39
37 Comments

Looking for a CTO who wants to make a difference in the world!

Is anyone looking to use their skills to make a difference in the world? We're looking for a CTO to join our startup team. We're building SaveForward, an app that helps socially-conscious millennials on a limited budget to save toward making a microfinance loan - so they can see the direct difference they make in someone’s life, while parting with very little. These loans empower an underbanked individual to start or grow a business, and lift themselves out of poverty. You can see the difference you’ve enabled someone to make in their life - changing the future for themselves, their family, and their community.

  • The Role -
    We already validated an MVP web prototype with users, crowdfunded our first few loans, and are in the process of building a native app for a public launch. We're looking for someone who is willing to code (React Native, Node JS), help strategize, and eventually oversee the development team. We're backed by the MaRS Start program and the Metaii Accelerator.

Edit: We are bootstrapping and this role is for equity only at this point.

  • Our Story -
    I travelled to Nasik, India, and saw firsthand how predatory lending had become detrimental to the community. The orphans I worked with had lost their parents to suicide because of over-indebtedness and poor farming conditions. I wanted to change the world through financial inclusion, but wasn't sure how.

Meanwhile, during my masters, I realized I was spending upwards of $40 on snacks and coffee that I didn’t need. I wanted a quick and easy way to divert the money to someone in need, the moment I resisted spending it. This sparked the idea for SaveForward, an app that motivates you to save redirects a portion of the savings to an ethical microfinance loan. My friend, Chris, joined me in developing the initial web platform.

The first loan we crowdfunded empowered Gladys, a single mom in Kenya, to improve her crop farming, meet more demand in her village, and upgrade her living conditions. We're passionate and excited about evolving the app and making an even bigger impact.

Check out our website: www.saveforward.ca

  1. 4

    Hi @celynbr, nice action you're doing. Congrats! Just my two cents about your product, as a user: if you had a way to integrate with challenge banks, would be awesome.

    Here in the UK for instance, we have https://monzo.com. There are loads of seamless integrations we can do using IFTTT (https://ifttt.com/search/query/Monzo).

    Or partnership direct with them. Obviously, it's not a easy thing to do, building this partnership.

    Feel free to post articles, questions on our Social Entrepreneurship group

    1. 2

      Thanks @Leo! Appreciate your thoughts. We definitely have plans for this down the road, once we have a bit more funding :) Many exciting things on the horizon.

  2. 2

    I really like the idea behind this. Especially predatory loans which is a very large problem in India.
    How are collections of loans being solved.
    I am a software engineer with a breadth of knowledge in fintech. Would love to discuss more on this.

    1. 1

      Hey @gabber12 - would love to connect. We're partnering with MFI's that have been certified by a 3rd party for their social performance (e.g. Smart Campaign). Please shoot me an email! [email protected]

  3. 2

    Hi @celynbr, firstly excellent cause you are pursuing, just wanted to ask how does SaveForward differentiate from something like Kiva or the likes?

    1. 2

      Hi @Axe - great question! We're targeting individuals who want to make a difference but feel can't part with very much at once and are hesitant to commit to a set monthly amount - they want more control over how and when they contribute, and to link it to their actual spending and budget. The app helps motivate them to spend less through gamification, as well as providing motivation beyond themselves to resist guilty purchases more often (empathy and knowing a portion of their savings will go to empower someone else).

  4. 1

    Hello Mrs @celynbr
    Are you still looking for CTO ?
    I am very much interested this job interview .
    Here is my linkedin profile :
    https://www.linkedin.com/in/ozguraltintop/

  5. 1

    Nice thought and good motive @celynbr, I can relate much as I have been to Nashik couple of times and am living not too far. Glad something triggered you build something good. Good luck with your hiring

  6. 1

    Love that idea, hope it will spread to other countries like Cambodia where I originate from (through I'm now French and live in France).

  7. 1

    Kudos on your initiative! Good luck on your hunting.

  8. 1

    Beautiful Project!! I Hope you find your CTO!

  9. 1

    Great project idea! Good luck with it!

  10. 1

    Hey Celine, while I can't help with the CTO role, I'd be happy to make an introduction to the founders of Impactr if it's of interest to you. Your mission is one they'd likely get behind from a promotional perspective...

  11. 1

    Hey @celynbr are you still looking for CTO? I'm very much interested and have skill sets that you need. Here's my LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shyam-makwana-07020a96/

  12. 1

    Hi! I know this was a long time ago but hope you guys are doing great. If you still need technical help I am happy to get on a call and see if there is anywhere I might be able to help. you can read a little about me here www.rbm.dev

  13. 1

    Hi @celynbr - Awesome concept. Can see this making a direct impact in peoples lives, especially now with the havoc that the pandemic has unleashed. Every dollar redirected can go a long way in someone else's life. Hope you are able to scale quickly and succeed!

  14. 1

    This is a really cool idea, hope your business scales really quickly :)

    1. 1

      Hi Derek! Thank you for the kind words. I hope so too.

  15. 1

    Hi @celynbr, I am a Full Stack JavaScript developer, with NodeJs and React as one of my Technical Skills. I really liked the intentions and inspirations behind your StartUp. Let me know if I can help you in any way possible.

  16. 1

    Hi, I am an iOS Mobile app developer, just curious if you are completely settled on a React Native App vs iOS and Android?

    1. 1

      Hello, yes - we are settled on React Native at this point.

  17. 1

    is this still open? it is a good idea, can't be that difficult to find good technical person to move it forward.

    1. 1

      This is still open. I forgot to add to the post that this position is for equity only, which has narrowed our options. It's been added as an edit. If you have interest please shoot me an email! [email protected]

  18. 1

    I sent you an email about this subject.

  19. 1

    Hi @celynbr I just tried visiting this site in Chrome and got a warning about the site being dangerous:

    Attackers on www.saveforward.ca may trick you into doing something dangerous like installing software or revealing your personal information (for example, passwords, phone numbers, or credit cards)

    I would not proceed to visit the actual site based on this warning. I'm not sure if this is accurate (probably not) but definitely something you should check like Google Search Console to see if there is any malicious code on your site.

    1. 2

      Thank you, we're working to fix the problem. Appreciate the note!

      1. 1

        It's just an SSL certificate issue and easily fixed.

        1. 1

          The SSL certificate seems fine :(

          1. 1

            Likely it's a setting in CloudFlare that could be causing the issue. If you have an SSL certificate on the webserver, you can either turn this setting to Flexible and see if it fixes this problem (which is what I'd recommend) or turn it off.

            It's possible that this setting is Full (strict) and if so, that requires an additional certificate.

            I've used CloudFlare in the past but I had too many issues with it on our websites and so I removed our websites and stopped paying for it.

            1. 1

              Good to know, thank you!

              1. 1

                Honestly, since you don't collect any other PII than email addresses, CloudFlare is overkill and in my opinion, unnecessary.

  20. 1

    Hi Celyn Brown,
    I am interested in the position.

    1. 2

      Awesome! Can you please send me an email with your experience and/or LinkedIn profile? [email protected]

      1. 1

        Hi Celyn,
        I have sent email from [email protected]

  21. 2

    This comment was deleted 3 years ago.

Trending on Indie Hackers
Yayy! Made my 2nd sale in one month 43 comments Help me positioning my SaaS product 24 comments Need feedback about the landing page 22 comments 🤯Blown Away, Everyday. 20 comments Productized service: Got my 1st client (€2500/m) with 100% upfront payment 17 comments Need Feedback About My Landing Page 14 comments