Just out of curiosity, do you have a lot paid customers for this? It's clearly a useful tool but I'm just wondering whether there is a significant cohort that is interested in paying actually paying for value added services.
Show HN: I built a simulator for personal finance
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Re: Show HN: I built a simulator for personal finance
#22Just out of curiosity, do you have a lot paid customers for this? It's clearly a useful tool but I'm just wondering whether there is a significant cohort that is interested in paying actually paying for value added services.
Not enough for me to work on this full-time, but enough that it continues to be an energizing side project. I'm sure there could be more if I would pull my head out of the sand and spend more than ~0% of the time doing marketing haha. Certainly all the options and customization appeal more to the DIY types and/or people interested in building detailed plans for financial independence / FIRE.
Re: Show HN: I built a simulator for personal finance
#23Just out of curiosity, do you have a lot paid customers for this? It's clearly a useful tool but I'm just wondering whether there is a significant cohort that is interested in paying actually paying for value added services.
I worked at a startup that pivoted away from this product so have the same question. We found that people wouldn’t pay for our product that showed financial projections based on current data.
I would be really interested to hear how this product is different - maybe there’s a different monetization strategy or a different marketing strategy?
Re: Show HN: I built a simulator for personal finance
#24Glad to see that you've continued investing in this project! I paid for the Premium version back in the Projectifi times and would have loved a heads up by email that you made some significant updates.
Me too! OG 5/3/21. How do we get on the mailing list?
Ayyy thanks! There's an option in the setup wizard now and also on the blog section.
Re: Show HN: I built a simulator for personal finance
#25Just out of curiosity, do you have a lot paid customers for this? It's clearly a useful tool but I'm just wondering whether there is a significant cohort that is interested in paying actually paying for value added services.
I worked at a startup that pivoted away from this product so have the same question. We found that people wouldn’t pay for our product that showed financial projections based on current data. I would be really interested to hear how this product is different - maybe there’s a different monetization strategy or a different marketing strategy?
So far I've just been building what I really wanted to exist for my own planning purposes combined with the best ideas from early adopters, and then I've posted in a few places and gotten a little traction here and there. I can see how it might be difficult to build and sustain a real startup around this kind of product; it does feel a bit niche, and I haven't tried ads but I've always imagined that the target audience would probably be especially hostile towards them.
Re: Show HN: I built a simulator for personal finance
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
I worked at a startup that pivoted away from this product so have the same question. We found that people wouldn’t pay for our product that showed financial projections based on current data. I would be really interested to hear how this product is different - maybe there’s a different monetization strategy or a different marketing strategy?
So far I've just been building what I really wanted to exist for my own planning purposes combined with the best ideas from early adopters, and then I've posted in a few places and gotten a little traction here and there. I can see how it might be difficult to build and sustain a real startup around this kind of product; it does feel a bit niche, and I haven't tried ads but I've always imagined that the target audien…
> I can see how it might be difficult to build and sustain a real startup around this kind of product
Yes, I think the most important difference is that, as far as I can tell, you're looking for a bit of side income rather than trying to jump start a whole company.
Re: Show HN: I built a simulator for personal finance
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
So far I've just been building what I really wanted to exist for my own planning purposes combined with the best ideas from early adopters, and then I've posted in a few places and gotten a little traction here and there. I can see how it might be difficult to build and sustain a real startup around this kind of product; it does feel a bit niche, and I haven't tried ads but I've always imagined that the target audien…
> I can see how it might be difficult to build and sustain a real startup around this kind of product Yes, I think the most important difference is that, as far as I can tell, you're looking for a bit of side income rather than trying to jump start a whole company.
What direction did that startup take their product out of curiosity? Did they ditch the projection/forecasting element altogether or still keep a vestige of it?
Re: Show HN: I built a simulator for personal finance
#28I couldn't find a good financial planning tool that felt modern, nuanced, and actually fun to use... and I ended up spending all my free time this past year building one: ProjectionLab https://projectionlab.com It doesn't involve linking your financial accounts, you don't have to make an account to try it, the free version has a lot of features, and there's a sandbox mode if you just want to see how the interface wor…
This tool is really flexible and you mention "a rental empire," so perhaps it's covered already, but it might be worth trying to add features for freelancers, contract workers, or people starting side businesses. I think those people would be more willing to spend money on a planning tool, since there's more decisions to make. (I think targeting financial planners is also a smart move.)
Re: Show HN: I built a simulator for personal finance
#29I couldn't find a good financial planning tool that felt modern, nuanced, and actually fun to use... and I ended up spending all my free time this past year building one: ProjectionLab https://projectionlab.com It doesn't involve linking your financial accounts, you don't have to make an account to try it, the free version has a lot of features, and there's a sandbox mode if you just want to see how the interface wor…
This tool is really flexible and you mention "a rental empire," so perhaps it's covered already, but it might be worth trying to add features for freelancers, contract workers, or people starting side businesses. I think those people would be more willing to spend money on a planning tool, since there's more decisions to make. (I think targeting financial planners is also a smart move.)
What kind of new features do you feel would add the most value for freelancer / side-business use cases?
Re: Show HN: I built a simulator for personal finance
#30This is fabulous, will definitely be giving you some money next time I sit down to do finances.