Bumped — Get stock for spending with your favorite brands

@rrhoover, thanks for joining the conversation. We spent over a year in stealth mode building the technology, as well as becoming a FINRA registered broker-dealer. Because this had not been done, we had to build the brokerage element of the model to bring this to market. It is one of those ideas, that everybody asks me "why didn't I think of this".. That said, it is a model that couldn't have been carried out until now. Other predecessors have broken down different barriers that challenge the cost structures of trading stock, which helped pave the way. In fact, fractional shares of ownership in stock is itself a bit of a new concept. At this moment we are launching with 19 brands but look forward to adding more in the coming months. In beta you will see brands that include AMC, Netflix, Pizza Hut, Papa Johns', Walmart, Target, Dunkin, Jamba Juice, among others. We can't specify which are formal partners and which are testing, but beta users will get access to all that we have available. Stock rewards will be between 1% and 5% of your purchase depending on the brand. Let me know if you have other questions!

@jimmydouglas Thank you Jimmy - really appreciated. I'm equally excited to see how this effects the way consumers look at the brands they support. I have the feeling it will make people think twice as they spend. The primary question being - is this a company I want to own equity in? Interestingly, I've often used the example - imagine getting a share of Tesla when you lease the car. Its about bringing the customer into the brand's story - the brands that do will only extend the strength of their loyal following.

@tangonelsen cool idea - I'm interested in trying it out. What is the current wait time for getting early access? How quickly are you all creating relationships with other brands?

@tayrob5 With regards to the brands, we are in conversations as we speak. We don't have a ton of control over their timelines, but I'm happy about the conversations in motion and happy about the 19 that we do have going into the beta. With regards to early access, we look forward to extending access beyond our internal team within weeks not months. We also reserved the first couple thousand spots for our top referrers so they get in earlier. After that we will bring folks in with incrementally larger batches as we test and scale.

@tangonelsen Awesome! Excited to see who else in the industry agrees to partner. Any chance I could get in now to start using and providing early feedback?

@tayrob5 Right now we have things focused on internal team members to ensure we create a delightful experience for customers. If you signed up on the waitlist today, you are likely going to be among the first as we open up things. Thanks so much by the way!

@storybulbs We care about the small merchant businesses and are working on a solution for that. For now the focus is on the big brands as it is easier to scale across 400 names than it is 400,000 small merchant businesses. In regards to REI - it is funny you should mention that one; we use them as an example in the office of a brand that already has some of these principles in place. The way they look at membership, allow members to vote for Board Position, return a rebate check - all of these things show why the Co-op model can create a brand with a loyal following.

@tangonelsen Thanks! I look forward to the launch and the evolution of the offerings! It is great to see another amazing idea here in PDX!

@rmagrino Thanks, glad you like it! Right now we are launching the beta with 19, but we are focused on adding more to that list and have a lot of conversations happening to expand.

@thayvee Thanks for the questions - Yes, the focus is on the US market for now. There will be certain online brands available. For retailers that have an online presence our systems should catch all of those transactions as well, but that is also why we are starting in beta (to make sure we catch all those transactions). We are initially launching with 19 brands and hope to keep adding more to the list.