Aspiration “Democratizing Financial Services” — TechCrunch

October 20, 2014

“In November Cherny will launch Aspiration Partners LLC, a company which aims to democratize broad swaths of the financial services industry by giving middle class investors access to investment products that had previously only been available to the wealthiest Americans…

…Sanberg has come on board as an advisor alongside heavy hitters in the tech community like Alexis Maybank, one of the founders of Gilt Groupe, and Jeff Skoll, eBay’s former President and the founder of the Skoll Foundation, the Capricorn Investment Group, Participant Media and the Skoll Global Threats Fund.

If Cherny’s board of advisors is impressive, the team he’s assembled is not too shabby either. They include a former executive at the Blackstone Group, the former director of Ryan Seacrest Enterprises, a former user interface designer for Nest Labs, and financial heavy hitters from Merlin Securities and Cantor Fitzgerald.

“The company is a mix of Silicon Valley, Washington, Wall Street, and Hollywood,” says Cherny. “I’m really proud of the team, but I think what I’m most proud of is that shared mission that really infuses the culture of the company.”

For Cherny, someone can be a capitalist and still have a conscience. “That’s been central to why we’ve been able to get these investors, advisors, and team members.”

Read the full story at TechCrunch.
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