Latest / Only Fee-Only / #171 - Advisors Do Not Need More Tech They Need Better Decisions - Taylor Stewart

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#171 - Advisors Do Not Need More Tech They Need Better Decisions - Taylor Stewart · Only Fee-Only

0:00
SPEAKER_03: How's it going, everyone?
0:01
SPEAKER_03: Welcome back to the OnlyFe Only podcast.
0:04
SPEAKER_03: Today we welcome back Taylor Stewart.
0:06
SPEAKER_03: He is a financial advisor and the founder of Cordora, a financial planning platform designed to help advisors turn complex financial information into something clients can actually understand and act on.
0:20
SPEAKER_03: In this episode, we talk about how Cordora has evolved since his last appearance, what he's learned building a software business, and how AI is changing what's possible for advisors.
0:31
SPEAKER_03: We also get into the difference between showing clients a projection and helping them decide what to do next and why chasing the latest technology isn't always the answer.
0:42
SPEAKER_03: Taylor brings a candid perspective as both an advisor and a founder, and we had a lot of fun with this one.
0:49
SPEAKER_03: So without further ado, enjoy this episode with Taylor Stewart on the Only Fee Only Podcast.
0:57
SPEAKER_02: How's it going, everyone?
0:59
SPEAKER_02: Welcome to another episode of the Only Fee Only Podcast.
1:03
SPEAKER_02: I'm Peter Travolo.
1:04
SPEAKER_02: I'm here with my co-host Brock Buckles.
1:06
SPEAKER_02: And today we're very excited to have Taylor Stewart on.
1:09
SPEAKER_02: He's the founder of Cordora.
1:11
SPEAKER_02: Um leading software.
1:14
SPEAKER_02: Really excited to have him on and share how he's helping making financial planning easier.
1:19
SPEAKER_02: So, Taylor, welcome to the show, man.
1:22
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
1:22
SPEAKER_02: It's great to be back.
1:24
SPEAKER_03: Returning guests now.
1:25
SPEAKER_03: I feel honored.
1:26
SPEAKER_03: So uh yeah, and quick shout out for anybody that wants to listen to his first appearance on the show.
1:31
SPEAKER_03: It was, and I quote, it was on April 30th, 2025.
1:35
SPEAKER_03: It's a quick 27-minute listen.
1:37
SPEAKER_03: Uh it's called Planning, Building, and Putting Yourself Out There with Taylor Stewart.
1:41
SPEAKER_03: So if you want to check that out before you listen to this one, go ahead.
1:44
SPEAKER_03: But back back to you, man.
1:45
SPEAKER_01: No, I'm just it's always an honor to be with the B and the C of VC Brokerage.
1:49
SPEAKER_01: That's all I can say.
1:51
SPEAKER_01: Awesome, man.
1:52
SPEAKER_02: So I mean we've had the privilege of being able to work together in the financial planning realm and talk about the software before.
1:58
SPEAKER_02: But for those who are not familiar, what's the elevator pitch before we dive into things?
2:03
SPEAKER_01: For what?
2:03
SPEAKER_01: The software?
2:04
SPEAKER_01: The software.
2:05
SPEAKER_01: It's a flexible surface to help clients understand their financial life and understand know what to do next and then communicate that how you need.
2:13
SPEAKER_01: I tell people the outputs are all built for clients, probably not like much you've seen out there.
2:16
SPEAKER_01: And then we've just added all the tools to make it insanely easy for us to do our job.
2:20
SPEAKER_01: And it's made planning a dream for myself.
2:23
SPEAKER_01: And there's a lot of times I wish I was just a full-time advisor right now.
2:26
SPEAKER_01: Believe me.
2:27
SPEAKER_01: It's just an amazing time to be an advisor.
2:30
SPEAKER_03: So and like walk us through that, man, because like I know last time we talked, it was, you know, it wasn't necessarily new, I wouldn't say, but like it was not as advanced.
2:38
SPEAKER_03: You didn't have as many things going on with it.
2:40
SPEAKER_01: There's even been more than that.
2:41
SPEAKER_01: So there was a little bit of a pit.
2:42
SPEAKER_01: Well, so I partnered with the guy originally, and he decided not too long after our podcast episode, he wanna go do something else.
2:48
SPEAKER_01: And so then it wasn't even Cordora at the time, but Cordora, it's about a year old.
