Selfin

What do they actually do

Selfin is an early‑stage personal finance app in waitlist/beta. Today, users connect their existing bank, card, investment and crypto accounts, and an AI assistant analyzes that data to suggest concrete actions like moving cash to higher‑yield accounts, paying down debt, or rebalancing investments (homepage, YC launch).

They are testing “financial agents” that can automate routine tasks (for example, transfers or bill payments), but this automation is early and not broadly available. There is no public evidence they issue deposit accounts or operate under a bank charter yet; the current focus is account aggregation plus recommendations within a private beta (YC launch, homepage).

Who are their target customer(s)

• Busy people with multiple financial accounts (e.g., freelancers, dual‑income households): They juggle several apps and often miss simple optimizations like better savings rates, timely transfers, or bill timing. They want one place that spots opportunities and can automate routine tasks.
• Investors and crypto holders using several brokerages and wallets: Holdings are scattered, making allocation and rebalancing hard; money moves are manual and time‑consuming, and they risk tax or diversification issues without a consolidated plan.
• People carrying high‑interest debt with variable cash flow: They miss payments or lack a prioritized payoff plan, incurring interest and fees; they need actionable steps that can be executed automatically to reduce balances.
• Rate‑conscious savers: Switching to higher‑yield accounts is tedious, so cash sits in low‑yield accounts; they want simple, low‑friction moves to earn better returns.
• Early adopters who want AI to run routine finance tasks: They’re open to sharing data but need strong safeguards, clear permissions, and reliable execution for any automated money movement.

How would they acquire their first 10, 50, and 100 customers

• First 10: Personally recruit from founders’ networks (YC contacts, friends, LinkedIn) into a paid or priority beta; do hands‑on onboarding, weekly feedback calls, and secure permission for anonymized case studies.
• First 50: Ask the first users for referrals with invite codes; run live group demos/AMAs and post concrete before/after saves in targeted communities (personal finance subreddits, freelancer and crypto Discords) to convert interested users.
• First 100: Publish short case studies and videos, pitch YC Launch/fintech newsletters, and do a focused Product Hunt/maker launch; retarget waitlist visitors and form lightweight partnerships with relevant communities/newsletters to drive invite conversions.

What is the rough total addressable market

Top-down context:

Broadly, Selfin targets digitally banked U.S. consumers who manage multiple accounts. In 2023, 96% of U.S. households were banked, and adjacent early‑adopter segments include 64M Americans who freelanced in 2023 and households that used or owned crypto (~4.8%) (FDIC, Upwork, FDIC crypto).

Bottom-up calculation:

As a beachhead, assume Selfin focuses on U.S. freelancers who often juggle multiple accounts. If 25% of 64M freelancers (16M) have complex, multi‑account needs, a $10/month plan yields $120/year per user. At 5% penetration of that 16M segment (800k paying users), the near‑term serviceable revenue pool would be about $96M/year.

Assumptions:

• 25% of U.S. freelancers have multi‑account complexity that benefits from automation.
• Pricing averages $10/month per paying user.
• 5% penetration of the 16M high‑need freelancers over time is achievable via consumer channels and partnerships.

Who are some of their notable competitors

• Cleo: AI‑first consumer finance assistant with account aggregation, chat‑style guidance, and partner‑backed savings/credit (cash advances, secured card); an established consumer app with live products today (site, review).
• Albert: All‑in‑one money app with an AI‑branded assistant (“Genius”), automatic saving/investing, cash advances, and partner bank rails; mature, subscription‑based consumer product (features, about Genius).
• Rocket Money (Truebill): Consumer finance app focused on aggregation, subscription discovery/cancellation, and bill negotiation with concierge‑style savings actions; specialized more in subscriptions/bills than autonomous AI agents (site, review).
• Personal Capital / Empower: Financial dashboard with aggregation, portfolio analysis, and retirement planning plus optional paid advisory; geared toward investment planning vs. automated consumer money agents (tools, Empower transition).
• Chime: U.S. neobank offering deposit accounts and features like automatic savings, early direct deposit and fee‑free overdraft; strong on banking rails today rather than cross‑platform investment/crypto automation (savings, early pay).