Name: Rebel
Price range: $

Retirement: now for gig workers.

OUR PARTNERSHIP

Within three months of launching their retirement savings app for gig workers, Honest Dollar had customers churning. Why? And where do we go from here? Before they could go forward, they needed answers.

Man with a guitar and headphones on, looking at his phone.

Quote from Honest Dollar COO about Rebel,

Eyes on the prize.

ACHIEVING BUSINESS GOALS

A successful exit by year five—that was the business goal. It started with customer insight and scalable strategies. Then, Honest Dollar was acquired by Goldman Sachs. The research and strategy continued in search of product-market fit with companies like Uber, Care.com, and Intuit.

Quote from Honest Dollar COO about Rebel's ability to stay ahead of their development so they could move ahead with a clear business strategy.

Build for people—with people.

PRODUCT STRATEGY

Because they took the time to deepen their understanding of consumer needs, comprehensively, it paid off through product iterations that were clear, direct, and fast. They were able to build products customers needed, not what they thought they needed.

Screenshot of the Honest Dollar smartphone app. — Consumer Insights

100 web tracking recordings. 27 usability tests. Two focus groups. And one rather large product audit. To find out what customers thought about Honest Dollar.

Quotes of questions from Honest Dollar customers and prospects, from the customer research completed by Rebel.

Empathy earns interest.

MARKET SEGMENTATION

What financial behaviors are ingrained? What can be re-learned? What’s in the way? The goal was to deeply understand the Honest Dollar user. This meant who they were and what they needed from their fintech products (and what they don't need).

Individuals who express primarily negative emotions about investing are significantly more likely to be concerned about their own retirement and monitor less frequently.

The right market for the right product.

COMPETITIVE & MARKET ANALYSIS

User churn after three months meant there was a clear product-market misfit. Competitive and market analysis opened up a world of possibilities: a new market that wasn’t being served by all of the available options in the marketplace—the gig worker.

Male florist holding a plant and looking at it while touching the leaves.

74% of Americans worry about having enough income in retirement.

Instrumental to our growth and strategic development, such that after we were acquired by Goldman Sachs, the team stayed on the project for two more years.

Chief Operations Officer, Honest Dollar