2:52
SPEAKER_01: We launched at XYPN Live about this time last year.
2:54
SPEAKER_01: And so yeah, I mean, it's just it's changed a ton, frankly.
2:57
SPEAKER_01: Like AI is just a crazy time for everybody, especially on the software side.
3:00
SPEAKER_01: Like, we're able to do things I never expected to or planned on doing.
3:03
SPEAKER_01: And then there's this the biggest challenge is you can build literally anything anymore.
3:07
SPEAKER_01: So you gotta figure out what you should actually build and not build.
3:10
SPEAKER_01: And um, yeah, it's just it's just it's just incredible, man.
3:13
SPEAKER_01: It's awesome.
3:13
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I mean, what did you see in the market, right?
3:16
SPEAKER_02: I mean, there's so many softwares, right?
3:17
SPEAKER_02: I mean, you have your CRM, your planning software, data collection, you know, I mean, you name it.
3:23
SPEAKER_02: So, I mean, what were some gaps in the market that you saw as a financial planner?
3:27
SPEAKER_02: You're like, man, like there's really something I need to create.
3:29
SPEAKER_01: It was all just solving a problem for yourself, and you find out some other people want it.
3:33
SPEAKER_01: It just came from I used all the big three over my career, great, great calculators, didn't know what to do with them with the client.
3:40
SPEAKER_01: And so kind of built something for myself.
3:42
SPEAKER_01: It would be kind of it was inspired by elements, blended with some other things, and didn't think anybody else would want it.
3:47
SPEAKER_01: Two years ago, XYP and Live keeps coming up, sitting around talking with advisors.
3:51
SPEAKER_01: You know, what are you doing?
3:51
SPEAKER_01: I was like, I built this little thing for myself.
3:53
SPEAKER_01: And this was pre-AI too, by the way, like in terms of building software.
3:56
SPEAKER_01: It wasn't like a vibe-coded thing.
3:57
SPEAKER_01: I hired somebody.
3:58
SPEAKER_01: People were like, oh, what is that?
3:59
SPEAKER_01: That'd be interesting.
4:00
SPEAKER_01: And so it may sound like I'm I mean, it was kind of like a service.
4:03
SPEAKER_01: I was like, I'll build this out for like a public service, I'll build this out for everybody else.
4:07
SPEAKER_01: And so I no part of me sat out, I was like, I'm gonna build a software.
4:10
SPEAKER_01: And I do want to keep coming back.
4:11
SPEAKER_01: This was all pre-AI, it was a much bigger commitment at the time than what it was.
4:17
SPEAKER_02: Like, what like what like what was it?
4:18
SPEAKER_01: I no, I hired a full developer.
4:20
SPEAKER_01: I mean, there's a a product previous to that too, a retirement income planning tool.
4:23
SPEAKER_01: So just hired a full developer.
4:25
SPEAKER_01: Every every line of code was written by hand and still was until around December of last year.
4:29
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, so just it kind of resonated with a few advisors.
4:32
SPEAKER_01: And so, I mean, I've learned a ton about what actually makes a software business or product versus just like a cool tool that you use for yourself, and that's been fascinating.
4:40
SPEAKER_01: But it's really cool to like see it resonate with advisors and see like an output they created using your tool, them posting about it, and like it's just a it's kind of cool.
4:49
SPEAKER_01: It's just like, oh yeah, nice.
4:51
SPEAKER_03: Well, dude, let's go through because like we're obviously um, you know, a lot has happened since the last time you're on the podcast.
4:57
SPEAKER_03: I don't want to make you talk about like anything you don't want to or the pivot, but like what did come out of that pivot in terms of like, hey, like now you got a little bit more control over what you're doing, you really get to follow like what your vision is for it.
5:08
SPEAKER_03: You get to tell these software developers exactly like here's what I'm picturing for it.
5:13
SPEAKER_03: I'm sure you're bouncing ideas off of advisors.
5:15
SPEAKER_03: Like, how did it, how has it kind of changed over time and and to what it is today, man?
5:20
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I I I was I'm an advisor, that's all I've ever known.
5:25
SPEAKER_01: Built this one tool.
5:26
SPEAKER_01: I don't know anything about software, I could never do that.
5:28
SPEAKER_01: Same thing after two years ago, when people said they wanted it, I was like, I couldn't do this.
5:32
SPEAKER_01: So I partnered with somebody who I thought knew more.
