Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast. I’m Zack Miller.

In the wake of investment firms Vanguard’s success, robo-advisers continued to usher in the era of indexed, passive investing. Titan is a contrarian investment platform which offers investment strategies used by hedge funds for retail investors.

Titan co-founder and co-CEO Clayton Gardner joins us to discuss why he built a financial technology firm centered around active investing and what type of investors and clients this approach appeals to. Titan has also grown using organic and referral customer acquisition strategies which combine incentivizing users to share Titan with their friends by reducing the AUM fees clients pay Titan — sometimes down to zero. Titan’s users are unusually active and involved in investing, even if they count on Titan to make their allocation and investment selection decisions.

Clayton Gardner is my guest today on the Tearsheet podcast.

Before we jump into the interview, I wanted to invite you to Tearsheet’s latest event, The Embedded Conference. A big theme on this program and in our reporting has been about how financial services are showing up everywhere — in B2B software platforms, in retail, in transportation and travel. The Embedded Conference brings together financial services, fintech, and vertical industries looking to create new financial products. We’ve got a great speaker lineup — register today at early-bird prices by going to our website and clicking on the Embedded Conference button at the top right of your screen.