I have spent the last few years of my life (I’m 24) evaluating and analyzing new fintech apps and companies, especially on the consumer side. You name the app, I have probably heard of it and used it. I never could understand why no one ever targeted my demographic, because we were the most curious and eager generation. It took a few years, but I figured it out. Building for fintech consumers is hard, building for young fintech consumers, with under 5 figures in assets, is extremely hard.

It wasn’t until I talked to friends about how they invest when I started to understand where a potential gold mine was. People ages 24-30 (roughly) have 5+ figures in assets and are saving more quickly. They can’t really afford an FA, but they have financial goals they need guidance with (namely buying a house and starting a family). As I have mentioned in previous writings, there is an opportunity to win over this market with a modern wealth management product. And today, I got an email from Titan that started to prove my thesis right.

A Massive Revamp

To sum it up in a few sentences, Titan switched from a fee-based management system, to a $25 monthly subscription. They will be a home to all your finances (not only Titan-based assets) and will dive more into the wealth management and advisory side of the business. They have also released Titan Access, a way for members to get access to restaurants, exclusive calls, and much more. It almost seems like they are becoming the Amex for Wealth Management.

My Thoughts

It’s still early, but since this move seems to be an effort to approach a more modern wealth management application, I am going to voice my support for this move (shocker I know). With that, there are a few key areas that need to be executed well.

One part is the marketing side, conveying to users that this essentially an affordable financial advisor/wealth manager will be able to grab a lot of eyeballs. Beyond that, WOM is also a very important channel that could really push users to the app. But, this is not my area of expertise, so I will end it here.

On the product front, the user experience needs to be as frictionless as possible, and the user needs to experience an aha moment pretty quickly. Now, these are two of the more obvious things you need to get right on the product front, so I’ll expand.

On the friction side, fintech apps are given a hard start with the way users have to link accounts. Linking accounts through plaid isn’t fun, and it isn’t something that the apps can change themselves. So, everything before and after the plaid flow has to be easy and frictionless. Moving money, adding money, viewing insights, sharing things, etc. All these actions need to be easy and intuitive. These are all areas where data and user interviews can help identify painpoints where users are getting stuck.

Beyond that, as with all great products, the aha moment needs to happen fast. The issue here is everyone is looking for something different when it comes to money management apps. This is where the beauty of A/B testing comes into play. Building multiple flows with aha moments, testing each of them, and seeing what sticks will make people more retained users. For me personally, the aha moment is giving me money insights that no one else is able to. Benchmarking, AI-powered goals, where I’m being inefficient, etc, anything that stands out as something that no one else out there is able to do.

Overdeliver

This is a large switch up for Titan, but it could be the pivot that accelerates their growth. I would imagine that they talked to a lot of users before making this pivot and studied their data extensively. I have been a client for Titan over the past 3 years and I will continue to be. In my mind, I will be looking for an FA in my late 20’s (5 yrs give or take). If Titan starts to overdeliver, that starts to become a lot more questionable. Interesting to see how it will all play out.

Looking forward to writing about another company in the space next → Origin Financial

Disclosures: I am currently a paying user at both Titan and Origin Financial

-Tom Lombardozzi

thomas.lombardozzi@gmail.com