Welcome to Pulse Labs
One small team, several sharp tools. The register of experiments so far: Pulse, SaaS X-Ray, and ROAST, plus the rule every tool has to pass before it ships.
Product UpdatesAug 9, 20264 min read
Insights on markets, money, and making sense of it all
Deep dives, analysis, and perspectives on investing, personal finance, and the tools that help you stay informed.
Your Raise Is Losing to the Grocery Store
Wages rose 3.5% this year. Prices rose 3.5%. That is a full year of running to stand still. Why cutting lattes cannot fix a real-wage problem, and the four moves that actually work.
Economy, Personal FinanceAug 2, 20266 min read
Am I Too Concentrated?
Your company stock made you money. Somewhere along the way it became most of your money. How to tell when a winning position has quietly become a risk, and what to do about it without panic.
Investing, Personal FinanceJul 23, 20266 min read
Your Credit Score Is a Rear-View Mirror
Your FICO score can't see your salary, your rent, or your savings. Here's how cash-flow underwriting changed lending, and how the Pulse Score turns the same idea into a habit coach.
Personal Finance, Product UpdatesJul 5, 20268 min read
The Income Gap Didn't Happen by Accident
America used to have a thriving middle class. Then a series of very specific policy decisions changed everything. Here's what happened, why your zip code matters more than your salary, and how to find out where you actually stand.
Economy, EducationFeb 14, 20269 min read
Compounding Beyond the Portfolio
Compound interest is powerful. But compounding applies to far more than money. Mental models, skills, and relationships all follow the same formula: dogged incremental progress over time.
Education, InvestingJan 18, 20265 min read
Back to Basics: Emergency Funds
Before you invest a single dollar, you need a cushion. The third post in our Back to Basics series explains why boring cash might be the smartest money you ever save.
Education, InvestingJan 17, 20263 min read
The Laws That Protect You From Getting Spammed
You filled out one form. Now your phone won't stop ringing. Here's what the law actually says about lead generation, consent farms, and your right to be left alone.
Education, Personal FinanceJan 15, 20265 min read
Back to Basics: Index Funds
Stop trying to find the needle. Just buy the haystack. The second post in our Back to Basics series explains the simplest, most powerful investment most people overlook.
Education, InvestingJan 14, 20262 min read
The Hard Problem of Money
Silicon Valley keeps trying to automate financial advice. The math isn't the part that's hard.
Education, Personal FinanceJan 12, 20269 min read
Back to Basics: Compound Interest
Your money makes money. Then that money makes money. The first post in our Back to Basics series breaks down the most powerful force in personal finance.
Education, InvestingJan 9, 20262 min read
The Latte Factor Wasn't Wrong. We Just Took It Too Literally.
David Bach's idea was never really about coffee. In 2026, it's more relevant than ever.
Personal FinanceJan 7, 20264 min read
The Singularity Ate Your Moat. Now What?
When anyone can build your product in a weekend, what's actually defensible? The answer might surprise you.
Investing, TechnologyJan 6, 20265 min read
Where to Find Quality Investment Research
Professional investment research can be expensive. But access has never been more democratized. Here are the best free and low-cost resources.
Education, InvestingJan 5, 20266 min read
Why 2026 Feels Like the Year of AI Agent Architecture
AI agents aren't just prototypes anymore. Engineers are figuring out how to actually build, deploy, and maintain them. Here's what the stack looks like.
Machine Learning, TechnologyJan 4, 20266 min read
You Can Rehearse a Lot. Just Not Life.
The Rehearsal exposes why we try so hard to plan for a future that refuses to cooperate. Personal finance is full of rehearsals too.
Personal FinanceJan 3, 20264 min read
Everyone in Finance Sounds the Same. They're Not.
Most people have the same confusion: personal finance jobs all look identical from the outside, while being wildly different underneath.
Education, InvestingJan 2, 20263 min read
A Narrow Definition of Financial Progress
In 2026, financial progress will not look like a breakthrough for most people. It will look like relief.
Personal FinanceJan 1, 20262 min read
On Financial Indecision
Indecision is not the absence of action. It is a state where action continues without commitment. Money keeps moving. Accounts remain open. Risks remain unpriced. Defaults quietly take over.
Investing, Personal FinanceDec 31, 20253 min read
Pulse Books: 5 Books to Better Understand Money
From Morgan Housel's newest release to timeless wisdom on wealth and happiness, these books will change how you think about money.
Education, Personal FinanceDec 30, 20255 min read
Nobody Taught Them
Netflix's How to Get Rich shows people drowning in debt and caught in financial cycles they can't break. The reactions online are consistent: viewers see themselves. These aren't failures of intelligence. They're gaps in education.
Education, Personal FinanceDec 29, 20253 min read
The Rational Gambler
When the traditional path to wealth accumulation closes, people stop being patient. They start placing bets. And the platforms taking the rake are the real play.
Economy, InvestingDec 28, 20255 min read
The Magnitude 9 Earthquake in Your Career and Your Portfolio
Andrej Karpathy just dropped a truth bomb about the seismic shift in programming. The question nobody is asking: what does this mean for your personal finances?
Personal Finance, TechnologyDec 27, 20253 min read
The Post That Launched a Million Retirements
In 2012, a retired software engineer published a blog post with a simple chart. It showed that your savings rate, not your income, determines when you can stop working. That single insight sparked the modern FIRE movement and changed how millions think about wealth, work, and freedom.
Investing, Personal FinanceDec 26, 20258 min read
What Gets Lost When Life Changes
Enterprise software has systems of record. Your financial life doesn't. Here's why that matters most when money is in motion.
Personal FinanceDec 25, 202511 min read
Real-World Machine Learning: How Top Companies Ship AI to Production
From fraud detection at Stripe to arrival predictions at Uber: a deep dive into the ML systems powering the world's best products, and what we've learned building our own.
EngineeringDec 24, 20259 min read
The Year Money Changed: Personal Finance in 2025
Klarna and Chime went public. AI agents started executing trades. Stablecoins crossed $1 trillion in monthly volume. Inside the year that transformed personal finance from promise to infrastructure.
Investing, MarketsDec 24, 202512 min read
Is AI a Bubble? Lessons from Howard Marks' Latest Memo
Howard Marks' latest memo examines whether AI represents a dangerous bubble or a transformative opportunity. His framework for thinking about market exuberance—and his concerns about debt financing—offer crucial perspective for every investor.
Investing, MarketsDec 23, 20257 min read
Your Path to Financial Freedom: Introducing the Pulse FIRE Calculator
Run 1,000 Monte Carlo simulations to find your FIRE number. Five interactive charts, personalized insights, and the clarity you need to plan your path to financial independence.
Personal Finance, Product UpdatesDec 22, 20257 min read
Budgeting Is Solved. Here's What Isn't.
Mint, YNAB, Copilot, Monarch: tracking your money is a solved problem. But the real challenges sit above and between these tools, where intent, timing, trust, and action break down.
Personal FinanceDec 21, 20255 min read
Free Financial Planning Tools: Retirement Calculator & Investment Education Hub
We believe everyone deserves access to quality financial planning tools. Today we are excited to introduce two completely free resources: our Retirement Calculator and Investment Education Hub.
Personal Finance, Product UpdatesDec 20, 20253 min read
The $80 Trillion Wealth Transfer: Who's Building the Tools to Capture It
The largest intergenerational wealth transfer in history is underway. Here's how the competition for next-gen investors is reshaping wealth management technology.
Investing, TechnologyDec 20, 20255 min read