5:35
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, and I mean, just I'll say it was it was a shock to me when it came down, but I understand why he made the decision he did, he did.
5:42
SPEAKER_01: Um, but yes, I was a medium-sized piece in that.
5:46
SPEAKER_01: And there was some interest that funding and whatnot that directed some stuff.
5:50
SPEAKER_01: And so now Cordora fully bootstrapped.
5:52
SPEAKER_01: I tell like for better or worse, we can build exactly what we need.
5:55
SPEAKER_01: There's no pressure to build for sales and hammer certain things.
5:58
SPEAKER_01: And so it's just you can just build like real solutions, like things that don't always totally make sense, like experiences and like rework stuff to make it a little bit better that you probably couldn't get approved at you know, venture back platform or something like that.
6:09
SPEAKER_01: And so it's just been awesome.
6:10
SPEAKER_01: It's like the advisors platform, and like it's very much community built.
6:13
SPEAKER_01: Like, dude, if I could crowdsource this, like you know, it's like let's all just like buy into this together, I totally would, but it's just people aren't prepared for something like that.
6:20
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, it's just amazing to be able to just work on something.
6:22
SPEAKER_01: Like, I wish this was different, and later that day it's different.
6:25
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's amazing.
6:26
SPEAKER_01: And you know, there's you know, the users on the platform, it's about that level of feedback.
6:29
SPEAKER_01: I mean, not always, they'll tell you, but like just right there on the spot, can you imagine?
6:33
SPEAKER_01: Just it's great, it's amazing.
6:35
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
6:35
SPEAKER_02: So, like, what are some maybe some things just in the the fintech space and creating a SaaS for it?
6:41
SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, what have you learned?
6:42
SPEAKER_02: Because you mentioned earlier, like, you know, some like pretty ideas versus you know what actually works versus making money and making it a product.
6:49
SPEAKER_01: So if you I I'm just gonna get raw here, and like I can say this because I am one, but like advisors are unbelievably needy.
6:57
SPEAKER_01: I shouldn't have started with that.
6:58
SPEAKER_01: Like, if you want to build so if you want to build a really powerful, like or like popular, a hot financial planning tool, you just need to make advisors look smart without them having to do much.
7:08
SPEAKER_01: It'll sell like hotcakes.
7:10
SPEAKER_01: And so if you look at platforms that like do this, get that, they go crazy.
7:13
SPEAKER_01: Like nitrogen, risk-wise, was like upload this, get a risk score.
7:16
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to know what's going on.
7:18
SPEAKER_01: You look smart.
7:18
SPEAKER_01: Halista plan, upload a tax return, get a tax report.
7:20
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to know what's going on, but you look really smart.
7:22
SPEAKER_01: Now, all these platforms have levels behind them, but that's how they get super popular.
7:26
SPEAKER_01: And like, even income lab to a point, populate this, get a guardrails plan.
7:29
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to know what's going on, but you make it makes you look smart.
7:31
SPEAKER_01: And so I built a tool that was like for somebody like myself, like, no, I want to think and manipulate the whole thing, which is great, but it's not do this, get that, look really smart without knowing what's going on.
7:41
SPEAKER_01: You gotta kind of know what's going on.
7:42
SPEAKER_01: It's like, oh, there's a there's a training curve here.
7:44
SPEAKER_01: This is a little bit more work and to get people to explain it.
7:47
SPEAKER_01: Like, no, this is awesome.
7:48
SPEAKER_01: Just give me like a month to explain it to you.
7:50
SPEAKER_01: And so those are like some of them just like product positioning of what is it?
7:53
SPEAKER_01: I'll tell you this: like, if you want to like the worst, the hardest thing to sell is financial planning software that's like the core intimate part of a tech stack.
8:00
SPEAKER_01: So like a CRM is kind of in the back office.
8:02
SPEAKER_01: It's a it's an intimate part of your stack, but it's in the background, like the client's not affected.
8:06
SPEAKER_01: Something like Hallista Plan, the reason it can sell so amazing, it is an incredible tool, but like it's an add-on.
8:11
SPEAKER_01: Client never really sees it.
8:12
SPEAKER_01: You can do it, and it's you know, it's easy.
8:13
SPEAKER_01: You can just tack it on.
8:14
SPEAKER_01: Financial planning software, it's it's core to the business and it's at the most intimate point, which is that client advisor relationship.
