Why I built Pinnacle: an actuarial analyst's take on why smart people fail professional exams

I'm an actuarial analyst who built an AI exam prep platform because everything else was broken

I work in liability-driven investment by day. I watch colleagues grind through CFA, FRM, ACCA, and CPA prep using the same tools everyone uses — thick textbooks, static question banks, highlight-and-re-read cycles — and then blank on exam day anyway.

That's not a discipline problem. It's a study method problem.

There's a well-documented cognitive phenomenon called the fluency illusion. When you re-read material, it starts to feel familiar. That feeling gets mistaken for understanding. But familiarity and recall are completely different things, and exams test recall. Passive study produces passive knowledge — useless under pressure.

I couldn't find a platform that actually addressed this for professional certifications. The big players are bloated, expensive, and built around content delivery, not learning. Flashcard tools are generic. Nothing was designed around how memory actually consolidates.

So I built Pinnacle.

It uses FSRS — a modern spaced repetition algorithm — to schedule questions at the exact intervals that force retrieval before forgetting. The AI generates exam-quality questions, adapts to your weak areas, and builds a personalised learning journey backed by performance analytics. You don't just study. You can see exactly where your knowledge breaks down and fix it.

It covers CFA L1 & L2, FRM Part 1 & 2, ACCA, and CPA. I built the entire stack myself — React, Supabase, Netlify, TypeScript — while working full time and pursuing a part-time MScFE. Not because it was easy, but because the problem was real enough to justify it.

The people sitting these exams are serious. They deserve a serious tool.

If you're preparing for any of these certifications, or know someone who is, I'd genuinely love your feedback.