How 2021 Was Special
... and why the FinMango story is still just starting.
Since FinMango was founded in 2016, we’ve been chasing one ambitious goal: ending the global financial exclusion crisis. And while the crisis is huge, we’re optimistic. We know how to solve the problem, and we make progress every day thanks to our impressive technical capabilities and a strong network of supporters, teachers, partners, and volunteers. Currently impacting 1,000,000+ lives annually.
Key recipe that worked in 2021:
Focus on the people
Build, rebuild, and rebuild again
Keep it simple
What we didn’t do:
Spend a lot of money
Build everything we envisioned
A little history, first…
The FinMango story began with a 2014 class discussion at Kent State University. The name was inspired by my Financial Management class—nicknamed FinMan—and my favorite fruit—the mango. Originally, I launched FinMango as an energy bar company with a foundation arm focused on financial literacy. The business failed, but the foundation lives on.
“FinMan” + “Mango” = FinMango!
You can read the full story here.
Since a young age, I was always prompted to think about how I could make a positive difference in this world. This curiosity led me to the field of finance where I constantly asked myself questions like: How could we deepen financial literacy / inclusion across the planet, and more than that, how could we actively participate? How do we help people gain more control and understanding of their money? How do we inspire others?
My answer to these questions ended up being FinMango, a people first organization on a mission to make financial literacy and inclusion universally accessible and useful. Since inception in 2016, we have grown from teaching a unique financial literacy course in the rust belt to impacting 1,000,000+ lives around the world with work featured by Google Health, U.S. News & World Report, Google.org, CNN, The New York Times, NBC, The Daily Beast, and TIME Magazine.
Focus on the people
Building connections that really matter. It’s why we exist, and why we do what we do. Not many organizations have the power to connect people and help them find purpose in this sometimes crazy and complex world. We do. And that’s something we can all be proud of. Our people (aka the mangoes) come from across the world and can speak up to 20+ languages. 2021 consisted of giving back to these incredible people and we’re excited to do an even better job in 2022!
Build, rebuild, and rebuild again
The biggest bet to pay off in 2021 was building Mango X—a group of volunteers who build and launch technologies that aim to improve the lives of millions, even billions, of people.
At mango X, the goal is to take moonshots: far-out, crazy sounding ideas that could one day make the world a radically better place financially. There’s no step-by-step manual for what they do, but there are some guidelines that help them improve their odds:
A huge problem in the world that affects millions or billions of people.
A radical, crazy sounding solution that may seem impossible today
A technology breakthrough that gives us a glimmer of hope that the solution could be possible within the next decade.
Mango X has built all the new digital tools and they plan to leverage strategic partnerships in 2022 to amplify their work.
Keep it simple
The world is complex and connected in ways we don’t fully understand. Everything from products to personalities has a brand, a logo, an experience.
Most are instantly forgettable.
They look and feel the same as everything else. They’re built on rational thinking and they follow trends instead of forging them. A great brand is the opposite.
At FinMango, simple wins in our brand and design philosophy. It is what guides what we do for the people we reach and how we act as an organization. For example, check out stories.finmango.org or our flagship “How To Become a Millionaire” program.
Were there no challenges?
The short answer: too many to list. The long one: entrepreneurship and organization is never easy. Failing is never a full-stop. Rather, a semi-colon that motivates you to learn. Everyone faces failure and rejection and FinMango is no exception. A lot of ideas never got built and we also dealt with a lot of logistical problems on projects like the Google Health Open Data Project.
Below are my takeaways from 2021:
Keep your ego behind
Be humble and always give
Listen carefully to understand vs. listening to respond
The quality of your work = the sum of decision quality (bets) + luck.
Overall, the faster you realize it’s not about you, the better you are positioned to find the lesson in a failure. Once you find that lesson, you’ll see the magic start happening. Trust me, it literally feels like MAGIC and you can quickly iterate.
Conclusion
FinMango is and has always been built by the people, for the people. As a result, we do our best to give back to the people that make us mango and make it a priority to even do more. Our culture has always allowed us to increase our execution and consequently, impact. Seeing mere statistics: that FinMango is just 5 years old, or that we have so many young people actively involved from across the world — you might cultivate the false belief that building something impactful is easy.
Behind the scenes, we have fallen short countless times for countless reasons. But in a way, that’s the beauty of it… Entrepreneurship is the art of making the most out of available and often, limited resources. We have always done that financially and it’s exciting to do the same with passionate people. Initiatives like the Open Data Project is an excellent testament to our ability to make the most out of what we have.
Oh, finally, as a result of our focus on people, we’re relaunching FinMango’s Advocacy / Mentorship program in early 2022! Our community will have more opportunities than ever before to become active and create direct impact.
FinMango has come far — and has a long journey ahead. It is you, our “mango” family, that has empowered us to reach this point. FinMango isn’t only built for you, it’s built by you. Let’s keep building a better financial future together.
Feel free to check out our Product Roadmap and don’t hesitate to send me feedback directly at scott@finmango.org. Let’s rock!