How Lettuce Is Using AI to Make Finance Easy for Solopreneurs

Simplifying the financial landscape for independent workers

Imagine you are one of the 5 million Americans who are working freelance and making more than $100K: Would you form an LLC or an S Corp? What impact would that have on your largest expense, your taxes? If you’re like many freelancers, you might find yourself so overwhelmed by the question that you do neither—and end up paying way more taxes as a result.

Ran Harpaz wanted to build a product that would be able to provide the right solution based on your unique situation—and then handle all the work with AI.

That’s the vision for Lettuce, an end-to-end platform that would take on all the soul-crushing aspects of navigating an outdated tax system, the drudgery of back office work, and basically everything an accountant does.

The only challenge: They wanted to launch in six months. From scratch. The platform hadn’t been built yet.

A platform built by solopreneurs, for solopreneurs

Harpaz sought the expertise of A.Team, assembling a dynamic group of product leaders, designers, and developers. 

“We are building a company by solos for solos. So we thought: Let's go to a place where those people congregate,” said Harpaz, referring to A.Team’s community of 9,000 elite freelance product builders “Let's find the best ones and bring them in so they can build a solution from their own personal experience.”

Lettuce’s A.Team was tasked with building a platform that not only automates tax filing and legal entity setup but also integrates seamlessly with third-party banking and financial services, offering a one-stop solution for freelancers and solopreneurs.  And then, with finding the right paid media channels to efficiently go to market.

“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's product managers played a pivotal role in defining and building the MVP within a tight six-month timeframe. The collaborative effort resulted in a user-friendly interface, enabling hassle-free management of financial and legal tasks.

“I've looked at many solutions across the years—Freelancer platforms, direct contractors and everything onshore and offshore,” Harpaz said. “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.”

Redefining financial management for the freelance economy

In a remarkable six-month span, A.Team helped Lettuce go from ground zero to a minimum viable product. Within just two months of launching, Lettuce witnessed great traction in user adoption, surpassing initial customer acquisition targets, and fostered partnerships to amplify their reach and impact.

The launch of Lettuce’s platform is a milestone in the shift we’re seeing in the fintech industry towards providing freelance workers with the tools they need to thrive. CPAs are expensive and DIY tax tools don’t ultimately provide the level of comprehensive back-office service that consultants, creators, and coaches—among other solopreneurs—actually need. That’s where Lettuce comes in.

A.Team and Lettuce are partnering to provide product builders in the A.Team network with these invaluable services—as covered in Business Insider.

In early March, Lettuce announced $6 million in seed funding led by Zeev Ventures. Feedback from the market has been overwhelmingly positive, with users from diverse professions expressing relief at finding a solution that caters to their financial management needs.