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Hey Deal Lift readers 👋
Today’s story is one of my favorites because it blends fintech, culture, psychology, and bold decision-making.

It’s a story about two founders who looked at trading apps and said:
“What if finance didn’t feel like a Wall Street locker room?”

What if it felt…

• welcoming

• social

• transparent

• values-driven

• and culturally relevant?

This is the world Public.com set out to build.

And today, we’re breaking down exactly how they did it — from a rebrand, to dropping their biggest revenue source, to becoming a $1B+ powerhouse used by millions of retail investors.

Strap in. This one’s packed with lessons. 🚀

🧠 The Spark: “Investing Doesn’t Have to Feel Like Wall Street”

The story starts with Jannick Malling and Leif Abraham, two serial entrepreneurs who didn’t want to build just another trading app.

Jannick had previously built a trading app called Matador, but he realized something fundamental:

Because investing has always been:

• intimidating

• jargon-filled

• lonely

• and wrapped in this “I know more than you” culture

The founders believed the real barrier wasn’t money, it was mindset.

Their hypothesis?
If people could talk about money openly — share trades, ideas, questions — investing would become less scary.

So they rebuilt Matador from the ground up.
New look. New philosophy.
Public.com was born.

🛠️ September 2019 — Launching Public.com (The Social Investing Experiment Begins)

Most apps were built around features:

• place trade

• check balance

• view chart

Public added something radically different:

👉 A social feed

Not memes. Not noise.
But a place to see what real people were investing in and why.

Users could:

• follow friends

• follow creators

• “tip” portfolios

• share trades

• discuss market moves

• build community

They turned the stock market into a public square, not a solo mission.

In a world of sterile fintech apps, Public felt alive — like Instagram meets investing.

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🔥 2020 — The Retail Investor Boom (Perfect Timing)

Then the world changed.

Lockdowns.
Stimulus checks.
Boredom.
And the rise of YOLO retail trading.

While Robinhood and meme stocks were exploding, Public was becoming a magnet for younger investors who wanted:

• conversation

• transparency

• community

• a sense of belonging

Public didn’t lean into chaos.
They leaned into culture.

Celebrity investors joined early:

• Will Smith

• The Chainsmokers

• JJ Watt

Not as cringe endorsements — but as actual participants.

Public positioned itself as the cultural antidote to the cold finance world.

🚨 February 2021 — The GameStop Moment & The Boldest Decision in Fintech

The GameStop saga hits.
Retail investors revolt.
Robinhood halts trading.

Public faces a defining moment.

The founders had a choice:
Stay like everyone else… or make a stand.

Public chose courage.

They shut off Payment for Order Flow (PFOF) — their biggest revenue driver.

That’s like a restaurant saying:
“We’re removing everything high-margin from our menu because it’s not aligned with our values.”

Huge risk.
Huge statement.

Instead, Public introduced:

👉 Optional tipping

A completely new revenue experiment.

It sent one message loud and clear:

“We’re on the side of the investor — not the market makers.”

Users respected the move.
Trust skyrocketed.
The brand became a beacon in a messy market.

This one decision became Public’s defining growth engine.

💰 The Reward: A Massive $220M Series D & Unicorn Status

After ditching PFOF, Public didn’t collapse.
It exploded.

They raised $220M led by Tiger Global.
Valuation: $1.2B.

Public became the fastest-growing social investing app in the market.

And more importantly — they became the trusted one.

🎨 2022 — Expanding Beyond Stocks

To become a real player in fintech, Public needed more than social feeds and equities.

They began expanding into new asset classes:

• fractional art

• collectibles

• crypto

• ETFs

• thematic investing

Then the big one:

🏛️ Treasury Bills & Bonds — Democratized

Traditionally boring.
Extremely safe.
Insanely hard for regular people to access.

Public made buying bonds as easy as buying Apple stock.

This was a masterstroke because:

• high interest rates made bonds attractive

• older investors started paying attention

• diversification = retention

Public didn’t become a meme-stock circus.
They became a serious wealth-building platform.

Where to Invest $100,000 According to Experts

Investors face a dilemma. Headlines everywhere say tariffs and AI hype are distorting public markets.

Now, the S&P is trading at over 30x earnings—a level historically linked to crashes.

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• Contemporary art prices have appreciated 11.2% annually on average

• …And with one of the lowest correlations to stocks of any major asset class (Masterworks data, 1995-2024).

• Ultra-high net worth collectors (>$50M) allocated 25% of their portfolios to art on average. (UBS, 2024)

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🧩 2023–2024 — Maturation, AI, and the Move Upmarket

Public wasn’t trying to be “the hip Gen-Z stock app” anymore.

They started rolling out:

⭐ High-yield cash accounts

⭐ Bond ladders

⭐ Treasury products

⭐ Advanced tools

⭐ Deeper research & analytics

⭐ AI-powered research assistant (“Alpha”)

In fact, over 90% of Public users now use the AI research assistant to interpret financial data.

They transformed from:
Social Stock App → Full Wealth Platform.

This shift is what separated them from the pack and insulated them from the meme-stock slowdown.

📈 The Business Model Evolution

Public started with:

• Fractional investing

• Social feed

• PFOF revenue

Then pivoted to:

• No PFOF

• Tipping

• Subscription research tools

• Cash account revenue

• Bond spreads

• Product-based margin

This is a perfect example of:

✔️ Values → Brand

✔️ Brand → Trust

✔️ Trust → Pricing Power

✔️ Pricing Power → Revenue Stability

A masterclass in long-term thinking.

🧠 Why Public Works (4 Key Levers)

1️⃣ They solved the psychological barrier, not the financial one

The founders understood that the real enemy for new investors isn’t money — it’s fear.

Social investing destroyed that fear.

2️⃣ They nailed cultural timing

Retail investing became cool.
Public became the platform for the “new class” of investors.

3️⃣ They took bold bets — and won

Turning off PFOF was a “high integrity, high trust” moment.

4️⃣ They evolved from hype → seriousness

Meme stocks fade.
Long-term investing does not.
Public matured at the perfect time.

📊 Tactical Lessons You Can Use

✔️ Make your product a conversation, not a tool

When people talk about money openly, they invest more confidently.

✔️ Take bold value-based decisions

Your values are part of your competitive edge.

✔️ Expand from culture → wealth

Start fun. Grow serious.

✔️ Add community layers to complex workflows

Community reduces fear in any category — finance, health, AI.

✔️ Build trust early, monetize later

Public is proof that trust compounds.

🧩 Additional Insights

• Public has raised over $350M total.

• Their AI assistant “Alpha” is now one of their most-used features.

• The company has diversified far beyond stocks, challenging incumbents.

• Their brand positioning attracts users who value transparency and ethics.

🎯 Final Deal Lift Takeaway

Public.com's Growth Formula:

Community → Trust → Diversification → Longevity

If you’re building a financial product — or any product — ask yourself:

• What emotional barrier does the customer face?

• Can community reduce that barrier?

• What values can we take a stand on?

• How do we evolve before the user outgrows us?

Public didn’t just build an investment app.
They built a movement — and that’s why they’re a $1B+ company today.

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