inDinero doing things that don't scale

In the world of startups, pivoting is often necessary for survival. But few pivots are as dramatic or require as much personal transformation as the one Jessica Mah undertook to save inDinero. What began as a flashy tech startup offering software for small business financial tracking transformed into a full-service accounting firm—with the founder herself diving headfirst into becoming a financial services expert. This is the story of how inDinero survived near-failure by doing something that absolutely didn’t scale: its founder becoming a CPA to provide accounting services directly to clients.

The Promising Beginning

Jessica Mah was just 19 years old and still a computer science student at UC Berkeley when she co-founded inDinero in 2010 with her business partner, Andy Su. The initial concept was straightforward: create a “Mint.com for businesses”—a self-service tool that would help small businesses track their finances and gain better insights into their operations.

The startup had all the markers of early success. It was accepted into Y Combinator, one of Silicon Valley’s most prestigious startup accelerators. It secured $1.2 million in seed funding. Tech publications were eager to cover the young founder’s journey. The future looked bright for inDinero as it set out to disrupt how small businesses managed their finances.

The company’s initial product was a dashboard that aggregated financial data from various sources, providing business owners with visualizations and insights about their financial health. It was a pure software play—a scalable solution that, if successful, could serve thousands of businesses with minimal human intervention. This was exactly the kind of business model that venture capitalists love: high margins, low operational costs, and the potential for exponential growth.

The Harsh Reality Check

But by 2012, just two years after its founding, inDinero was on the brink of failure. The software wasn’t gaining traction, and the company was quickly running out of money. As Mah would later admit, “What we first did didn’t really work out. We thought we would bring personal finance tools to businesses to help them have better insights on what’s going on, but it was really hard to build a viable product.”

The fundamental problem was a misunderstanding of what customers actually needed. Mah and her team had built a product based on what they thought small businesses wanted—better financial insights—but they had missed what these businesses truly needed: someone to handle the accounting and tax work they didn’t want to do themselves.

“People just don’t need that,” Mah reflected on their initial product offering. “They need their accounting done; they need their taxes done.”

This realization came at a critical moment. With only about two months of cash left in the bank, inDinero had already begun laying off employees. The company that had started with such promise was facing the same fate as countless other failed startups.

The Unscalable Pivot

Most founders in this situation might have shut down the company and moved on to their next venture. But Mah and Su made a remarkable decision: they would completely reinvent inDinero as a full-service accounting firm that would not only provide software but actually do the accounting and tax work for their clients.

This was a dramatic departure from their original vision. Instead of building a scalable software product that could serve thousands of customers with a small team, they were now entering a service business that would require hiring accountants, tax professionals, and other financial experts. It was the opposite of the lean, high-margin tech startup they had set out to build.

What made this pivot even more extraordinary was Mah’s personal commitment to the new direction. Despite having no formal background in accounting or finance—she was a computer scientist by training—Mah decided to become deeply knowledgeable about accounting and tax services herself. She would later work toward becoming a CPA (Certified Public Accountant), an intensive process requiring extensive study, practical experience, and passing a notoriously difficult exam.

This was the epitome of doing things that don’t scale. The CEO of a venture-backed startup spending hundreds of hours studying accounting principles and tax regulations is not a scalable use of time. But for inDinero at this critical juncture, it was exactly what the company needed.

The Manual Outreach Campaign

With their new business model defined, Mah needed to quickly find clients for inDinero’s accounting services. Rather than investing in marketing campaigns or sales teams—resources they didn’t have—Mah took the most direct and unscalable approach possible: she personally reached out to everyone she knew.

“I just went through my phonebook. I went through my Facebook, my LinkedIn, and I started selling the new inDinero to them to see if it clicked with them,” Mah recalled. “And thank god that it did because otherwise we’d be out of luck.”

This manual, one-by-one approach to customer acquisition is the antithesis of how tech startups typically operate. Instead of building viral growth mechanisms or optimizing conversion funnels, Mah was having individual conversations with potential clients, explaining the new inDinero and convincing them to give it a try.

The personal touch worked. Clients began signing up for inDinero’s accounting services, providing the company with the recurring revenue it desperately needed to survive. By July 2012, just months after the pivot, inDinero was able to start hiring again to support its new business model.

Building the Service Infrastructure

As inDinero transitioned from a software company to a service provider, Mah and her team faced the challenge of building an entirely new operational infrastructure. They needed to hire accountants and tax professionals, develop workflows for client onboarding and service delivery, and create systems for quality control and oversight.

This was a far cry from the software development processes they were familiar with. Instead of writing code and deploying updates, they were now interviewing accountants, designing service packages, and establishing client communication protocols.

Mah approached this challenge with the same hands-on attitude that characterized the entire pivot. She immersed herself in learning about accounting firm operations, studying how traditional firms worked and identifying opportunities for improvement. She wasn’t content to simply hire experienced managers from the accounting world and let them run things; she wanted to understand the business from the ground up.

This deep involvement in building the service infrastructure was another example of doing things that don’t scale. Most startup CEOs would delegate the operational details to specialists, focusing instead on high-level strategy and fundraising. But Mah recognized that the success of the new inDinero depended on getting these details right, and she was willing to do whatever it took to make that happen.

