4 ms·

I'm not a Robinhood user, so correct me if I'm wrong. But as someone who's used ~5 different online brokerages, I'm having a hard time understanding what innova

by whack 9y ago

I'm not a Robinhood user, so correct me if I'm wrong. But as someone who's used ~5 different online brokerages, I'm having a hard time understanding what innovation they brought to the table. Buying/selling stocks online is already pretty damn simple, and takes 1-2 minutes tops. Where exactly is the innovation here? "We're going to undercut the competition and save users a couple clicks" is now a $5B business idea? Kudos to the founders, but this hardly seems like the stuff movies are made of.

chrisabrams 9y ago
They understand the mobile experience better than most brokerages, and they understand that mobile is where most users are spending their time.
- hkmurakami 9y ago
  IMO Interactive Brokers has a good mobile experience. However, IB is decidedly not meant for the young, millennial, small amount of investment principal, getting started with investing/trading segment that Robinhood has carved out for itself. So Robinhood's angle isn't just mobile first, it's mobile first for the segment of the population that expects such a product experience, who are going to grow their portfolios and trading activity in the coming decades.
- mrlala 9y ago
  Pretty scary that someone would be doing most mobile trading on a phone from a risk perspective. That's going to train people to basically turn into day traders.
x2f10 9y ago
Robinhood has multiple (perceived or real) advantages: there are no trading fees or minimums; you can trade equities, options, and cryto-currencies; the app's UI is simple and intuitive; etcetera. Robinhood is doing the most to make trading accessible to masses, and from what I've read online, they're quite successful at doing so. Robinhood is the defacto trading platform for the younger generation.
- meric 9y ago
  Any broker can reduce trading fees to zero. How does Robinhood afford it?
  - llccbb 8y ago
    >> Robinhood rockets to a $5.6B valuation with a massive new funding round
  - argonaut 8y ago
    Other brokers don't want to hurt their margins. Etrade made 614 million in profit in 2017. 19% of revenue was from order commissions, or roughly 449 million. So Etrade could eliminate commissions and still remain profitable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Trade https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Trade
kaycebasques 9y ago
No commissions on any stocks or ETFs. No commissions is huge when you want to create a diversified portfolio, buying only a few shares of each at a time. No other brokerage has even come close to trying to provide this. Robinhood earned a lot of brand reputation with this move. UX. Try out a few other brokerage experiences, and then try Robinhood, and you’ll see that the market was ripe for the taking for a team with design sensibilities.
- tehlike 8y ago
  I have been using interactice brokers, it is oretty slick. Never used robinhood but will give it a try.
- perl4ever 8y ago
  Using a broker because they have $0 commissions seems to me like going to a car dealer because they don't charge a $50 doc fee when you buy a car.

by whack 9y ago

chrisabrams 9y ago

They understand the mobile experience better than most brokerages, and they understand that mobile is where most users are spending their time.

hkmurakami 9y ago
IMO Interactive Brokers has a good mobile experience. However, IB is decidedly not meant for the young, millennial, small amount of investment principal, getting started with investing/trading segment that Robinhood has carved out for itself. So Robinhood's angle isn't just mobile first, it's mobile first for the segment of the population that expects such a product experience, who are going to grow their portfolios and trading activity in the coming decades.
mrlala 9y ago
Pretty scary that someone would be doing most mobile trading on a phone from a risk perspective. That's going to train people to basically turn into day traders.

x2f10 9y ago

Robinhood has multiple (perceived or real) advantages: there are no trading fees or minimums; you can trade equities, options, and cryto-currencies; the app's UI is simple and intuitive; etcetera. Robinhood is doing the most to make trading accessible to masses, and from what I've read online, they're quite successful at doing so. Robinhood is the defacto trading platform for the younger generation.

meric 9y ago
Any broker can reduce trading fees to zero. How does Robinhood afford it?
- llccbb 8y ago
  >> Robinhood rockets to a $5.6B valuation with a massive new funding round
- argonaut 8y ago
  Other brokers don't want to hurt their margins. Etrade made 614 million in profit in 2017. 19% of revenue was from order commissions, or roughly 449 million. So Etrade could eliminate commissions and still remain profitable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Trade https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Trade

kaycebasques 9y ago

No commissions on any stocks or ETFs. No commissions is huge when you want to create a diversified portfolio, buying only a few shares of each at a time. No other brokerage has even come close to trying to provide this. Robinhood earned a lot of brand reputation with this move. UX. Try out a few other brokerage experiences, and then try Robinhood, and you’ll see that the market was ripe for the taking for a team with design sensibilities.

tehlike 8y ago
I have been using interactice brokers, it is oretty slick. Never used robinhood but will give it a try.
perl4ever 8y ago
Using a broker because they have $0 commissions seems to me like going to a car dealer because they don't charge a $50 doc fee when you buy a car.