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Elevator Pitch: Green Sherpa

Green Sherpa wants to help organize your finances. But first, it's looking for $5 million of its own. Will investors go for the deal?

As told to April Joyner | 
 

Michael Kelley

The Pitch: "Most financial-management tools are focused on historical spending. We help people plan for the next 12 months. Unlike other tools out there, our product is specifically built for women, most of whom manage their household finances. On our site, in addition to tracking bank accounts, credit cards, mortgages, and loans, users can make cash-flow projections and set savings goals. The site also includes collaboration tools, so users can have conversations with their accountants or spouses. We are raising money to build our development and marketing teams and to go international."

CO-FOUNDERS: Masen Yaffee and Erin Lozano

LOCATION: Santa Barbara, California

EMPLOYEES: Six

FOUNDED: January 2007

LAUNCHED: August 2009

2009 PROJECTED REVENUE: $60,000

PROJECTED GROSS PROFIT MARGIN: 82 percent

SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: $7.95 per month or $71.40 per year

NUMBER OF USERS: 3,000

PROJECTED NUMBER OF USERS BY END OF 2009: 7,500

FUNDING SOUGHT: $5 million

The Investors Weigh In

Offer More for Free

In this environment, products that help people save are valuable, and the demographic Green Sherpa is going after is very appealing to marketers. But other personal finance sites are free, and Green Sherpa's fee could limit adoption. I would suggest offering basic functions, such as setting savings goals, for free and then charging for others, such as importing bank data in real time.

Dan Rosen
Principal
Highland Capital Partners
Lexington, Massachusetts

Streamline the Service

Green Sherpa's product could be like The Suze Orman Show of software. But its feature set needs to be smarter. Once I enter my credit card information, for instance, the site should know my expenses and be able to recommend cheaper alternatives. At this early stage, I would recommend raising a smaller amount of money.

Sumeet Jain
Senior associate
CMEA Capital
San Francisco

Foster Community

Green Sherpa's collaboration tool gives it a built-in community aspect that the company should highlight more. Women have a very strong level of engagement online, and I think the site would be well positioned as a destination for recommendations on financial providers. Perhaps it could partner with financial providers, who could refer clients to the site.

Jon Chait
Partner
Dace Ventures
Waltham, Massachusetts

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