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#81May 29, 202055:27

#79 with Alexa von Tobel - From Dropping Out of Business School …

About This Episode

Alexa von Tobel shares her journey from dropping out of Harvard Business School to selling LearnVest for $375 million, detailing the challenges of building a personal finance brand during a recession. The conversation explores the psychology of happiness in leadership and a futuristic vision for 'self-driving' wallets that move money in real-time.

Episode Description

Joined our private FB group yet? It's a page where people share each others million dollar ideas or what they're already working on: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion. Shaan Puri (@ShaanVP) and Sam Parr (@theSamParr) interview Alexa von Tobel (@alexavontobel), founder and former CEO of LearnVest, a fintech company that sold to Northwestern Mutual for $375M five years after launch. Today's topic include: Alexa talks about her background (0:20), Alexa talks about studying happiness at Harvard (3:40), Alexa breaks down the business plan and evolution of LearnVest (9:00), Alexa describes what it was like to be a classmate at Harvard with Mark Zuckerberg and the advent of Facebook (16:02), Sam asks Alexa, “why sell the business?” (23:08), Alexa explains the strategy behind her VC firm, Inspired Capital, and what’s interesting to her today (30:06), Shaan asks Alexa to explain her contrarian views about the future of work (32:52), Alexa explains how her roots give her an advantage in the fintech space (36:24), Sam asks Alexa what a “self-driving wallet” is (40:10), Shaan talks with Alexa about crypto projects that are streaming money (42:10), Alexa explains how friction is making it more difficult for people to grow their wealth (52:10).  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Key Takeaways

1

Cultivate enthusiasm as a competitive advantage, as positive energy is an undervalued resource that attracts talent and fosters long-term high performance.

2

Build an audience-first company by starting with free, high-value content and tools before layering on more complex, regulated services like financial advice.

3

Solve for 'friction' in consumer products by identifying legacy systems—like the two-week pay cycle—that no longer serve the modern user's needs.

Business Ideas Mentioned

Autonomous Self-Driving Wallets

AI & Automation

Real-time Streaming Payroll Infrastructure

SaaS

Liquified Money Movement Rails

SaaS

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Quick Stats

Duration55:27
Guests1
Ideas Discussed3
Topics4