071 | Chris Hutchins, founder/CEO of Grove, a new, optimized financial planning company based in San Francisco, talks about how a life and career of entrepreneurship led him to the FI community, and his current business venture. And, how his new company meets the needs of the average person better than a traditional financial planner.

What you'll hear in this episode:

• Is Chris a risk taker or financial conservative?
• How did Chris find his way into the financial planning and optimization world?
• Was Chris an entrepreneur growing up?
• Chris got his career started through relationships built in college – how can building relationships help open doors?
• Passion for entrepreneurship led Chris to make a move from New York to Silicon Valley.
• Although most people in the Silicon Valley have tech-related qualifications, Chris found his foothold in business development.
• How did Chris land his first job in the Silicon Valley?
• What steps did Chris take to earn an income after he was laid off in 2008?
• Did Chris' wife buy into his ideas of financial optimization, and how has that developed within their relationship?
• What are the drawbacks or negative sides of frugal and financial optimization in a high-cost environment?
• How does Chris create a "memorable moment" each month?
• Chris found himself as a source of financial consultation for his friends, and his current business idea grew from there.
• The world of financial planning, in its current state, is focused on the already wealthy, and the exchange of information between planners and customers is both inefficient and confusing.
• How does Grove change the process of financial planning, and how does the software help Grove work more efficiently?
• Grove costs $600 a year – significantly less than a traditional financial planner.
• What services does Grove provide its customers?
• Financial goals are really just sums of money that someone wants to set aside, no matter the purpose.
• Why should someone in the FI community consider using Grove's services?
• How do Grove advisors function a bit like personal trainers?
• On a personal level, how is Grove a different venture for Chris, different from some of his previous companies?
• Would Chris take an offer to buy Grove?

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Grove
• Mr Money Mustache
• Mad Fientist
• Memeorandum
• Chris Hutchins: What Credit Card Should Be in Your Wallet