Creating a Circle of College Savers
At Ulu Ventures, we became excited about CollegeBacker as we looked at the data which shows just having a 529 college savings plan greatly increased the chance that kids would go to college, regardless of the size of the fund.
CollegeBacker's platform makes it easy to rally friends and family to help save for college. There's an app with gift and donations tools for them to contribute to someone's account.
We spoke to founder and CEO Jordan Lee about what sparked his idea for creating a circle of college savers and how the pandemic has impacted his business.
1) Tell us the big idea behind your company and how you came up with it
I grew up in an ordinary, middle-class family, but was lucky to attend many great universities, which gave me the confidence (and, let's be real, privilege) to become an entrepreneur. I came up with the idea for CollegeBacker when I realized that many of my peers, new millennial parents with resources and a college education, had no clue that 529s existed. Surely, I thought, this meant that there were millions of other families with fewer advantages who were missing out. Our team is focused every day on making sure that all kids can fulfill their full educational potential, regardless of their background
2) How has the outbreak of COVID19 Impacted your big idea
Earlier this month, we conducted a survey of 1,050 U.S. parents and found that almost 50% have paused, decreased, or withdrawn some college savings as a result of COVID-19. What we've observed directly with our clients has been more encouraging: we continue to grow rapidly and have only seen a small uptick in withdrawals or paused recurring contributions.
This crisis will likely set many families back months if not years on their college savings, but CollegeBacker is ready to help them make up for lost time (and capital) with a modern savings platform that allows them to save more with gifts from family and friends, cash-back from their online shopping, and other features that are coming soon.
3) Who were some of your important influencers or mentors?
I was inspired at a young age by Steve Jobs's vision for Apple: to marry technology with the liberal arts. On the craft of early-stage entrepreneurship (from ideation to finding product-market fit), I think Mike Maples's mental models and Paul Graham's essays together provide the best roadmap for how to get started as an entrepreneur.
Day-to-day, I am extremely lucky to be able to work with our CollegeBacker investors and advisors, including Tom Blaisdell, a veteran VC who led DCM's investment in Bill.com and knows fintech as well as anyone, SoFi co-founder Dan Macklin, CircleUp founder and CEO Ryan Caldbeck, Quizlet founder Andrew Sutherland, and of course Clint and Miriam at Ulu.
4) Why did you want to work with Ulu Ventures?
The Ulu team thinks for themselves, aided by a rigorous approach to investment decision-making. They also contribute meaningfully to the cultural health of the broader startup ecosystem and care deeply about the real-world impact of the startups they back. I knew that by partnering with Ulu, I would get some of the smartest strategic guidance an entrepreneur could ask for, and not once have I been disappointed.
5) What are your dreams for your company?
We are building a future in which financial wellness enables broader educational opportunity – and where higher education is a shared national value, rather than a divisive political and cultural fault line. 529s have been massively underutilized for decades, but we grew 400% in 2019 by reaching a more diverse, less affluent audience of families who have already saved $6 million with our help.
In the next decade, we plan to give millions of families the financial tools and knowledge they need to make education a priority for their kids.