A colleague suggested that I meet Peter Dunn, CEO and founder of Your Money Line, as he was raising a seed round and I’m always interested in investing opportunities. Prior to meeting with him, I did a little research and discovered this was no ordinary CEO, this was Pete the Planner®, an award-winning comedian, USA Today columnist, and author of 10 books on financial wellness. It was really hard not to be intrigued. We met and after learning more about Your Money Line, a SaaS company that helps employers connect employees to confidential financial guidance to solve common money woes. The VisionTech Screening Committee was also impressed with what Peter’s doing so we invited him to present at our February virtual pitch events.
BP: What’s the story behind Your Money Line?
PD: I worked as an investment advisor from 2000 to 2012 in Carmel, where I live with my family. I soon realized that most people don’t need a wealth advisor, they need a personal financial advisor to help them through a myriad of financial issues such as dealing with student loan debt, buying a home, finding money to save for retirement. In 2005, I started my media career doing television appearances on the local news. That led to a radio show and eventually an opportunity to write for USA Today and the Indianapolis Business Journal. I ultimately wrote ten books, appeared on a number of national news shows, and made various appearances on Good Morning America.
In 2017, I launched Your Money Line Powered by Pete the Planner®. Your Money Line is a fintech company that is the culmination of my experience and identifying a huge need among companies to help their people achieve financial wellness for productivity reasons, human reasons and ultimately, so people can achieve financial security to retire.
BP: You launched five years ago. What makes Your Money Line a must-have now?
PD: People have had money issues as long as there’s been money. But seriously, the last two years of COVID and the uncertainties it’s caused have put extreme financial pressures on everyone. Now with inflation, people are really stressed and need help. That goes for business owners and their employers. Given our offering, now is the right time to scale our company and start helping people get on track with their finances and sanity.
BP: How does it benefit employees?
PD: Employees have access to two things, the Your Money Line Call Line and the Your Money Line Dashboard. The call line is our financial concierge service. Employees with questions call into a dedicated line that connects them with one of our trained money experts. These experts provide answers and also follow up with additional resources if needed. The dashboard takes the call line a step further by providing an online hub for a wealth of money resources. This includes a personal debt tracker, a budgeting tool and video courses. To really personalize the service, people can complete a brief quiz and the dashboard provides a specific financial path based on individual needs. This really helps people understand what they need to do and how to do it to overcome the financial stresses of life.
BP: How does this benefit employers?
PD: There are so many benefits. First, there’s the human factor. If you have employees who are constantly worried about money, who are faced with unexpected expenses, whose partner has lost their job—well, how well can they concentrate on work? Traditional employee benefits don’t address this kind of issue. Providing access to a service like Your Money Line is a much more empathetic, proactive approach to employees’ financial wellbeing and mental health! So we help employers solve underlying financial issues for many employees that keep them from living their best life, purchasing homes and saving for retirement.
There’s also a significant financial benefit. Employees who aren’t burdened by debt are better able to participate in company 401(k)s and prepare for retirement at age 66 or 67. Unfortunately, employees who have not saved for retirement tend to work longer, which has huge financial ramifications for employers. It’s far better to prepare employees to retire “on time.”
A final benefit and what’s truly unique is our technology which helps employers track employee engagement with the money line, dashboard, videos, and other resources. We show on average where employees stand financially and their behavioral changes through on-demand reporting and quarterly reports. So companies see exactly how and where we are making a difference, and if an employee is having difficulties, it creates an opportunity for intervention: a conversation, show of empathy, kindness. And guidance.
BP: What kind of traction do you have?
PD: We currently serve employees in all 50 states, which is exciting because we know we’re making a difference for people. Our sweet spot is with legacy companies with large workforces that take a long-term approach to the needs of their employees, particularly within the realm of retirement readiness. We also have traction with school districts. You may be curious about that, but many teachers start their careers with tremendous debt due to student loans. It’s a huge financial burden. In the fall of 2021, we worked with teachers in three school districts to get their loans forgiven and succeeded in helping them increase their combined net worth by $3 million. They can now concentrate on teaching and also building retirement accounts.
BP: What’s your financial model?
PD: We are a SaaS model. Customers pay an annual, per employee fee for their entire workforce. Our target customers are companies with 1,000 plus employees. They typically sign three-year contracts with us so there is built-in stickiness.
BP: How much are you raising?
PD: Up until this point, I’ve bootstrapped the company. Now, however, we are ready to scale. This is a seed round and we set a goal of $2.5 million. I am happy to say we’ve oversubscribed but are keeping the round open for VisionTech Angels.
BP: What will the funds from this round be used for?
PD: We are really focused on executing our go-to-market strategy. The funds from our seed round will be used to add to our sales, marketing and technology team.
BP: Why should VisionTech Angels investors write checks to Your Money Line?
PD: I have four reasons. First, even at this early growth stage, we have great traction in revenue, renewal rates among existing customers are high, and we have a robust pipeline. Second, we have significant partnerships within the global financial industry. Some of the world’s largest financial companies entrust us with their clients. Third, we have the right team to scale the company. Finally, we’re providing a service that is sorely needed by many Americans.
To learn more about Your Money Line, visit their website. VisionTech Angels’ February Pitch Events will be virtual on Thursday, February 24th at Noon ET and at 6 p.m. ET. Pitch events are open to our members and accredited investors interested in joining our group. To register, check your email for an invitation, go to our Events page or email Ben Pidgeon at bpidgeon@visiontech-partners.com.
