braid.co

amandapey·Jul 08, 2020

Hi All -- Long-time lurker here. I posted back in November and got tons of great feedback from Elpha + Elpha Beta Testers community (product used to be called Compound). In that time, we've made lots of changes and are doing a public launch today.We're building Braid, a group account for shared expenses. Sharing money can be painful, especially for ongoing expenses with roommates, family members, significant others, etc. Most people use a combination of Excel, Splitwise and Venmo/Cash App/Zelle. It’s easy to send money, but it’s still hard to share it. The idea of a “group account” doesn’t really exist, and that’s what we’ve been building. I think the joint account, as a product, is not great and shared accounts more generally can be a lot better.Some usage we've seen so far:-Couples using it as a lightweight joint account-Roommates using it as a house account-Sharing money with family members as a way to help/support everyday expenses-Divorced co-parents who share childcare expenses-Social envelope budgetingThe product is totally free. You can download the app for iOS or Android and get started quickly. U.S. only for now. We'd love for you to check it out and tell us what you think. I'll be here answering questions, or you can email me directly: [email protected]-AmandaLinks============-App Store: https://apple.co/33sUaNf-Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.margin-Website: https://braid.co-Our Twitter: https://twitter.com/braid_app (it’s brand-new!)

cadran·Jul 08, 2020

Congrats on the launch @amandapey! What's been the most challenging part of building Braid so far?

amandapey·Jul 08, 2020

Definitely the financial piece of it - we have had to build a lot of regulatory systems before we could launch. The other challenging part was understanding that we are really for people with ongoing expenses rather than one-off use-cases.

Iynna·Jul 08, 2020

Whoohoo @amandapey Congratulations on the launch! If I am getting this correctly, you're somewhat of a Common Pot of $ where anyone can chip in and take out for joint expenses? I am curious the type of studies you conducted to validate that people (other than couple maybe) would be comfortable to put money for a joint account?I am saying this because with friends when we go on a trip let'ss ay we typically settle using Splitwise which saves us all the math and the drama associated with calculating/dividing everything to the cent. I'd want to know what is your key differentiator and I also assume you integrate payment? So no need to use a 3rd party (bank transfer etc)?

amandapey·Jul 08, 2020

Thanks @iynna! This is much more for ongoing use-cases, and that was our biggest learning from our early users. Roommates, couples, families, and people who spend together a lot. For example, couples who are doing quarantine together and want a lightweight shared account for their shared expenses. Divorced co-parents are another big use-case. We found this wasn't as great for one-time groups but hope to serve that use-case in the future :) Yep, you can use any U.S. bank to fund the account.

Iynna·Jul 08, 2020

Thanks so much for clarifying! Wow seems like a timely product! Good luck with everything! :D

eugenadelman·Jul 09, 2020

Hi @amandapey, congrats on your launch! Out of curiosity, who did your web design? It's really beautiful and love how it showcases your product so clearly.

amandapey·Jul 10, 2020

We work with a small but incredible agency in Oakland called Definery. I cannot recommend them enough. They are very responsive to their contact form (and feel free to use my name) or I can intro you if you are looking for someone.

teresaman·Jul 09, 2020

Congrats Amanda on launching! I truly wished I had this when I used to live with roommates, expense calculations after the fact were always such a pain.Curious what sparked the name change? (I love the new name Braid!)

amandapey·Jul 10, 2020

Thanks so much @teresaman! If you happen to know anyone who lives with roommates currently who'd want to try this, I'd love to speak to them, and can add some $$ to their house group as a bonus for trying it out. My email is [email protected]Oh and lol we changed the name bc a crypto company called Compound (compound.finance) started to come after us, and they've raised $25mm from A16Z and as much as I detest getting bullied we were like "meh, not worth it" and spent too many hours in May working on a new name. To be honest, Braid is WAY better IMO.

teresaman·Aug 04, 2020

An old roommate of mind is happy to try this out! Let me know if you'd like an intro via email.

lsheehy·Jul 09, 2020

Great concept! Love the idea of a group account from someone in 1) a marriage and 2) invited to a ton of events like bachelorette parties. How much easier would it be to have a digital wallet with group funds.

amandapey·Jul 10, 2020

Thanks so much! Yeah it took us a while to figure out exactly how to explain this blob/thing we had built, but I think group account works best because you can say "checking account, joint account, group account" and it seems to make sense to people. Appreciate the comment @lsheehy

Kmorganco·Jul 10, 2020

Congrats on the launch @amandapey! I'm a COO/ startup growth & Ops expert; if you're interested in talking about the company's growth/scaling trajectory I'd be happy to hop on a call.