Grimes: Rapid scaling required breaking startup rules to offer broad financial help
CJ Grimes · How to get better at money (with Carrie Joy Grimes) | Masters of Scale · May 29, 2026 · at 20:55
CJ Grimes discusses WorkMoney's scaling strategy and why she decided against the traditional startup playbook of focusing exclusively on one narrow problem.
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“What became really clear is that being able to scale fast meant how quickly could we talk to anyone and figure out what kind of money help they needed, and then deliver the best version of that. So we kind of broke some of the startup-y rules, where we didn't get really specific.”
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Grimes: Most people's core problem is an income deficit, not mismanagement
“Most people, the problem they have is that they don't have enough money. It's not, it is that, I just want to say that plainly.”
Grimes: WorkMoney operates as a non-profit with nine million members
“It is a nonprofit. We've got nine million members, and we help people figure out how to earn more and save more and spend less, and we do that through programs and services and coupons and discounts, kind of like the AARP.”
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“When I thought I was bad at money, then I behaved like somebody who was bad at money, and I kept behaving like somebody who was bad at money.”