Before I left I stood again in the entrance to take it in, like I might a majestic sunset. Again, I thought: “These guys must be good.” And that is what I thought for the next few weeks, each time I recalled the experience. It made an impression.
Then one day, for no apparent reason, I remembered an old TV commercial for, ironically, a different but also successful financial institution. The commercial went something like this:
A guy walks into a barber shop. Inside are two barbers – one with a good, modern cut; the other with a truly awful barber boo-boo. Naturally, the customer gravitates to the barber with the good cut, as would I and, I suspect, as would you.
The commercial then cuts to the customer after he’s had his hair cut. It is as bad a hash job as the other barber had. The penny drops: these two barbers cut each others’ hair.
I considered the 10X offices. They are, deliberately, modest, because our primary purpose is to grow our customers’ money, not to spend it on ourselves. Make no mistake, we’re in business and we want to make money, but we want to do it fairly and by making money for our customers first. We believe that by charging less than 1% we can do better by our customers and still be profitable.
Then I considered the very impressive offices where I had visited my friend. I considered that the institution generally charges twice as much for its services as 10X does. And I thought: “Those guys paid for that building with their customers’ money.”
I thought about the guy in the commercial. And about how misleading first impressions can be.
Fees and the folly of first impressions
A few months ago, before I started working at 10X, I went to meet with a friend who works at a well known financial institution. The building where she works is impressive. The scale. The style. I stood in the vast entrance much longer than I needed to and marvelled at the place. “These guys must be good,” I thought.
