Build In Public: Spotlight Edition (Nate Washington)

Hi everyone, welcome to the latest spotlight edition of the Build In Public newsletter. Every week, I interview one prolific creator or founder and unpack insights, strategies, and actionable advice from their story that can be helpful in your own journey. 

In today’s edition, I wanted to feature Nate Washington, co-founder and CTO of Qoins. I first heard about Qoins when I watched the pitch live at an event in Atlanta. It was impressive but what really piqued my interest was that Nate used a bunch of no-code tools (mainly Bubble) to build out the MVP of Qoins. It was probably one of the first mainstream fintech apps that was built on Bubble that became successful and raised funding. Anyway, Nate and I became friends and he helped me out in my early days of the no-code journey and always remember his kindness and willingness to support others around him. Qoins is in the middle of a huge public fundraising campaign on Republic and I thought this was a great time I invite Nate to my newsletter and get to share his story.

Without further ado, here is our text interview:

NW: My name is Nate Washington, and I’m cofounder and CTO of Qoins. I’m a self-taught software engineer who is also a supporter of the No-Code movement.

NW: Qoins helps our customers save money and pay off debt faster by automating the process. In addition, we provide financial education to help customers achieve a better financial future.

NW: We’ve recently helped our customers pay off a total of over $20 million worth of debt. We’re excited about that, and we’re aiming for $100 million by the end of 2022. In addition, we’ve just launched a campaign on Republic, which allows our customers and supporters to come along on this long-term journey with us.

NW: I’m a multi-time founder. I met my cofounder randomly while doing contract work after shutting down my second company. He already had the idea, but we both decided to work on it after having experienced the pain point that we wanted to solve. (Having lots of credit card debt, student loans, and auto loans.)

NW: Our most active customers are ages 25-34, with slightly more women than men. Most of these people are making big life changes for the first time and incurring debt as a result. (First home, marriage, kids, etc.)

NW: Using our service, most traditional loans can be paid off 3-5 years early and save customers thousands of dollars on interest payments.

Later this year, we’re releasing our Qoins Debit Card, which ultimately will allow you to pay off your debt even faster by allowing merchants you already shop at to help pay off your loans.

NW: Pricing your product is an art, not a science. For a while, we tried to differentiate ourselves from competitors with lower prices. We ultimately found that customers don’t mind a higher price, as long as you provide the right value, and that it’s better for your business long-term.

NW: Don’t focus so hard on actually “trying” to build an audience. Just focus on doing cool shit and people will talk about you.

NW: Go to therapy. I personally think every founder of a company should be in therapy.

NW: Twitter: @nwashjr2

Instagram: @natewashingtonjr

NW: Website: https://qoins.com

Republic Fundraising campaign: https://republic.co/qoins

Thank you for reading! Please share this with your friends on Twitter/Linkedin or if you have any comments or questions, don’t hesitate to hit reply :)

Note: In case you didn’t know, I also do a podcast called Build in Public. Here is the latest episode with Ruben Harris, co-founder and CEO of Career Karma.