adaptu
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Adaptu was a Portland-based personal finance startup that positioned its free mobile wallet and account-aggregation service as an alternative to Intuit's Mint, competing also with LearnVest and HelloWallet.
02 / adaptu FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
Adaptu shut down because its free model was unsustainable and it chose not to transition to a paid model. The company never reached meaningful traction - traffic had collapsed to around 2,000 monthly uniques - co-founder Mark Brundage left for Salesforce in May 2012, and its owner, insurer StanCorp Financial Group, was itself in financial trouble and cutting staff.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Co-founder departs
In May 2012, co-founder Mark Brundage leaves Adaptu to join Salesforce as Director of Customer Success, an early sign of the company's decline.
- Shutdown announced
In early February 2013, Adaptu announces via its website and emails to subscribers that it is closing its doors because it did not want to transition away from its free model to remain in business; users are given until February 20, 2013 to transition off the platform.
- Final shutdown
On February 20, 2013, Adaptu shuts down permanently; user accounts and data are deleted from company servers, and users are offered a CSV export of their transactions and referred to Mint, LearnVest, and HelloWallet as alternatives.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
In early February 2013, Adaptu announced on its website and in emails to subscribers that it would close its doors, saying it did not want to transition away from its free model in order to remain in business.
- 02
The company worked with users to transition off the platform before the final shutdown on February 20, 2013, via emails and mobile alerts.
- 03
On February 20, 2013, Adaptu shut down permanently: user accounts and other data were deleted from company servers; users could export their transactions as CSV and were referred to Mint, LearnVest, and HelloWallet.