8:20
SPEAKER_01: And so you've got to be buttoned up in so many different ways.
8:22
SPEAKER_01: And like one faulty experience, uh, that form didn't look right.
8:26
SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna send it because the clients are protect that relationship so much.
8:28
SPEAKER_01: And so these are just things of like and then positioning like is it a compliment, is it a substitute, and then all the things that come with that?
8:35
SPEAKER_01: And so, yeah.
8:36
SPEAKER_03: So, what I mean, like, what are the things that it does differently?
8:40
SPEAKER_03: Like, if I'm logging in, kind of because up for the advisors that don't know about it, right?
8:44
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I want you to give them like paint a picture the best you can of here's what you're going to see with what we've done, what we've built, and then here's what you're seeing everywhere else, and this is why you should be using Kendora.
8:56
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
8:57
SPEAKER_01: So I I think, I mean, I don't think it has to be the only thing you use, first of all.
9:00
SPEAKER_01: I think it can complement your existing stack.
9:03
SPEAKER_01: But I would say, like, so I want to zoom back.
9:05
SPEAKER_01: Huge moment for me was understanding what I actually did for my clients.
9:08
SPEAKER_01: And I'd used all the big tools.
9:09
SPEAKER_01: I was spending like the stories on I tell the story all the time, like$30,000 a year on tech.
9:13
SPEAKER_01: So like I thought I needed this, I needed that.
9:14
SPEAKER_01: There's a reason I know so much about these tools because I paid for and used them all.
9:17
SPEAKER_01: My clients didn't give a crap about any of it.
9:20
SPEAKER_01: And so I finally was like, what do you all want from me?
9:23
SPEAKER_01: Because I show you this, you don't care.
9:24
SPEAKER_01: I was like, what do you want?
9:25
SPEAKER_01: They said we want to understand our financial life, we want to know what to do next.
9:28
SPEAKER_01: And like I really sat with that, I was like, what does that mean?
9:31
SPEAKER_01: To understand your financial life, you need to be able to answer some questions about it, understand some cause and effects.
9:35
SPEAKER_01: Like, okay, we need to answer those questions, and then I need to be able to know what to do next.
9:39
SPEAKER_01: So, like, Cordor is built around identifying what needs to change and then explaining it to clients.
9:44
SPEAKER_01: And so it's a very flexible canvas where we our output, we call them guides.
9:48
SPEAKER_01: And somebody asked me earlier today, like, why do you call it a guide?
9:50
SPEAKER_01: Like a dashboard, kind of you think of like super concise visuals and it's tight.
9:54
SPEAKER_01: A guide is like, is it a book?
9:56
SPEAKER_01: Is it, you know, is it text-based?
9:57
SPEAKER_01: Is it visual?
9:58
SPEAKER_01: Is it short?
9:58
SPEAKER_01: Is it long?
9:59
SPEAKER_01: Is it tactical?
9:59
SPEAKER_01: Is it practical?
10:00
SPEAKER_01: You know, like high level.
10:01
SPEAKER_01: So, like it's really like it's a flexible platform for you to communicate however you or your most importantly, your client needs to make sure they understand their financial life and know what to do next.
10:10
SPEAKER_01: And so we've got, you think of it as like a canvas, we've got some templates, but like a blank canvas, and then all these different components that you can layer in to help them visualize their financial life if they're visual, write it out if they're, you know, more like if you want to write it out tech, uh, whatever written word, whatever, good, whatever I'm trying to say.
10:26
SPEAKER_01: Um, so it's just very flexible.
10:28
SPEAKER_01: So, like when you say, like, what do you when you log in?
10:30
SPEAKER_01: What do you see?
10:30
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that that's you see software.
10:32
SPEAKER_01: I mean, just normal, the normal interfaces, but I would just say, like, that's the point, is is like it's a flexible canvas for you to help your clients understand their financial life and know what to do next.
10:40
SPEAKER_01: And then we layer in all the tools to make it as easy as possible for us, the advisor.
10:44
SPEAKER_01: Like, there's just where, like, you don't need documents.
10:47
SPEAKER_01: You can use you can you can upload documents, you can take screenshots.
10:50
SPEAKER_01: I say, like, if you can see it or say it, you can bring it into Cordora.
10:52
SPEAKER_01: I dictate stuff all the time.
