John Stein

Founder & Chairman, Betterment · 1 appearance on the record.

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founderexecutiveinvestor

Jon Stein founded Betterment in 2008, pioneering the automated digital wealth management industry. He served as the company's CEO before becoming Chairman of the Board and later co-founding Warmer.

16statements → 15claims → 10claims resolved → 70%fully supported → 4/5average certainty → 1.75/5average debate potential →

7 supported 1 partly supported 2 contradicted 1 not yet assessed 4 not checkable as stated how the 15 claims stand · each chip opens the sources

1 prediction · 14 assertions · 1 opinion · every statement was checked. The prediction and assertions are the 15 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 10 are resolved, 1 is not yet assessed, and 4 name no date, number or outcome precise enough to check. Everything else (opinions, insights, what ifs, disclosures) can never be settled by the record, so it carries no assessment.

The record, in short

What the tape says about how John argues and how the claims held up. Everything they said, and everything said about them, is in the tabs below.

Their most notable supported claim

Assertion Supported

Stein: Warren Buffett does not practice his own passive investing advice

“He's, he doesn't do what he preaches, right? He's an active investor himself.”

John Stein May 25, 2017 ▶ 14:36 670: Betterment Vs. Vanguard, Betterment Passes 200,000 Investors, $8B in AUM with CEO Jon Stein

Their most notable contradicted claim

Assertion Contradicted

Stein: 80% of his Harvard graduating class entered finance

“80% of the graduating class from Harvard went into finance of some sort.”

John Stein May 25, 2017 ▶ 3:57 670: Betterment Vs. Vanguard, Betterment Passes 200,000 Investors, $8B in AUM with CEO Jon Stein

Expressed certainty vs assessment result

none yet certainty 1

none yet certainty 2

none yet certainty 3

72% certainty 4

100% certainty 5

weighted support: a fully supported claim counts one, a partly supported claim counts half. Each filled bar is clickable and opens exactly those claims; "none yet" means nothing said at that certainty level has resolved yet

How they sound: not measured why? →

We measure speaking style by listening to the audio itself, and a fair number needs at least 2,000 words from one person on tape we have measured. There is too little of John Stein on measured tape to publish a rate. This says nothing about how they speak.

What they said16 Episodes1

Everything John Stein said on Top Founders that made the record, most notable first. Filter by type, assessment or year in the ledger →

Assertion Supported

Stein: Warren Buffett does not practice his own passive investing advice

“He's, he doesn't do what he preaches, right? He's an active investor himself.”

John Stein May 25, 2017 ▶ 14:36 670: Betterment Vs. Vanguard, Betterment Passes 200,000 Investors, $8B in AUM with CEO Jon Stein

Opinion

Stein: Betterment's 0.25% fee is more than offset by tax optimization

“I would compare an all in net return number, and I would think about that .2 to five percent being more than made up for in the tax optimizations alone, plus the behavioral optimization, the diversification, and the ease of use that we give you are worth a lot…”

John Stein May 25, 2017 ▶ 16:35 670: Betterment Vs. Vanguard, Betterment Passes 200,000 Investors, $8B in AUM with CEO Jon Stein

Assertion Not checkable as stated

Stein: Betterment is outgrowing historical adoption of ETFs and discount brokerages

“If you look at the growth of ETFs, we're growing faster than ETFs took off. If you look at the growth of say discount brokerages, we're growing faster than that.”

John Stein May 25, 2017 ▶ 17:31 670: Betterment Vs. Vanguard, Betterment Passes 200,000 Investors, $8B in AUM with CEO Jon Stein

Prediction Open · timeframe May 2020

Stein: Betterment plans to IPO rather than sell to an acquirer

“We've always said we're going to make it a public company. We've always had our sights set on the long term. We're building an institution for the next century. We're not interested in selling out right now.”

John Stein May 25, 2017 ▶ 19:17 670: Betterment Vs. Vanguard, Betterment Passes 200,000 Investors, $8B in AUM with CEO Jon Stein

Assertion Supported

Stein: Betterment is the largest independent online investment advisor

“Betterment is the largest independent investment advisor online.”

