Cinch Financial co-founders Sean Collins and Joe Ranft visited the Startup Institute last week to talk to us about an app they are developing called Billsnap.
Check out the fellas here.
Check out the app here.

The app is for people who want to lower their bills (who doesn’t), but who would rather gouge their eyes out than review plans, read fine print, get bombarded by sales calls, or gather up their detailed information for professionals who can help.

No gouging necessary.
Enter: Billsnap.

You take a picture of your bill, Cinch gathers all the info from that bill, and then, drawing from their personal wisdom, extensive research, and collected data, they present you with options for lowering costs and increasing benefits.
Yes I said personal wisdom.
I didn’t just like the idea. I liked the fellas.

Here’s four reasons why:

Reason 1:
They’re not about the money.
They’re about your money.
But most importantly, they’re about not gouging your eyes out. They get how painful it is to manage finances when you have limited knowledge and limited time.
(I’m sorry. I know the eye gouging is grotesque and rather medieval, but it just feels right.)

Reason 2:
Sean mentioned that when looking for a partner, he knew he was not looking for a technical person. And not for a financial person. Yes it’s a financial services mobile application. But it’s about the user’s experience. Minimizing their stress. Doing the work for them.  Saving their eyes.  He expressed gratitude in that Joe is that guy for him.

Reason 3:
Sean emphasized the importance of finding someone who has very different skills from yours. This is not the first time I’ve heard this from a successful person.
We often are drawn to people with whom we have things in common. You have that common language with them, communication and productivity gets off to a head start and naturally flows.
But seeking out someone with opposite skills from you is key.  That doesn’t mean their values are different from yours. Plus, while it may take a little bit longer to develop a common language, it’s totes m’gotes worth it. Because shared values leads to a more coherent mission.  And differing skills leads to a more robust fulfillment of that mission.

Reason 4:
The fact that they warmed up their hands over the fire before talking to us.  And by fire I mean the painting of a fire we have on the wall behind where they sit.

Reason 5:
“If anyone holds information, then run for the hills.”
Sean was talking about the startup mindset. Startups are not about competition.  They’re about collaboration. The system thrives when people share information and build off of it for the sake of making an improvement.  Not when they hoard and protect it.

I’m currently taking Improv 101 at the Improv Asylum in Boston.
And we do an exercise called  “Yes, and…”
It’s a three line scene.
Person 1 starts with a line. any line.
Person 2 responds.
Person 1 responds back.
End scene.
But the rule is, person 1 can’t start with a question. And both responses have to start with “yes, and…”
We rarely respond to statements with “yes, and” in real life. If you disagree, try answering with “yes, and” to the following statements:
-“Dad I need to borrow your car all weekend for Wild Teen Fest ’15. ”
-“I can NOT believe she would wear something like that to a work event.”
or
-“Hey so I saw your artwork, and I think we should talk.”

Anyway, we were doing the exercise.
I walked up to my partner and said gleefully, “Hayyyy I heard the good newssss!”, putting my hand on my stomach to indicate pregnancy.
Her response?
“Yes, and I ate all 50 hot dogs. I even had a soda too!”

Now remember, I have to say “yes, and..”
I can’t say “No, I mean, you’re pregnant.”
I have to build on what she’s given me.

She totally caught me off guard, and since I had my mind set on pregnancy, I was stuck as to what to say.
What came out was “Yes, and you gotta be careful about that gurg reflex” (I think I was thinking of acid reflex from the soda, and bubbles, which are gurgly? That’s not even a real word?)

The point is, it’s not just about bringing your idea to the scene, or thinking on your feet from your brain only.  It’s about picking up on, supporting, and building off of what’s being given to you by your partner.  And expecting and rolling with the unexpected.  There’s still plenty of opportunity to express your particular style, humor, or personality.  It’s just that there’s an added challenge of respecting and incorporating others’ contributions and outside factors.

Startups are like this. There is no lack of great ideas out there. We all frolick to the scene brimming with ’em. But startups are about working in teams. And it’s important to know how to incorporate others’ ideas into a coherent plan and build as you go. You cant just come in with a mold and force everything to fit it. And you don’t always have the best idea in the whole wide world. Be aware of and open to what others are bringing to the table.  And use it to build something better than what you could have done alone.
Improv is everywhere! Now get out there and get your “yes, and ” game on!

