5280 Angel

Close to a year ago when Mint.com launched the beta for their FREE web-based personal finance software I was a little disappointed with the offering.  It was just a little skinny and wasn’t much different from the numerous competitors.  I tried it again recently, and I was quite impressed with the improvements they’ve made and the ease of use.  I really think they are on the right track now.

I have used Quicken for years, although I have always hated it and dread inputting my data.  I may hate Intuit more than Microsoft.  The worst part of Quicken was how little value I actually got out of it.  Nothing was obvious or intuitive, and I think the accounting-based double entry was a little annoying.  Plus my reports were always dated and basically irrelevant.  Oops.  I over spent on groceries back in February of 2007.  I better make some adjustments.  Come on.

So Mint is the anti-Quicken for me which makes it a clear winner in my mind.  The UI is very simple and clean.  The limited feature set requires very little time to master, and the best part is the real-time valuable feedback.  I’m not looking at data that is months old and questionable like Quicken.  I’m looking at today’s transactions from all of my accounts in a very useful framework, and since the transactions are automatically downloaded, I don’t worry about user error with manual entry.

I can see my spending trends by category over time or even compare my spending with others in Denver or NYC or even the whole U.S. to see how I stack up.  The budgeting feature is quick and flexible plus immediately begins comparing current data against it without having to pull some complicated, custom report like Quicken.  The data is displayed nicely and you receive the information you were seeking.  I want to know where I spend my money, and I want to know if that is normal or trending up or whatever…it’s helpful and its right there for easy analysis.

I decided to blog about Mint because I have found it to be a real option for me, and I think others might feel the same.  If you tried it once a while ago and gave up, please give it another go because I think you might be pleasantly surprised.  You can actually add investment accounts now and they are working on assets like homes and cars so eventually you will get an accurate Net Worth figure.  The bottom line baby!

Oh yeah, I was obviously concerned about security, but Mint does a nice job of highlighting their security policy which was satisfactory for me.  Mint does not store any account information on their servers, all data is encrypted, and there is no ability to move money around through Mint since it is basically a read-only program.  If someone got my login info I guess they would have visibility into the way I spend money.  I’d hate to think of some lousy criminal knowing that I blow $100 per month on car insurance.  I’ll take the risk.  Did I mention it is FREE?  (I am not an investor in Mint, but I kinda wish I was)

Quick Overview:

• Web-based (I like being able to access my data from any browser)
• FREE (Who doesn’t like free)
• Current (Financial data is only useful if it is up-to-date so you can react quickly)
• Simple (Mint only does a few things, but it does them well)
• Quick (Set up is fast and easy, and maintaining the data is no problem)
• Constantly Improving (I think the Mint folks get the big picture and are trying to add features and listen to their users)
• Offers (Mint automatically offers ways to save money, i.e. offering a credit card with a lower interest rate than my current one or checking account with higher interest than current one)
• Feedback (No cumbersome reports to pull and customize, just clean, obvious graphs and charts that tell you what you are looking for)

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It is always nice to be able to write about a successful Colorado startup, but it is extra special if I get to participate.  :)  One of my portfolio companies, Routesmith, was recently purchased by Runzheimer, and I wanted to say congratulations to the founders, Matt and Jeff, for a job well done.  These guys executed on their plan and worked their butts off to drive this business, and it was truly a privilege to be involved with their company.  I am going to miss our monthly calls because it was always educational and inspiring to watch their progress.  David Cohen at Coloradostartups wrote a nice piece on the sale here.

One thing that stands out to me that the founders did well, although there were many, was manage their cash.  They did not take more money than they needed, treated investor capital as if it were their own, spent money where it was necessary, and kept enough in reserves in case things got a little hairy.  Too many companies tear through cash like a bag of chips always expecting a fresh bag to follow, and it was refreshing to witness a couple of genuine stewards who weren’t afraid to run lean.  They possess real entrepreneurial spirit.  I will enjoy watching them continue their magic with Runzheimer, and I wish them the best of luck!  I think they should rename the merged company Routezheimer, don’t you?  Keep saying it…it grows on you.

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I’m having a problem finding a decent 20″ glossy monitor that I can add to a 20″ iMac as a dual monitor set up. The matte finish on most LCDs doesn’t look great next to the glossy iMac screen.

Does anyone have any suggestions or decent options for me? I would love to just get a mac mini, but it doesn’t support 2 monitors…And I can NEVER go back to just one lousy screen. I don’t know how anyone can work like that. Am I the only one who finds this image strangely arousing? mmmmmmm……

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Last week I posted on some royalty music sites, and I received a few recommendations that I wanted to visit and review. Here are a few more stock music sites for you:

Opuzz - I like the idea of variable pricing for different lengths of the track, but once you have that plus prices for different versions, prices for the entire CD, and prices for multiple CDs, it becomes a little cumbersome. The selection offered isn’t great but it is all exclusive to Opuzz. It is difficult to figure out who the artists are. No pop-up demos is nice. Narrowing selection isn’t great and is basically only by genre.

MusicBakery - I like the user ratings. Clean site. Professional. Quick, easy song demos is good. Narrowing search selection is not an option, and sorting would be appreciated. Seems to be too much overlap i.e. select “Rock” and returns “Jazz” tracks. Variable pricing, but expensive and not THAT variable. $34 bucks for a 15 second clip doesn’t make me feel warm and toasty inside. $47 will typically get you a full track. Floating shopping cart makes me want to hit someone with my car.

Youlicense - I don’t like that you have to have an account before you can see prices. I believe the license fees are negotiable. The license fee is basically agreed upon by the artist as well as the licensee, and Youlicense just takes a commission (9%) on the transaction. Artists can upload music to license to others which is nice. Many ways to narrow search like mood, style, instruments, pace…etc and I like that as well. Lose the registration requirement up front, and I’d feel better about this one.

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Congratulations to the Eventvue team for winning the CSIA Rookie of the Year Award! It’s always nice to receive a little recognition for your efforts, but shouldn’t there be some kind of $1 million cash prize for this or something?

Eventvue is a company out of Boulder, CO that has a service for conferences that allows attendees to extend and maximize their conference experience as well as create an online community for that specific event.

Well done, guys. Eventvue is one of the TechStars companies from 2007, and I am an investor in the company.

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