How Lettuce built an AI-powered financial platform for freelancers in just 6 months

The Challenge

Imagine you're one of the five million American freelancers making more than $100K annually. You're faced with complex financial decisions: Should you form an LLC or an S Corp? How will this impact your taxes, your largest expense? How should you optimize your tax strategy, and when should you act? For many freelancers, these questions are so overwhelming that they do nothing—and end up paying far more in taxes as a result.

Ran Harpaz envisioned Lettuce as the solution to this conundrum. His goal was to create an end-to-end, AI-powered platform that would automate the soul-crushing aspects of navigating the outdated tax system, handle back-office work, and essentially perform all the functions of an accountant.

The challenge: Harpaz wanted to launch this comprehensive platform in just six months—from scratch. The clock was ticking, and they hadn't even started building.

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The Build 

To turn this ambitious vision into reality, Harpaz turned to A.Team. "I've looked at many solutions across the years—freelancer platforms, direct contractors, and everything onshore and offshore," Harpaz explained. "What I liked about the A.Team model is the concept of bringing together a whole team. I'm getting access to high-caliber people who hit the ground running and deliver."

A.Team assembled a dynamic group of product leaders, designers, and developers, plus a strategy that aligned perfectly with Lettuce's mission: "We are building a company by solos for solos. So we thought: Let's go to a place where those people congregate," Harpaz said, referring to A.Team's community of 11,000 high-earning independent product builders. "Let's find the best ones and bring them in so they can build a solution from their own personal experience."

Their A.Team set out to develop a platform that would: 

1. Automate tax filing and legal entity setup 
2. Integrate seamlessly with third-party banking and financial services
3. Offer an intuitive user interface for hassle-free management of financial and legal tasks
4. Leverage AI to provide personalized financial solutions

A.Team's product managers played a pivotal role in defining and building the MVP within the tight six-month timeframe. They managed backlog prioritization, machine learning algorithms, product strategy and analytics, and overall team leadership. The collaborative effort resulted in a user-friendly interface that enables hassle-free, safe, management of users' financial and legal tasks. 

Once the platform was ready, the team focused on identifying the right paid media channels to efficiently go to market. 

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Outcomes

In a remarkable six-month span, A.Team turned Lettuce from an idea into a fully launched MVP.

Lettuce quickly found its product-market fit, offering comprehensive back-office services that freelancers couldn't get from expensive CPAs or limited DIY tax tools. By providing freelance workers with the tools they need to thrive financially, Lettuce’s product filled a crucial gap in the market.

Just two months post-launch, Lettuce sailed past its initial customer acquisition targets. Harpaz was delighted to find that Lettuce was really helping people. Solopreneurs from several industries professed relief at finding a solution to their complicated tax and financial issues. 

And it didn’t go unnoticed: Lettuce’s product secured $6 million in seed funding led by Zeev Ventures, garnered coverage in Business Insider and other media outlets. And, later that year, the company raised a $15 million Series A round.

Lettuce’s story underscores Harpaz’s original belief: when you combine a visionary idea with the right talent and execution strategy, a small team can accomplish mighty things– like making a substantial impact on an entire sector of the workforce.