10:54
SPEAKER_01: You could say, you know, I met with Brock and Peter, there are a couple in Ohio, you know, you just like say whatever there is, all their facts, and it it updates it.
11:01
SPEAKER_01: And anything you this is where like AI is so great.
11:03
SPEAKER_01: Like, you don't have to click buttons anymore either.
11:05
SPEAKER_01: Everything can be done, but there is still the interface, so it's not just purely prompting back and forth.
11:09
SPEAKER_01: And so, by the way, like, what is different about it?
11:12
SPEAKER_01: Like, I never plan on getting to this point, but apparently people are considering us like a hazel competitor because we're like the big three softwares are still very centered around a projection, Monte Carlo.
11:20
SPEAKER_01: You know, here's how much money you're gonna have.
11:22
SPEAKER_01: Those are that's fine, but like that, I don't know what to do with that when I would meet with somebody.
11:26
SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, it's you know, kind of a canvas, and then you paint the picture that your client needs.
11:30
SPEAKER_03: So that's kind of where the like I was inspired by Elements a little bit comes in too, right?
11:34
SPEAKER_03: Is because that was I loved Yeah, yeah, yeah.
11:36
SPEAKER_03: No, I was just saying that that was that was one of their biggest things.
11:39
SPEAKER_03: What uh it was like people loved kind of like the blueprint that it would show you and how it communicated things and like brought it down to the level that people that don't do this for a living can actually understand in a way.
11:50
SPEAKER_01: And so Elements was amazing for that initial conversation.
11:52
SPEAKER_01: Like, hey, here's where your money's going, here's where your income's going, here's where your money's at.
11:56
SPEAKER_01: That was great.
11:56
SPEAKER_01: But then, like, what did you do from there?
11:58
SPEAKER_01: You couldn't really analyze beyond that.
12:00
SPEAKER_01: And so, like, truly, like it started as like my original spreadsheet was like elements, but then going deeper into these different modules, and that's what's now become you know, Cordora.
12:08
SPEAKER_01: So it's yeah, it's it's you need to be able to like you need that simple output for clients, but then you need to be able to go deep behind the scenes to under to actually analyze it to properly identify what they need to change.
12:18
SPEAKER_01: So it's it's also been explained to me as like elements and right capital had a baby.
12:22
SPEAKER_01: Somebody told me one time, and I'm like, I love it.
12:25
SPEAKER_03: You need to just be putting this on everything at XYP and it's like if Elements and Right Capital had a baby, then the right capital guy walks by, he's like, Wait, what's going on over here?
12:34
SPEAKER_03: Oh yeah, they don't like me.
12:36
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
12:37
SPEAKER_02: I mean, so so I mean, like with your observation and like building your own software, right?
12:42
SPEAKER_02: Like elements are kind of dissolved.
12:44
SPEAKER_02: I mean, would you say it was because it wasn't full the yeah, but like you know, like being more full end or like being more vertical in the tech stack, right?
12:53
SPEAKER_02: Like, is I mean you can have a lot of different uh softwares, but like what just what's your general thought?
12:59
SPEAKER_01: I yeah, I mean I want to be, you know, I respect all the people over there, very grateful for what they did.
13:03
SPEAKER_01: And I'm not they are still alive, so I don't want to call this a post mortem on a company that's still alive, but like for me, they were they were a compliment that acted like a substitute, so it was a compliment to you.
13:12
SPEAKER_01: It was nobody could do you couldn't just use elements.
13:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
13:17
SPEAKER_01: But they didn't make it easy to use with your other tools, and then yeah, I I think they chose to build out some they prioritized probably the wrong things.
13:26
SPEAKER_01: I think there were some pretty clear things that users wanted, and they built a few different things.
13:29
SPEAKER_01: And and I will say, I mean, I I have heard like advisors love to complain about projections, but most of them can't let it go.
13:35
SPEAKER_01: Most of them can't let it go.
13:36
SPEAKER_01: So people, you know, I deal with that because we're Cordora's very light on projections.
13:39
SPEAKER_01: We finally had to add some more in there just because like you say you don't want them, but you still need them.
13:44
SPEAKER_01: You want them.
13:44
SPEAKER_01: It's kind of like crutch, you want it's not crutch.
13:47
SPEAKER_01: And so, like, I think there's just you know, that's what a lot of advisors think of.
13:50
SPEAKER_01: It's like, I gotta have this.
13:51
SPEAKER_03: And so it's kind of projections are kind of like and and yeah, like you said, respect to the people at Element.
