I like the idea of the non-custodial model in theory, but won’t that be challenging for new investors just starting out? They’d have to set up two platforms rather than one, just to start working with you, if I’m reading your model right.
Good question! We think the beginner side of the market is very well catered to. Robo advisors like Wealthfront and Betterment make it dead-easy to start with the basic objective of "growing money". And then there are platforms like Robinhood, good for straight-up gambling. So if you're JUST starting out and don't already have an investing platform, there are plenty of choices.
Our ideal user is someone a bit farther along. They already have a financial base - often $50,000+ invested, usually across several institutions. And that's the key.
Asking people who are already investing to uproot and send their money to another financial platform is a massive point of friction. This causes sky-high customer acquisition costs. We want to both avoid these costs and minimize friction users experience.
This is why a non-custodial model works so well for our market. We work with what they already have.
