kajlarsen1 OP t1_ivyyn2c wrote
Reply to comment by 2ReddYet in We’re Sean and Kaj, two Navy veterans (intelligence officer /SEAL, respectively) who started a company to help build financial health and wealth for the military community. Ask us anything! by kajlarsen1
Great question w/ an easy answer: We're a commission-free platform. We don't give financial advice, and we don't charge fees.
And totally agree w/ you on fees being a financial headwind. They're a tax to wealth that never goes away, and they can add up to huge dollars over time. Which is why we built Guild the way we did.
TinyDKR t1_ivz0rb4 wrote
So, you must use payment for order flow?
seanbonner_usa t1_ivz1eqv wrote
That is a great question. Actually, we don't currently but that does not mean it is a bad model. Retail investors save $ billions under that model as compared to the commissions they were paying.
TinyDKR t1_ivz2o6r wrote
It's a terrible model designed by Bernie Madoff that guarantees retail does not get a better price than the middle man. Good to hear you don't use it.
So, if there are no commissions, no advisory fees, and no PFOF, how do you keep the lights on? Are you selling your own mutual funds or ETFs with a relatively high expense ratio? Or do you charge commissions for options/derivatives?
seanbonner_usa t1_ivz335p wrote
We don't sell any funds or ETFs.
Crytpo has a small commission attached, but I am not a fan.
TinyDKR t1_ivz68vw wrote
What are your other sources of revenue?
seanbonner_usa t1_ivz6jgk wrote
Revenue- we don't need no stinking revenue. We are a tech company!
TinyDKR t1_ivz7o8e wrote
Tech companies have to keep the computers turned on, and I'm bothered by your question dodge.
Are you making interest from your users' credit card debt?
Are you lending out users' shares to short sellers? Do you allow your users to short sell?
seanbonner_usa t1_ivz9qkd wrote
>But we do make money from traditional business lines in the brokerage industry, mostly linked to asset and cash balances on the platform.
We don't offer credit cards and don't have short selling. Stock loan is another traditional line of business we do not currently use but will as we grow.
As we scale, we keep the lights on from the outside capital we have raised while we prove product market fit.
TinyDKR t1_ivzd2y8 wrote
Thank you.
nowyourdoingit t1_ivzg24s wrote
His non answer is an answer. Whatever the founders' intentions, the outside capital wants a return which means they're either going to become predatory or they'll sell their platform and users to someone who is.
TinyDKR t1_ivzh1gm wrote
Oh, certainly. The biggest red flag is his praise of PFOF.
seanbonner_usa t1_ivz8b6s wrote
But we do make money from traditional business lines in the brokerage industry, mostly linked to asset and cash balances on the platform.
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