Chris Hutchins, founder/CEO of Grove, a new, optimized financial planning company based in San Francisco, talks about how a life and career of entrepreneurship led him to the FI community, and his current business venture. And, how his new company meets the needs of the average person better than a traditional financial planner.
What you’ll hear in this episode:
- Is Chris a risk taker or financial conservative?
- How did Chris find his way into the financial planning and optimization world?
- Was Chris an entrepreneur growing up?
- Chris got his career started through relationships built in college – how can building relationships help open doors?
- Passion for entrepreneurship led Chris to make a move from New York to Silicon Valley.
- Although most people in the Silicon Valley have tech-related qualifications, Chris found his foothold in business development.
- How did Chris land his first job in the Silicon Valley?
- What steps did Chris take to earn an income after he was laid off in 2008?
- Did Chris’ wife buy into his ideas of financial optimization, and how has that developed within their relationship?
- What are the drawbacks or negative sides of frugal and financial optimization in a high-cost environment?
- How does Chris create a “memorable moment” each month?
- Chris found himself as a source of financial consultation for his friends, and his current business idea grew from there.
- The world of financial planning, in its current state, is focused on the already wealthy, and the exchange of information between planners and customers is both inefficient and confusing.
- How does Grove change the process of financial planning, and how does the software help Grove work more efficiently?
- Grove costs $600 a year – significantly less than a traditional financial planner.
- What services does Grove provide its customers?
- Financial goals are really just sums of money that someone wants to set aside, no matter the purpose.
- Why should someone in the FI community consider using Grove’s services?
- How do Grove advisors function a bit like personal trainers?
- On a personal level, how is Grove a different venture for Chris, different from some of his previous companies?
- Would Chris take an offer to buy Grove?
Listen to Brad and Jonathan’s thoughts about this episode here.
Resources from the show:
- Grove
- Mr Money Mustache
- Mad Fientist
- Memeorandum
- Chris Hutchins: What Credit Card Should Be in Your Wallet
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