It wasn\u2019t long after graduating from UConn that\u00a0Andi Duro \u201921 (ENG)\u00a0started to feel overwhelmed by financial anxiety. The New York City\u2013based computer science whiz had left a steady position at a consultancy to take a leap of faith as a freelancer. His days of dependable checks were gone; now he had big payouts followed by months of scraping by.<\/p>\n
Though budgeting apps were already widely used to link to users\u2019 bank accounts and provide net worth, they didn\u2019t answer the questions Duro was wrestling with: How did he compare to his peers? How much money should he be saving and investing? Was he doing all the right things for a 20-something? Was it a dumb idea to quit his job and bet on himself? He wondered if existing technology could be used to create a social network where people could have conversations that \u00adusually feel off-\u00adlimits, compare financial pictures, and see the stories behind the numbers.<\/p>\n
In December, Duro launched \u00adtwocents, a first-of-its-kind social media app that replaces your username with your verified net worth. In this pseudonymous environment structured similarly to X, Yik Yak, or Reddit, you might come across a user with seven figures in their username whose bio reads \u201cstartup founder\u201d or a user with a modest net worth who describes themselves as \u201cinto lentils lately.\u201d<\/p>\n