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The first version of our financial app forced customers to fax a signup form in 2018.
It worked.
That experience taught me a lesson every founder eventually learns the hard way: early traction matters more than elegant systems. If you are waiting to build something polished before testing demand, you are probably waiting too long.
This is the story of how an “ugly” MVP helped us validate trust, surface real customer behavior, and avoid the most common mistake that stalls early-stage companies—overbuilding before the market says yes.
When faxing was a feature
When we launched UNest’s first savings and investment app for young families, the experience was designed to feel modern and effortless. Parents could upload a photo of their child, tap a few buttons, and see how $25 a month might grow into $100,000 by age 18. Opening a 529 custodial account suddenly felt as easy as ordering takeout.
Behind the scenes, in 2018, the only way to actually open that 529 account through the registered financial advisor was by faxing a PDF to a US state. When the first fax successfully went through, we celebrated like we’d just closed a Series A. A few days later, the provider called: “We no longer accept faxes. Please send everything by snail mail.”
It felt absurd and fragile. In hindsight, it was exactly the right way to start. Building a proof of concept without significant investment forced us to focus on what mattered most: validating demand before scaling infrastructure.
How the best startups begin small
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