Gene Natali’s background in finance, as well as a need he saw to close gaps in financial literacy education, drove him to form Troutwood. The company, which was founded out of Carnegie Mellon University’s Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, offers an app for users where they can build a financial plan that is customized to their profession, location and goals. In addition to leading Troutwood, which currently employs 13 full-time, Natali’s background includes working in financial education for over 10 years and authoring a book, “The Missing Semester,” which provides a short course on making wise financial decisions.
What has been your biggest challenge getting your startup to where it is today?
All of it. The truth about entrepreneurship is that “the idea” is the easiest part. The rest is really hard. It takes knowledge, humility, patience, discipline, resources and incredible perseverance. Challenges include keeping our team focused on long-term objectives, tuning out the noise of our peers and competitors, working on tasks that we can control, aligning stakeholder interests, leaving egos at the door, turning yesterday’s mistake into today’s competitive advantage, hiring, communicating effectively and having the courage to keep pushing forward at every setback.
How can Pittsburgh better serve its startup community?
There is nowhere in the world better positioned for what we are building at Troutwood. The city has strong bones in finance, technology and education. Early in the Troutwood journey, Jay Katarincic, managing director at Draper Triangle Ventures and partner at Magarac Venture Partners, shared a quote: “Great people make great products. Great products make great companies.” Great regions, like Pittsburgh, make this combination possible. Thanks to the hard work of many folks over the past many decades, our city is as well-positioned, if not better, than any city in the world.
Join us at The Assembly in Bloomfield on Sept. 20 to honor our Fire Awards recipients and celebrate innovation, resilience and the spirit of entrepreneurship.
