From DCA to FIRE

I blew it. I made a classic tech founder mistake.

Now, after many discussions with @guillem_dev and hundreds of users (I literally had over 100 one-to-one chats), we’re fixing it by reframing the Deltabadger value proposition, even though, feature-wise, the service is still doing the same thing.

So, what happened?

When I started the service, the goal was simple: people around me kept asking about investing in Bitcoin. After years of recommending dollar-cost averaging to everyone, I developed a fantasy about building a tool that could automate the process and make my advice even more actionable.

I did it.

I got traction.

It worked.

Here is the mistake though: I built the tool that does X, and assumed people are here just for the feature. I knew they also kind of valued my support, the newsletter, and the community, but when I finally found a cofounder last year, with no hesitation, I shifted all my focus to just building.

The result? We spent half a year building great feature, and only a few people tried it.

I felt lost.

One of the greatest assets I’ve acquired is the good personal connection with a few hundreds of loyal users that I can reach out personally on Telegram and just ask. So, I did. This is what they said:

“How are you doing, man? New features? Cool. Can you post an article or a video of how to use it? My investing is simple now. I love how you stay close to the users. Keep building! I have three Bitcoin cycles till retirement, I should restart my bot soon… Community? I’m in!”

Ok, I clearly misunderstood my product.

I started to think about things that led me to Bitcoin in the first place. I recalled 2016, diving into the stock market, precious metals, real estate, and even alternative investments like collectible LEGO sets, only to realize that Bitcoin had the best investment thesis, and going all-in.

Old good days…

Here is the kicker: both the market, and my personal view have changed.

I stopped investing exclusively into Bitcoin. It’s here to stay, destined for steady growth over decades, but ideally, that growth will slow down. Ideally, because if Bitcoin shoots up too fast again, it probably means a disruption with side effects I’d rather not see.

I try not to bet on the apocalypse.

That said, sound investing still means to me a big allocation to Bitcoin. I’ll get into the reasons another time, but besides the “number going up,” one of the critical things is its low correlation with other asset classes.

If there’s one place where I diverge from typical FIRE/Boglehead advice, it’s in my belief that any portfolio that doesn’t allocate at least 5% (if not 20%) to Bitcoin is irresponsible.

So, here’s what happens now:

The new Deltabadger is transitioning from a DCA bot for crypto to a platform offering tools and a community for financial freedom seekers. We’re going beyond crypto, focusing on building and rebalancing permenent portfolios and embracing the FIRE movement.

Unlike other platforms, I don’t plan to exploit interest in flashy new assets. I’m much closer to the Bogleheads than I am to investing in meme coins. I see Bitcoin as a conservative macro asset now, and if you don’t have any in your long-term portfolio, you just live in the past.

If you check out the Portfolio Analyzer we added before summer, it helps create the kind of balanced portfolios I’m talking about. It will not provide much value for assets without history to analyze. In the community, we’ll dive into more specific strategies and tactics, which currently I completely underexplored.

I kept one leg in the traditional world of conservative investing and a second in the crazy crypto metaverse for too long. It got uncomfortable, so let’s bridge that gap.