Case study

How She Started: What’s the story behind Wealth Stash?

Priya Malani: I started my corporate career in wealth management at Merrill Lynch. In 2016 I was asked to be part of a focus group at IBM. They were building technology using their Watson intelligence. Our focus group would talk to IBM about financial services, what a financial advisor does, and give suggestions on how to make the experience of an advisor more seamless. I remember giving a bunch of ideas. What frustrated me was I felt IBM wasn't listening to me and didn't care about what I had to say.

I came back to my office one day and I started drawing on a piece of paper. I sent the concept to my designer and she told me to build a web application. I told her “I don't know what a web application is,” but I figured it out and that’s how it started. I had no clue what I was doing. I knew what I wanted, and before I knew it, I was building financial technology.

HSS: What did your initial customer discovery look like and how did you find those pain points?

PM: I was my customer. I was a young professional and at one point I was making good money and wanted more to show for it. I was in New York as a 20/30 something. I was living a good life, but I wanted to live my best life, and to do that I needed to get my sh*t together. In essence, I built the company around myself. I hated the idea of budgeting because I wanted to be able to enjoy my money, guilt-free. 

HSS: How did you acquire your first customers?

PM: Before Stash Wealth became a business I started by giving advice to my friends, and slowly more and more people wanted in. All of a sudden I realized I needed to put some structure around this. I also pounded the pavement. I started building relationships at We Works in New York. I would give free seminars all the time. Every time I finished giving a seminar I would go thank the Community Manager. I would then say “We should do this at another We Work." Can you introduce me to another Community Manager? I would get connected with other We Works and set up more free events. I did this for about 2 years. My first few seminars had an attendance of around 3 people, then it built to 10 people, then 20, and so on. I would give away free information like “Here's how not to budget, here's how many credit cards you should have, here's how to get out of student debt.”. 

HSS: How do you retain your customers? 

PM: We're really f*cking good to them. End of story. If you don't care, your retention is going to be sh*t, so make sure to treat them well. Our team is so awesome and they go above and beyond for every client which is the key to success. We say we deliver white glove service. We treat you like a millionaire before you're a millionaire.

A lot of our clients say something like “I talked to my dad's financial advisor, and they just treated me like I was a little kid. They didn't give me the time of day and they made me feel stupid. They said a bunch of jargon.” We come in and say: “OK we got you. We're going to take you seriously.”

That level of hand-holding is usually reserved for rich people. We bend over backward for all our clients, even when they're not rich. If you need help buying or leasing a car we’ll help you research. If you’re trying to negotiate with your boss and he's being a d*ck or she's being a d*ick, we'll help you write a letter. We say send us your draft, and we'll help get that raise for you.

HSS: Was there a moment that you feel catapulted Stash Wealth into the mainstream?

PM: In 2015 I started doing a lot of work with the press and the media. While I was offering free advice at We Work I was also offering free advice to journalists. I would speak to journalists who were writing about money for Cosmo, PureWow,  Capture, Refinery 29, etc. Whoever I could meet, I would give them ideas and I would help them with smart advice. They started reaching out to me more. They would ask something like “I'm writing a piece on weddings. How does the millennial save on her wedding but make it look like it's not so budget-friendly?” That media press helped catapult us into the mainstream. We now have clients in well over 30 states.

HSS: What is your growth strategy?

PM: We're not growing in the traditional way. A lot of other businesses like ours grow by acquiring smaller financial startups. I don't like that model for us. We do partner with larger firms though. There are a lot of financial advisors out there that won't work with HENRYs, and that's why Stash Wealth exists. We reach out to those businesses and tell them if you have clients that come to you that want help, but don't reach your income threshold, you can send them to us. 

We're also starting to advertise and give out free courses. We're testing paid ads, which is challenging because so many of us are numb to advertising. Many times you see an ad and you scroll right past it. It's a fun challenge to think about. What will millennials respond to? I just recorded an ad yesterday and we were thinking about how to get someone to stop and think about their financial life. 

HSS: Was there a time when you felt that this was not worth pursuing?

PM: I think there's a tremendous amount of worth in our mission. I think it's insanely valuable and someone’s got to do it. Does it drain the sh*t out of you and are you exhausted? Yes. I'll let myself feel those emotions and process them and I'm stronger for it. I know I can continue this because somebody's got to do it, and I believe we're the ones to do it.

HSS: And what are your lessons learned so far?

PM: My favorite quote is from Biz Stone the Co-founder of Twitter. He says “Timing, perseverance, and 10 years of trying makes you look like an overnight success.” I'm a very impatient person, and it takes so much longer than you think it's going to take to be successful. I believe that impossible only describes the degree of difficulty. Nothing's impossible. Sometimes my team asks “what do you want us to prioritize today? What should be first second third?” When they say they can't get it done I say to all of them: “Stretch yourselves. Think creatively. You'll figure it out.”
I've also learned the importance of culture. I don't think I understood what culture meant when I started this and I came off of Wall Street, so I was very cutthroat. And that was to my detriment. I'm still cutthroat in my expectations; those haven't eased. But I've learned to be more patient and kind with myself and with my team. It produces better work and everyone collaborates better. It’s made us family.

I used to think employee-employer relations were more transactional. The narrative I had was “I have this idea. You're gonna help me accomplish it and I'm gonna pay you money. I now take a softer approach. I consider how we learn, grow, and achieve together. 

HSS: Do you have any advice for female-founded businesses?

PM: If I'm being true to myself, I try not to think of myself as male or female. I personally don't think it's helpful to think about what's harder or different for me. It's hard for everyone. One message I want to get across is that entrepreneurship takes years and sacrifices. I cashed out my 401k to start Stash Wealth and that 70k went quickly. At one point my food budget was $40 a week and I lived on Trader Joe's burritos. You need to evaluate whether it's the right path for you.

HSS: Thanks much for taking the time.

How We Met: Virtual Introduction

After my interview with Lauren Marturano she offered to introduce me to Priya.

Lisa Richardson

I've always been passionate about women helping other women. I created this blog to tell stories of successful female-founded businesses. Hopefully, these stories will help inspire more women to found their own businesses.

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