Deaux Financial Literacy App: Startup Tips

About the Company

Financial literacy is a necessity in adult life, but according to a Standard & Poor’s study, only 33% worldwide have this important skill. Deaux seeks to make financial literacy universal, starting with young children.

The solution is a mobile app that uses augmented reality to immerse middle school students in the world of financial literacy. The offering teaches many topics, including budgeting and loans, and is delivered as a B2B solution for middle schools, as a B2C app on the App Store, and through partnerships with charitable organizations.The team has tested their prototype and curriculum with seven (7) Subject Matter Experts, receiving feedback and iterating their strategy and approach in measurable ways.  And this is just the beginning!Check out their promotional video:

Biggest Learnings

Focus on your core: One of our biggest learnings came from realizing that the technology and all of the “flashy” aspects of the business come after satisfying the value proposition for the customer. Ask yourself: what is the core of what you are offering your customers? As an education company we needed to focus on delivering a solid curriculum before ever thinking about what the app or website would look like.Get diverse perspectives: When doing market research, remember to interview and look at a diverse group of people. We learned that age, demographic, location, and background all play a huge role in terms of what a customer is looking for. If all of your interviewees are just like you, all you will be doing is affirming your original beliefs rather than learning anything new.Be open to constructive criticism: This may sound cliché, but be open to constructive criticism. The best thing that happened to our team was receiving constructive criticism from our Mock Board. It helped us reconsider the core of our company and come up with a much stronger foundation for moving forward. In fact, ever since that time, our team members LOVES receiving constructive criticism. Think of it this way: if you have never received constructive criticism about your company, you have never really meaningfully improved.

Advice for New Entrepreneurs

Balance: A healthy lifestyle is important and you shouldn’t tear yourself down to make large strides in your company. However, you should be ready to make some sacrifices for success, as entrepreneurship is time-intensive.People: It is very useful to allow a mentor to help guide you. And if you are working with a team, it is crucial to have a good dynamic and have good relationships with them.Execution: We can’t emphasize this enough: make sure you and your team can actually build your idea. Ideas are great but having a working product is the most important thing.

Each of the founding team has prior experience in design, programming, logistics, and marketing. They have a passion to revolutionize an unmet need in education, and agree that the lack of financial literacy is the most pertinent problem in education today, making them well equipped to work together to deliver on their mission.