John Stein May 25, 2017 ▶ 2:05 670: Betterment Vs. Vanguard, Betterment Passes 200,000 Investors, $8B in AUM with CEO Jon Stein

Assertion Partly supported

Stein: Betterment charges 0.25% AUM fee, lowest in industry

“It's .25%, which is the lowest in the industry, and by charging this one clear transparent fee we align ourselves with the customer.”

John Stein May 25, 2017 ▶ 2:51 670: Betterment Vs. Vanguard, Betterment Passes 200,000 Investors, $8B in AUM with CEO Jon Stein

Assertion Supported

Stein: Betterment manages $8.2 billion in AUM

“Today we manage 8.2 billion dollars.”

John Stein May 25, 2017 ▶ 3:30 670: Betterment Vs. Vanguard, Betterment Passes 200,000 Investors, $8B in AUM with CEO Jon Stein

Assertion Contradicted

Stein: 80% of his Harvard graduating class entered finance

“80% of the graduating class from Harvard went into finance of some sort.”

John Stein May 25, 2017 ▶ 3:57 670: Betterment Vs. Vanguard, Betterment Passes 200,000 Investors, $8B in AUM with CEO Jon Stein

Assertion Supported

Stein: Financial services captured 40% of US corporate profits in early 2000s

“At that time, 40% of all the financial profits in the U.S. Were coming from financial services.”

John Stein May 25, 2017 ▶ 4:11 670: Betterment Vs. Vanguard, Betterment Passes 200,000 Investors, $8B in AUM with CEO Jon Stein

Assertion Supported

Stein: Betterment has more customers than Wealthfront

“It's more.”

John Stein May 25, 2017 ▶ 18:29 670: Betterment Vs. Vanguard, Betterment Passes 200,000 Investors, $8B in AUM with CEO Jon Stein

Assertion Supported

Stein: Betterment has raised $205M to date

“Two hundred and five million today.”

John Stein May 25, 2017 ▶ 10:13 670: Betterment Vs. Vanguard, Betterment Passes 200,000 Investors, $8B in AUM with CEO Jon Stein

Assertion Not checkable as stated

Stein: Over 50% of Betterment customers join via word-of-mouth

“More than 50% of our customers, when they, when we ask, how did you hear about us? They say it was a friend.”

John Stein May 25, 2017 ▶ 12:21 670: Betterment Vs. Vanguard, Betterment Passes 200,000 Investors, $8B in AUM with CEO Jon Stein

Assertion Supported

Stein: Betterment has 240,000 funded customer accounts

“240,000 customers.”

John Stein May 25, 2017 ▶ 18:21 670: Betterment Vs. Vanguard, Betterment Passes 200,000 Investors, $8B in AUM with CEO Jon Stein

Assertion Contradicted

Stein: The 0.25% advisory fee is Betterment's sole revenue source

“That's it. That's our only source of revenue. That's all we do.”

John Stein May 25, 2017 ▶ 19:37 670: Betterment Vs. Vanguard, Betterment Passes 200,000 Investors, $8B in AUM with CEO Jon Stein

Assertion Not checkable as stated

Stein: Betterment's initial funding was under $400,000 from founders, friends, and family

“It was less than 400,000 dollars that we pulled together from ourselves and friends and families.”

John Stein May 25, 2017 ▶ 9:41 670: Betterment Vs. Vanguard, Betterment Passes 200,000 Investors, $8B in AUM with CEO Jon Stein

Assertion Not checkable as stated

Stein: Betterment has reached 220 employees

“Today we have 220 people.”

John Stein May 25, 2017 ▶ 11:17 670: Betterment Vs. Vanguard, Betterment Passes 200,000 Investors, $8B in AUM with CEO Jon Stein

Appearances (1)

Episode	Date	Speaking time
670: Betterment Vs. Vanguard, Betterment Passes 200,000 Investors, $8B in AUM with CEO Jon	May 25, 2017	12m

John Stein

The record, in short

Their most notable supported claim

Their most notable contradicted claim

Expressed certainty vs assessment result

How they sound: not measured why? →

Appearances (1)

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