# LearnVest: Alexa von Tobel

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2017-12-18
- Length: 39m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2017-12-18-learnvest-alexa-von-tobel

## Summary

Alexa von Tobel, founder of LearnVest, explains how the unexpected death of her father when she was 14 left her mother struggling with family finances, inspiring her to build a tool that simplifies financial planning for young people. She details leaving Morgan Stanley and Harvard Business School in 2008 to launch LearnVest, raising $11 million in seed funding by hustling to meet investors despite the financial crisis. The company grew to serve millions of users with a software platform that aggregates finances and provides affordable planning advice, eventually leading to its acquisition by Northwestern Mutual for a rumored $250 million. In a postscript, Dillon Hill discusses co-founding Gamers Gift, a nonprofit that provides VR headsets and video games to bed-bound and disabled patients in hospitals and assisted living facilities.

## Chapters

- [0:25](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2017-12-18-learnvest-alexa-von-tobel#t=25) Introduction: Alexa von Tobel and the origin of LearnVest
- [4:34](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2017-12-18-learnvest-alexa-von-tobel#t=274) The traumatic loss of her father and its financial impact on her family
- [11:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2017-12-18-learnvest-alexa-von-tobel#t=666) Leaving Morgan Stanley and Harvard Business School to start the company
- [17:18](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2017-12-18-learnvest-alexa-von-tobel#t=1038) Raising $11 million in seed funding during the 2008 financial crisis
- [24:31](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2017-12-18-learnvest-alexa-von-tobel#t=1471) Launching LearnVest as a software platform for affordable financial planning
- [30:54](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2017-12-18-learnvest-alexa-von-tobel#t=1854) The acquisition by Northwestern Mutual and her role as CDO
- [36:57](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2017-12-18-learnvest-alexa-von-tobel#t=2217) Postscript: Dillon Hill and Gamers Gift providing VR to patients

## Topics

- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Fundraising & investors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/fundraising)
- [Growth, exits & acquisitions](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/growth-exits-and-acquisitions)
- [Direct-to-consumer & e-commerce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/direct-to-consumer)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- LearnVest (product)
- Northwestern Mutual (company)
- Morgan Stanley (company)
- Gamers Gift (product)
- U.S. Bank (company)

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