13:57
SPEAKER_03: I know a lot of great people over there.
13:58
SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
13:59
SPEAKER_03: Like projections are kind of like you're damned if you do, you're damned if you don't, right?
14:02
SPEAKER_03: Because if that's all it is, you're just like everybody else.
14:05
SPEAKER_03: If there's none, they're like, you need some of these in here.
14:08
SPEAKER_03: So you what was it like trying to like strike the balance there, man?
14:11
SPEAKER_03: Because I know that like because with us, and this is a way smaller example, right?
14:15
SPEAKER_03: But even with our advisor portal, right, which is a very, in our mind, very like basic piece of software, okay?
14:21
SPEAKER_03: But it's like, we want this.
14:22
SPEAKER_03: Now, where's this button?
14:23
SPEAKER_03: Now, this should be here.
14:24
SPEAKER_03: No, this should say this.
14:25
SPEAKER_03: No, this should be here.
14:27
SPEAKER_03: And so it's like, and we try to make everybody happy, but no matter what you do, or we try to like make it very usable and user-friendly, but no matter what you do, you're never gonna make everybody happy, right?
14:38
SPEAKER_03: So, what's what's been balancing that been like?
14:41
SPEAKER_01: Well, remember when I said advisors are very difficult.
14:44
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, that's the thing.
14:46
SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, you you can you add a button here?
14:48
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
14:48
SPEAKER_01: And then the next person says, Hey, can you remove that button or remove it?
14:51
SPEAKER_01: You take that button out here?
14:52
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
14:52
SPEAKER_01: So look, UI and UX is something that like I didn't fully understand all the principles of that.
14:57
SPEAKER_01: And like you can think it's super obvious, and then you watch somebody else like stumble around, it's like, Woly cow, you gotta rethink that.
15:03
SPEAKER_01: So, what you're saying, like, what is it?
15:05
SPEAKER_01: Because there are kind of two parts there.
15:06
SPEAKER_03: Like, how did you how did you find the balance?
15:08
SPEAKER_03: Because like it seems like you're like, I want to be not anti-projection, but like something different than projection.
15:15
SPEAKER_03: But obviously, like you're kind of saying like it can be used as a crutch.
15:18
SPEAKER_03: So, like, okay, you're like, all right, I gotta give a little bit here.
15:21
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
15:22
SPEAKER_01: So, like, um, I'm not anti-calculation, that's another key thing.
15:25
SPEAKER_01: Calculate, we do calculations, of course, but it just doesn't need to sit here and be like, I go back to like I my breaking point with my capital was a 38-year-old client where I said literally a billionaire or broke.
15:36
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, what the hell is it?
15:38
SPEAKER_01: You know, like I can't like to meet like a plan is about action.
15:44
SPEAKER_01: What are you going to do next?
15:45
SPEAKER_01: A projection is just a summary of what things might look like under a range of circumstances.
15:50
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
15:50
SPEAKER_01: Like I'm fine with it from like because not every client knows what things could become, or like you know, in the directional effects of like, I just don't know what to do with a projection.
15:58
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't freaking matter.
15:58
SPEAKER_01: And I don't need it to be like, hey, if you save more, you'll have more money later on.
16:01
SPEAKER_01: You just don't need that.
16:02
SPEAKER_01: So it's like, what do you need to do today?
16:04
SPEAKER_01: And so I the the line I try to draw.
16:07
SPEAKER_01: Any variable you want to add, like, can we add this?
16:09
SPEAKER_01: Can you account for that?
16:10
SPEAKER_01: If it materially impacts the decision you would make today, absolutely it needs to go in there.
16:15
SPEAKER_01: If it's just another thing to calculate because we can, no.
16:18
SPEAKER_01: Because the other, you know, I'll say this like you say you want these, you want all these variables, and you complain it's so hard to use.
16:25
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
16:26
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's like ranking, it's like ranking the action items, really.
16:30
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and you want the and you want the Apple interface with the Android optionality.
16:35
SPEAKER_03: That just doesn't exist.
16:36
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, exactly.
16:38
SPEAKER_01: So, like, I I found like it's like I keep coming back to that North Star.
16:41
SPEAKER_01: Does this help them understand their financial life better?
16:44
SPEAKER_01: Then absolutely.
16:45
SPEAKER_01: Does it materially impact what you would change today?
