The Importance of a Short Feedback Loop

1/ I’ve been building for 20 years & despite having a pretty solid grasp of what works & what doesn’t, I’m not too prideful to admit being wrong.

When it comes to the original idea for @maybe & the execution of it, I was wrong.

🧵 Time for a reset. https://t.co/Jfur2fUTdj

— Josh Pigford (@Shpigford) April 10, 2023

2/ We over-engineered the product, making it hard to move quickly. We got too hung up on data-source quirks and making a pretty dashboard instead of giving actionable advice + information.

— Josh Pigford (@Shpigford) April 10, 2023

3/ Our feedback loop was incredibly lengthy and by the time we actually had folks using it (18 months in), we had too much time and money sunk into it to really turn back.

This was 100% on me.

— Josh Pigford (@Shpigford) April 10, 2023

4/ Six weeks after launch, we only had 50 paying customers, out of a waiting list of 10,000+ people. On a product with an average price of $15/mo, that’s…not great.

We got the fundamentals wrong.

So, at the beginning of March, I hit the reset button.

— Josh Pigford (@Shpigford) April 10, 2023

5/ From a logistics perspective, we were a team of eight and now we’re a team of three: one designer, one developer (👋) and one financial advisor. Our entire process is simply to go from “idea” to “production” as fast as humanly possible (yes, I'm aware that's not very novel).

— Josh Pigford (@Shpigford) April 10, 2023

6/ Instead of building a large-scale dashboard that tries to do all the things, we’re now focused on being one thing: *Maybe is your financial assistant.* pic.twitter.com/GtfQRz1bLv

— Josh Pigford (@Shpigford) April 10, 2023

7/ Imagine having a financial advisor who’s available 24/7, who knows the ins & outs of your finances, what your goals are, what your risk tolerance is, what the tax laws are in your area and is intimately educated on all the complexities of personal finance & investing.

— Josh Pigford (@Shpigford) April 10, 2023

8/ Oh, and it responds in seconds. That’s Maybe. pic.twitter.com/Y6wrAPcMdF

— Josh Pigford (@Shpigford) April 10, 2023

9/ I hesitate throwing in the obvious buzzwords & abbreviations, but at the risk of oversimplifying this, we’re using a mix of AI + humans (actual certified financial advisors) to give you unprecedented, hyper-personalized financial advice & tools to help you plan, grow & save.

— Josh Pigford (@Shpigford) April 10, 2023

10/ The new Maybe meets you where you are, whether you’re just starting on your financial journey or you’ve got millions of dollars.

In many ways, it will fulfill my original vision, but in a vastly more efficient way for a much larger market.

— Josh Pigford (@Shpigford) April 10, 2023

11/ So, when will it be available and who will it be available to?

We’ve already submitted the initial version to the iOS app store for TestFlight and plan on bringing the first handful of folks on within the next 7-10 days.

It will be available worldwide on web and mobile.

— Josh Pigford (@Shpigford) April 10, 2023

12/ What about the original product?

It continues to run just fine, but we do plan on sunsetting it within 90 days. We’ll be stopping recurring payment shortly & folks who paid annually will have the option to transfer their subscription to the new app or get a full refund.

— Josh Pigford (@Shpigford) April 10, 2023

13/ I get it. That’s a LOT to take in. I, for an infinite number of reasons, wish I’d been correct on how we approached the initial product and team. But I simply wasn’t. I ignored a lot of my prior experiences and assumed market conditions would support a different process.

— Josh Pigford (@Shpigford) April 10, 2023

14/ I’m taking the company back to the fundamentals I know so well and am more excited than ever to have you start using what we’ve been working on.

— Josh Pigford (@Shpigford) April 10, 2023

15/ In the meantime, here's a sneak peek!

Daily rounds ups... pic.twitter.com/LjtBuMyLWx

— Josh Pigford (@Shpigford) April 10, 2023

16/ Data comparisons ("reality checks"). These are fully anonymous with data pulled from many sources. pic.twitter.com/lfDHnyk9ur

— Josh Pigford (@Shpigford) April 10, 2023

17/ Portfolio evaluations. pic.twitter.com/XNcPSpA50r

— Josh Pigford (@Shpigford) April 10, 2023

18/ And a real, actual certified financial advisor will still be one tap away. pic.twitter.com/UOxlIpmOW7

— Josh Pigford (@Shpigford) April 10, 2023

19/ I've been dropping little hints about all of this over the past few weeks, but have held back a bit since we hadn't announced anything.

Expect to see a *lot* more process insights and screenshots now. 🤓

— Josh Pigford (@Shpigford) April 10, 2023

20/ Initial feedback from investors and customers on this move has been overwhelmingly positive. So, I'm hopeful and excited about the future.

Not to mention it just feels good to be back in the builder seat.

— Josh Pigford (@Shpigford) April 10, 2023

21/ I'm not so naive or eternally optimistic to think there won't be major roadblocks or problems to work through, but I do believe taking things back to the fundamentals equips us infinitely better from both a process and runway perspective to handle those things better.

— Josh Pigford (@Shpigford) April 10, 2023