Here’s a diverse list of facts I’ve acquired in my Stinstitutings so far.

1. Web Fact:
Bounce rate describes how many people come to your website and then leave right away.
Sort of like when you walk in a room, see a close-talker or never stop talker and peace out immediately. usually via 180 degree pivot.

2. Marketing Fact:
When people are faced with more than 5-7 choices, they start making arbitrary decisions. Or no decision at all. Hence why it’s easier to get dressed in the morning when most of your laundry is dirty. Having more choices leads to chaos and paralysis. Don’t be goin’ out naked now.

3. Woulda Been Cool To Know Before Fact:
There’s a quiet car on the commuter rail.
Woops.
And for those of you who aren’t sure, don’t worry—there’s a friendly man (on opposite day) on there every day who will let you know immediately if you’re breathing too loud.

4. Fun Fact
JessMeetKen.com is an online dating site where women create profiles for their guy friends, out of the goodness of their own heart.  Because women are better at marketing men than men are at marketing themselves. (Think: guys’ profile photos. Next to their car, holding a fish., etc.)

5. Not So Fun Fact:
A person who fires someone in their company is at substantial risk for heart attack afterward.
Finding the right fit is not just important to the employee, but to the employer too.

6. Matter Of Fact:

30% of our income goes to health insurance.  And on average, Americans spend 12 minutes choosing a plan. Maxwell Health is building an app that makes it easier for you to shop for insurance and benefit plans—but from a carefully made and customized list. This ties in to #2. Good services/companies/apps don’t make consumers feel overwhelmed, and build trust such that they know there isn’t a bad decision. There may be a best one. but not a bad one.

7. NOT a Fact
Entrepreneurs are less risk aversive than non entrepreneurs.
Not so!
Entrepreneurs are just as risk aversive, but they have a plan and execute it despite that risk. They prepare it for and subject it to those risks, and condition it, and mold it accordingly.

Gregg Fairbrothers, a Dartmouth professor who leads XLuniversity (Experiential learning) says “Your idea is not your baby”. You’re not looking to protect it.  You’re looking to throw it out there and put it to the test.
Yes, parents need to challenge their babies. But according to their ability, and while also playing it safe.
i.e not experimenting to see if baby Jessie can chew a hotdog.
I think you get the picture.

What does one write for a first post?
Let’s find out together.
After week one at the Startup Institute–which felt like a day and a month and a dream all at once–I have a bajillion thoughts and lessons and ideas and reflections zippin’ around my brain matter right now (all positive), but I’ll just pick three.

1. New fact for my brain!:

There is a product being developed out there, by which users hope to change their unhealthy behaviors via electric shock. pretty cool. a bit scary. totally pavlov. did he have kids?

2. PROOF!:
So I believed it at first. But after a week here, I also now have firsthand evidence. PROOF. That the magical, selfdiscoverial, grateful, payforwardful vibe that I was getting from SI in my initial interactions is, in fact, real and sustained.
And the epicenter of such glee is not confined to 179 Lincoln Street.  Nono. It’s in the hearts of the staff, the people who mentored and inspired them,  and the students they mentor and inspire.  So actually, theres a bunch of mini epicenters scootin around Boston and beyond. And they are multiplying. It’s a glee infestation.

It’s not just that they know whats important to them and are doing it.  It’s that what is important to them is helping others identify and convert into action what is important to THEM as individuals who want to make a big ole beautiful dent in this world.

3. A reflection:
As CEOs tell their stories, I’m learning that oftentimes a central value they possessed is what drove them to action and to their initial success, not even knowing what that value was. Then at some point within that initial success, they recognized that value, which enabled them to more intentionally harness its motivating and navigating power, which then accelerated their subsequent success.

There are tons of values out there. And tons of avenues for projecting them.  The permutations are endless!  And for each one there’s a particular population whose lives are getting better because of it.

The CEOs that speak here are living examples of what happens when values get put into action.