16:48
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, we'll add it in.
16:49
SPEAKER_01: And so I do like projections from a visual standpoint.
16:51
SPEAKER_01: Like, here's what it could look like.
16:52
SPEAKER_01: Like that, that's fine, but just the conversation, like what you know, if you guys meet with an advisor, like, here, you might have a bunch of money one day.
16:58
SPEAKER_01: It's like, great.
16:59
SPEAKER_01: Now, how do we make it happen?
17:00
SPEAKER_01: What do we need to do?
17:01
SPEAKER_01: And so that's my kind of North Star razor that I use, if you will, to try to decide what we build or what we don't.
17:07
SPEAKER_01: And I have to tell just this one.
17:09
SPEAKER_01: This is when I he's a friend, he might even listen to the podcast who who reached out.
17:12
SPEAKER_01: We did this huge release a month ago with retirement projections and all this stuff.
17:17
SPEAKER_01: This is amazing.
17:17
SPEAKER_01: This is great.
17:18
SPEAKER_01: Can you have can you add a feature where Dora, that's our AI, reads the screen to me, like reads it.
17:23
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, you know what?
17:24
SPEAKER_01: We'll never make you happy.
17:26
SPEAKER_01: Because if that's what we're getting to now, you want to he gotta be happy and happy.
17:31
SPEAKER_01: I sent one response because you you you probably have bigger things to you know work on.
17:34
SPEAKER_01: So I was like, okay, I just like we will never make you happy.
17:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
17:39
SPEAKER_01: So you're like that's why I will come back to there's different strokes for different folks, man.
17:43
SPEAKER_01: It's not gonna be for everybody, it doesn't need to be for everybody, you know?
17:46
SPEAKER_01: It does, it just needs to be a home run for the right amount of people.
17:48
SPEAKER_01: Same with our clients, aren't home, you know, every advisor is not for every client.
17:52
SPEAKER_03: There is a software that does that.
17:54
SPEAKER_03: I can't remember what it's called, but you can keep it up in your Chrome extension bar if you want and just highlight the text and have it read it.
18:00
SPEAKER_03: But yeah, or that's that's that's actually where that went.
18:03
SPEAKER_03: He's like, anyways, yeah.
18:04
SPEAKER_03: Um that's so funny.
18:06
SPEAKER_02: Well, the same person just seems to have all the problems, right?
18:10
SPEAKER_02: I'll um, you know, basically how it works.
18:13
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
18:13
SPEAKER_02: Um, I mean, what's next on the horizon?
18:15
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I know like the AI space is just changing so fast.
18:18
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, like you know, kind of like what's next, but how do you also like stay in your box and stay in your lane?
18:24
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, yeah, they yeah, who knows?
18:26
SPEAKER_01: This is gonna be the most outdated episode already in like three weeks, a month, you know.
18:30
SPEAKER_01: But I mean, what's next for us?
18:31
SPEAKER_01: We're just gonna I I think about continuing to build the surfaces we can analyze, add more and more decisions to the platform.
18:38
SPEAKER_01: There are some integrations and stuff we're working on right now to continue to make it as easy as possible for advisors to do their job.
18:43
SPEAKER_01: So just you know, you just keep improving, keep improving, keep improving.
18:46
SPEAKER_01: It's just like planning for I talked to uh I have quite a few friends now in the software space, and it's like two weeks.
18:53
SPEAKER_01: That's how far we plan.
18:54
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
18:55
SPEAKER_01: You just the a product roadmap beyond that is just I don't know, just yeah, because everything's changing so freaking fast right now.
19:02
SPEAKER_01: So it's two week chunks.
19:04
SPEAKER_03: I love it, man.
19:05
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, no, I love it.
19:07
SPEAKER_02: Well, um, any golden nuggets?
19:08
SPEAKER_01: Anything else you wanted to get out there uh before we uh yeah, so from a technology standpoint right now, I feel super bad for advisors trying to sort through all this right now.
19:17
SPEAKER_01: It's absolutely insane.
19:18
SPEAKER_01: Um, shiny object syndrome is easier than ever.
19:21
SPEAKER_01: Get clear on what you actually do for your clients.
19:23
SPEAKER_01: What is your job?
19:24
SPEAKER_01: What is your deliverable?
19:25
SPEAKER_01: I told you mine.
19:26
SPEAKER_01: Help them understand their financial life and know what to do next.
