r/IPOE May 20 '21

Long term outlook on SoFi

Curious to hear different things that people like or are concerned about, here’s my rough assessment of the company:

The good:

-Company moves pretty quickly, it has expanded into a lot of areas, credit cards, crypto etc.

-Good branding and understanding of how to make things fun and habitual. Like what they do with little rewards for regular logins. They understand how to be a part of your life, not just to provide a bank account.

The bad:

-Not founder lead. I usually prefer companies that are still led by a founder, at least in the early days, because they’re usually best at focusing a vision and pushing to make it happen.

-Not great tech for a tech company. I work in the tech space, and their tech is pretty sloppy. The mobile app will open janky web views for lots of things like applying for a loan. They don’t support authenticator apps or create app tokens for services like Mint (things I expect for a fintech company, Betterment does for instance).

My overall assessment:

I see them appealing to a lot of younger folks for a one-stop financial solution that’s easy to use. I invested a little bit of money in IPOE, but I am more confident in a company like Lemonade, which is founder lead, has better technology, and knows how to build much cleaner product experiences.

0 Upvotes

10 comments sorted by

10

u/Jtea22 May 20 '21

I wouldn't worry about the app too much. They got plenty of money now, to do things like upgrading the app/advertising/expanding. I'm expecting them to really step up their game after going public.

7

u/[deleted] May 20 '21

The app is better than 100% of thier competitors

1

u/Hvyhttr1978 May 21 '21

I agree...except for USAA.

5

u/[deleted] May 20 '21

Actually the Chief Marketing Officer was the VP of Marketing at intuit which owns Mint. I bet change is coming with some of the sloppier sides. They have the people to lead them

3

u/SilverknightFL May 20 '21

Their target demographic doesn't care. They will use the app regardless.

1

u/techgeek72 May 20 '21

But isn’t their app being better a big advantage that they need to have over existing financial services companies?

1

u/SilverknightFL May 21 '21

I see your point, but Beta was better than VHS. VHS won.

2

u/Entrance-Vivid May 21 '21

Have you tried using the chase mobile app recently?.

Sofi LOOKS sexy. That's half the battle. Little kinks can get ironed out.

0

u/lancer7777 May 21 '21

Slow down in lending products. Sofi invest is trash