2019 letter to our stakeholders

To our Stakeholders:

We started out by setting ourselves the admittedly lofty goal of turning mobile payments into a real thing. We did not choose that goal lightly. At the beginning of our design process, we identified what we believe is credit cards’ most important feature: You can do it without thinking.

We knew paying with the Fluz app would have to flow organically, just like a credit card, so members could move without friction and forget they’re paying with a phone. We also knew we could not try to replicate every last feature of a credit card. We’d have to add new capabilities—ones that could only be possible with a mobile phone.

We now know far more about mobile payments than when we started, but we still have so much to learn. Though we are confident, we maintain a sense of urgency. The hurdles we will face to make our long-term vision a reality are many: deeply rooted incumbents, well-funded competitors, highly capable new entrants, sizable growth challenges, and execution risk.

I must note, while I’m convinced mobile payments are on the verge of becoming common practice, we have no guarantee that Fluz will be the one to do it. It will happen, but if we don’t execute well, it will be done by others.

Product Innovation.

Invention is in our DNA and technology is the fundamental tool we use to improve every aspect of the customer experience. We still have a lot to learn, and I expect we’ll keep having fun learning it.

We look for solutions to problems customers are not aware they have. This requires unyielding passion for invention balanced with brutal honesty to shelf things that do not work. We aim to find every part of our product experience that is confusing, annoying, or just not as good as it could be. Then we make it better.

From very early on in our life, we knew we wanted to create a culture of innovators – people who are curious explorers. An inventor’s mentality helps us approach hard-to-crack opportunities with the conviction that success can come through consistent iteration. We must invent, release, improve, release again, improve again, release again, and keep going. We know the path to success is anything but a straight line.

Long Term Perspective.

This year I realized what excites me most about our mission. Why am I all in? I am a person who likes to build for the future. I find joy in knowing the work I am doing today will contribute towards a better tomorrow. One of the more exciting aspects of our product is that members can plant seeds today that will pay out in the future.

We are building something very different. It does not come without sacrifices. We must exchange immediate profits with long investments. We will continue to invest in our product and the underlying infrastructure knowing that it will evolve into a full suite of financial services. Because we are challenging the status quo on so many levels, we will stand alone for many years to come. We remain steadfast and confident, only looking to our mission and making sure we stay the course.

As I’ve mentioned before, we have unshakeable conviction that the long-term interests of our company are aligned with the interests of customers. We have invested and will continue to invest aggressively to expand our customer base, community, brand, and infrastructure as we establish an enduring business.

Unconditional Love Of Customers.

Much of what we build at Fluz is based on listening to customers. It’s critical to identify what customers want and figure out a plan to build it quickly and reliably. No business could thrive without that kind of customer obsession.

But it’s not enough. The biggest needle movers will be things that customers don’t know to ask for. We must invent on their behalf. We have to tap into our own inner imagination about what’s possible. We are looking to build the best product our customers do not yet know they need. We are not waiting to hear complaints. We work on behalf of our customers to build the product they need.

Community.

Before developing our product, we started building our community. That speaks volumes on what is of value to us. The Fluz community is our secret ingredient. It makes us more than just a product; we are building a culture, together. It’s the culture that constantly solidifies our commitment to the mission.

Fluz is bigger than what one group could accomplish. This year, we are able to point to various improvements in the business born from our community. Examples include the development of our voucher program, our $2k challenge, the in-person inviting process, and much more. They are out in the world with our product. They will be the first to see the holes; we must listen.

We plan to continue to foster an environment where the community can contribute to our collective success. The Fluz growth story is driven by the collective involvement of thousands of committed members. We aim to foster that even further by investing in more ways for the community to come together.

Milestones.

It’s not just talk anymore. This year it became real. We have much to celebrate this year, including:

• Development of our core team and the processes built out to support business across various departments
• Launch of our public beta transactional product and strong initial response from the early user base
• Growth of our community and a path towards leadership for new members
• Increased value to our merchant partners
• Communications put in place to grow our relations with customers and community

Team.

I caution every new member of our team that they will have to work harder with fewer resources, more accountability, and less recognition. Those who prevail are the courageous ones who welcome the challenge. We measure our team by their resilience and commitment.

Your team of evangelists is dedicated to building a product of the highest standards. We remain committed to the high standards we started with and make sure they are reflected in everything we do. I am forever grateful to the early team and, of course, their families. We are all helping turn this dream into a reality. It is quickly becoming far more than we could have imagined.

I guarantee you there is more innovation ahead of us than behind us. We do not expect the road to be a smooth ride. We at Fluz remain grateful to our customers for their trust, to our community for their commitment, to each other for our hard work, and to our shareholders for their support and encouragement.

I am attaching the initial letter I wrote to our stakeholders. Our approach remains the same; we are just getting started. I thank you for the opportunity to be a part of this mission.