19:28
SPEAKER_01: If there are things that make my job that will improve those two or make my job easier to do, I'll explore them.
19:33
SPEAKER_01: If not, not gonna look into them.
19:34
SPEAKER_01: I don't need a marketing platform.
19:36
SPEAKER_01: I don't need this stuff right now.
19:37
SPEAKER_01: So get clear on what you do and just make that as easy as possible.
19:39
SPEAKER_01: Don't try to chase every, they've got this today, they've got that tomorrow.
19:43
SPEAKER_01: Everybody's gonna have AI, everybody's gonna have all this stuff.
19:45
SPEAKER_01: Tech's not your problem.
19:47
SPEAKER_01: That's the number thing I would say.
19:48
SPEAKER_01: Uh, it's just continue to make life easier.
19:50
SPEAKER_01: You still don't actually need any of it, too.
19:52
SPEAKER_01: That's the other thing I would love to just say.
19:53
SPEAKER_01: Like, I watch, I I talk to advisors about tech all day and they ask me all these questions.
19:57
SPEAKER_01: Like, it's not your problem.
19:58
SPEAKER_01: You don't need it.
19:58
SPEAKER_01: Get clear on what you do.
19:59
SPEAKER_01: Tech it just continue to make your life easier, but don't worry about all this stuff.
20:04
SPEAKER_01: And like also just on the frontier stuff, like they're gonna continue to make it so much easier for the non-technical person.
20:10
SPEAKER_01: It's okay to wait right now.
20:11
SPEAKER_01: Just saying.
20:13
SPEAKER_02: So I love her.
20:14
SPEAKER_02: No, I think that is so important because I mean it's funny.
20:17
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes we talk with advisors, you know, and they're just getting started, and they're like, you know, hey Pete, hey Brock, you know, I'm not really getting much out of the portal.
20:26
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, oh, of course you're not.
20:27
SPEAKER_02: There's nobody in there.
20:29
SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, like, you know, so there's that shiny object syndrome too.
20:34
SPEAKER_02: Like year one, year two, like you gotta be out there shaking hands, kissing babies, you know, you gotta be out there beating the streets, you know.
20:40
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I but I was the same way that that 30,000 I was spending was in year year two of the firm.
20:45
SPEAKER_01: It's like it's so you think you need all these things, and it's like, no, you don't even have a process to refine yet.
20:50
SPEAKER_01: Go to you know, go, go do it.
20:51
SPEAKER_01: And but I don't know, it was like you kind of gotta learn that yourself sometimes.
20:54
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
20:54
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we have a new employee starting uh this week, and it was funny.
20:58
SPEAKER_02: It was Brock and I were like, you know, the CRM started as a yellow legal pad, you know, and we just hand it back and forth, you know.
21:05
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, be like, we followed up here, you know.
21:07
SPEAKER_02: Like, that's you know, that's how you start though.
21:10
SPEAKER_03: I'm just over there on the phone, like, all right, I called those.
21:13
SPEAKER_03: He's like, How many times?
21:15
SPEAKER_03: Like, I don't know, I think that was the second going.
21:17
SPEAKER_03: Take Marty little put three tallies next to their name.
21:23
SPEAKER_03: That's that's so funny, man.
21:26
SPEAKER_03: Um, well, dude, always great to see you.
21:28
SPEAKER_03: Obviously, pumped to see you next week at XYPN.
21:30
SPEAKER_03: We'll try to get this one out faster, uh, so that it's not dated.
21:34
SPEAKER_03: Like it's not dated because in two weeks, who knows?
21:38
SPEAKER_03: Um, but yeah, for those people that want to get a hold of you, man, what's the best way to do that?
21:43
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I'm hesitant to get my email out, but Taylor at Cordora.com, K-E-R-D-O-R-A.
21:48
SPEAKER_01: That's my email.
21:49
SPEAKER_01: LinkedIn kind of the place I hang out.
21:52
SPEAKER_01: So Taylor's story on there.
21:54
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the website too.
21:55
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Cordora.com.
21:57
SPEAKER_01: So easiest way.
21:59
SPEAKER_02: So well, Taylor, thank you so much for your time today.
22:02
SPEAKER_01: We appreciate it.
22:02
SPEAKER_02: Of course.
22:03
SPEAKER_02: Always great seeing y'all.
22:04
unknown: Yeah, we'll be in talking.