The Technology Advantage

Despite the pivot to a service model, inDinero didn’t abandon its technology roots. Instead, the company leveraged its software development capabilities to create tools that would enhance its accounting services and differentiate it from traditional accounting firms.

This hybrid approach—combining high-touch services with proprietary technology—became inDinero’s competitive advantage. While traditional accounting firms were slow to adopt new technologies, and pure software companies couldn’t provide the personalized service that clients needed, inDinero occupied a unique middle ground.

The company developed software to automate routine accounting tasks, streamline client communication, and provide real-time financial insights. These tools made inDinero’s accountants more efficient and improved the client experience, allowing the company to offer higher-quality services at competitive prices.

This technology development was guided by Mah’s growing expertise in accounting and tax services. Her unusual combination of skills—computer science knowledge and accounting expertise—allowed her to identify opportunities for automation and innovation that others might have missed.

Scaling Up After the Unscalable Phase

By 2015, three years after its dramatic pivot, inDinero had grown to about 100 employees and was serving hundreds of clients. The company had not only survived but was thriving, with offices in San Francisco, Portland, New York, and the Philippines.

This growth was made possible by the foundation laid during the unscalable phase of the company’s rebirth. Mah’s personal involvement in developing the service model, her direct outreach to early clients, and her commitment to learning the accounting business had created a solid platform for expansion.

As the company grew, it was able to introduce more scalable processes. Client acquisition shifted from Mah’s personal network to more systematic sales and marketing efforts. Service delivery became more standardized, with clear workflows and quality control measures. The proprietary software continued to evolve, automating more tasks and improving efficiency.

But even as inDinero scaled, it maintained the customer-centric approach that had emerged during the pivot. Mah understood from her personal interactions with early clients that what businesses really wanted wasn’t just accounting software or even just accounting services—they wanted a partner who could help them run their businesses better.

“These bookkeepers aren’t helping these companies know more about their business and manage a better business,” Mah explained. “So, inDinero, we can do accounting and tax, but really, the goal is we want to be their business management solution. At the end of the day, how do you help them run a better company?”

The Long-Term Vision

By 2016, inDinero had about 200 employees and was continuing to grow. Mah’s vision for the company had expanded beyond just providing accounting and tax services. She saw inDinero as potentially becoming “the Amazon for business services,” a one-stop shop for all the back-office needs of small and medium-sized businesses.

This long-term thinking was a stark contrast to what Mah called “the short-term Silicon Valley thinking of just getting liquidity in a few years.” Instead of focusing on a quick exit, she was building a company for the long haul.

“I also think a lot more now about where inDinero can be in 10, 20, or even 30 years from now,” Mah said in a 2016 interview. “What happened to long-term vision? We want to provide the value of a CFO and COO to every small business in the world, and all of that starts with doing accounting and taxes. This is our Trojan horse for being able to offer other value-added services to businesses.”

This patient, long-term approach was yet another way in which inDinero defied the typical startup playbook. Rather than pursuing rapid growth at all costs, Mah was building a sustainable business that could deliver value to clients for decades to come.

Lessons for Entrepreneurs

inDinero’s journey from near-failure to success offers several valuable lessons for entrepreneurs:

1. Listen to what customers actually need, not what you think they want

inDinero’s initial product was based on assumptions about what small businesses wanted, but those assumptions proved incorrect. It was only when Mah and her team really listened to their customers that they discovered what these businesses truly needed: someone to handle their accounting and tax work for them.

2. Be willing to make dramatic pivots when necessary

The pivot from software company to accounting firm was a radical change that required rethinking every aspect of the business. But Mah and Su were willing to make this dramatic shift because they recognized it was their best chance for survival.

3. Do things that don’t scale to build a foundation for future growth

Mah’s personal outreach to potential clients, her deep involvement in building the service infrastructure, and her commitment to learning accounting and tax services were all unscalable activities. But these efforts created the foundation that later enabled inDinero to scale successfully.

4. Leverage your unique strengths, even after a pivot

Despite the pivot to a service model, inDinero continued to leverage its software development capabilities to create tools that enhanced its services. This hybrid approach became a key competitive advantage.

5. Think long-term rather than seeking quick wins

Instead of focusing on a quick exit, Mah built inDinero with a long-term vision in mind. This patient approach allowed the company to develop sustainable competitive advantages and build lasting relationships with clients.

The Legacy of inDinero’s Approach

Today, inDinero continues to operate as a successful accounting and tax services provider for small and medium-sized businesses. The company’s journey from a pure software play to a tech-enabled service business has influenced how many startups think about the relationship between technology and services.

The rise of “tech-enabled services” as a viable business model owes much to pioneers like inDinero who demonstrated that combining high-touch services with proprietary technology can create unique value for customers. This hybrid approach has become increasingly common across various industries, from healthcare to legal services to education.

But perhaps the most inspiring aspect of inDinero’s story is the personal transformation of its founder. Jessica Mah’s willingness to reinvent herself—from a computer science student to an accounting expert—exemplifies the adaptability and resilience that entrepreneurship demands. Her journey reminds us that sometimes the most unscalable thing a founder can do—completely immersing themselves in learning a new field—can be exactly what their company needs to survive and thrive.

In a startup ecosystem that often celebrates rapid growth and quick exits, inDinero stands as a testament to the power of patience, persistence, and the willingness to do whatever it takes—even things that don’t scale—to build a business that truly serves its customers’ needs.