground up as fully operational embedded payment platforms.

Ground-up PayFac implementations across Adyen, Worldpay, Stripe, and traditional BIN/ICA sponsorship models.

Revenue leadership with full P&L ownership across payments and SaaS businesses.

Built agent and referral channels, treasury partnerships, and embedded payments go-to-market strategies that drove partner adoption and recurring revenue.

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Platform Experience

Proven implementations across major payment platforms

ADYEN

Adyen

Global PayFac implementation. Multi-currency, multi-region payment infrastructure for enterprise platforms.

WORLDPAY

Worldpay

Hybrid PayFac models. Complex infrastructure builds combining traditional acquiring with modern platform capabilities.

STRIPE

Stripe

Platform-native PayFac setup. Connect integrations, marketplace payments, and embedded finance via Stripe infrastructure.

BIN/ICA

BIN/ICA Sponsorship

Traditional direct network access. Full BIN sponsorship and ICA program design for companies requiring direct issuing and acquiring relationships.

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How We Engage

Three ways to work with us

What People Say

LinkedIn recommendations

"Allan is an exceptional payments executive with a distinguished track record of scaling digital payments through SaaS platforms and building industry-defining ecosystems. As Chief Payments Officer at Duck Creek Technologies, he is bringing this deep domain expertise into the insurance industry where the intersection of payments and insurance is truly transformative for both sectors."
Emma Mills
Head of Insurance Segment, Vice President of Business Development
Mastercard
"He is one of the most exceptional leaders I've encountered in the global payments space. Allan brings a rare combination of deep domain expertise spanning architecture, technology, security, compliance, and the broader payments ecosystem with the ability to translate complexity into clear, actionable strategy."
Luis F. Amadeo
Chief Agentic Officer, Absencesoft
"He was the driving force behind making the Paymentus-Duck Creek partnership real. Allan not only championed Paymentus into the Duck Creek Marketplace, he thoughtfully aligned our joint value proposition with the needs of carriers and their policyholders. Allan is a collaborative partner and a straight shooter."
Peter Fanous
Senior Vice President, Mid Markets, Paymentus
"He is as tenacious a sales leader as I've met, and excels at pursuing opportunities with unwavering determination. He obviously prioritizes results, and is incredibly competent, but through it all, I am always impressed by just how deeply he cares about building credibility."
Nick Lien
Product and Technology Leader
"He brings a rare combination of strategic vision and hands-on execution. He has a strong ability to build a comprehensive go-to-market plan, aligning product, sales, and marketing into a clear path to growth. Just as importantly, he's detail-oriented and disciplined enough to execute on that strategy."
David Da Costa
Advisor and Consultant, Former CEO, Risk Control Technologies
"Allan took the payments business into the Duck Creek organisation, to the clients, and ensured that payments was and remains a core contributor to the Duck Creek suite and drives efficiencies and value for its clients."
Oliver Werneyer
CEO and Founder, helvetica.ai, Ex-CEO, IMburse AG (Acquired by Duck Creek)
"Allan is an incredible leader and expert across the claims adjudication and payments industries. I have had the pleasure of working with Allan over the last year as we formed a strategic partnership. I am confident that we will experience mutual success thanks in large part to Allan's leadership."
Matthew Lungen
Strategic Healthcare Executive
"I've worked with Allan Lacoste on and off for more than 16 years, and he's consistently been one of the most reliable professionals in my network. He combines strong sales leadership with creative, practical problem solving and an uncanny ability to push through barriers to deliver results."
Curtis N. Reed
CMO, Back Nine Golf, 16-Year Colleague
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Whether you are modernizing a platform, evaluating a payments asset, or building from the ground up, we are ready to talk.

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