Edoardo Moreni is the co-founder of Emma, an app that is “your financial advocate”.

Hello Edoardo!
 

1. Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

I am Edoardo Moreni, CEO and Co-founder of Emma. This is an iOS and Android app that helps people avoid overdrafts, find and cancel subscriptions, track debt and save money. I was born in Rome 24 years ago, studied computer science at the University of Manchester, lived in Berlin for a year and moved to London. The most interesting thing about me is that I like sushi and ramen, as a true Italian. ;)

2. What inspired you to launch Emma?

I never had an “ah-ah!” moment and I don’t think any entrepreneur has it. Products are the result of constant discoveries and experiments to find what we call product market fit.

Emma is the result of multiple iterations on different ideas which me and my co-founder, Antonio Marino, had. After finishing our computer science degrees, we decided we wanted to start something together. At first, we were interested in P2P lending, when that option didn’t seem viable, we shipped a budgeting tool, only for iPhone devices.

The app was targeting the German market and helped people categorise expenses, as well as being on track of their finances. However, after being live for a few months, we also realised we were operating in the wrong market. For this reason, we renamed the product Emma, which comes from our names’ initials, and shipped an evolution of it in the UK.

3. What’s your relationship like with money and personal finance?

I am quite good at managing my money. The only reason is that I don’t like spending it ;) That’s why there isn’t much to track. However, I can admit I paid a Netflix subscription for twelve months without even knowing it. If we had developed Emma at the time, things would have been different.

4. What does financial independence mean to you?

I am a fan of Robert Kiyosaki and his book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”. I completely agree with him when he says that financial independence is when your assets produce an income that gives you a living.

That’s when you can stop working because you are financially independent.

5. What are your plans for 2018?

In terms of Emma, we plan to launch it publicly in the next six months. At the moment, our product is in closed beta and we have a long waitlist of people who are waiting to give it a try. We have decided to take this route to better control and understand the product.

However, from time to time, we are happy to give some invites to skip the queue, as we are doing today with the Vestpod community, which can join us from here.

6. What is Vestpod for you?

Vestpod is about addressing a problem that is at the basis of our capitalist society, financial education. Although we have been shaping the world we live in for the past six hundred years since the Medici bank in 1397, our educational system hasn’t been able to teach us the basics; that’s why I think Vestpod has a lot of work to do and can solve a real problem.

The book that changed your life: The art of motorcycle maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig

A podcast: Fintech Insider

Where can we find you? on Twitter

Thanks a lot!