About me
👋, I’m Jared.
I used to work at Stripe, Blispay, PayPal, Costanoa Ventures and a few other places. I love learning and trying to be part of meaningful companies.
I am spending a few months building with AI before finding my next role. So far...
- LabLookup.com: simplifying laboratory test collection requirements. Lab rejections cost $40–$350 each to recollect and reprocess.
- AppealSeason.com: helping homeowners identify and appeal overassessed property taxes. 40%+ of U.S. homes may be overassessed, yet few owners ever appeal.
- UnderstandMyRating.com: turning dense VA disability rating letters into plain language. ~6M veterans hold a rating worth up to $3,939/month tax-free, but the decision lands as codes and math almost no one can follow.
- UnderstandMyCert.com: guiding small businesses through diverse-owned certifications (veteran, women, minority-owned) that unlock government and corporate contracts. Consultants traditionally charge $2,000–$5,000 per application.
- UnderstandMyPolicy.com: turning 50+ pages of insurance legalese into clear answers. Most people never learn their real hurricane deductible (often 2–5% of home value) until they're mid-claim.
- TruckCompliant.com: a dashboard for every DOT deadline an owner-operator has to hit. New carriers face a mandatory safety audit in year one, and a missed filing can mean fines, out-of-service orders, or revoked authority.
- NoticeOfChange.com: turning the benefits notices an aging parent receives into clear deadlines. Every fall Medicare mails a dense Annual Notice of Change, and a missed window can quietly raise a parent's drug costs by thousands.
- HOAcompliant.com (coming shortly): helping homeowners and HOA boards stay ahead of association deadlines. Missed filings, lapsed insurance, or blown reserve-study timelines can trigger fines, special assessments, or personal liability for board members.
You can reach me on LinkedIn or Twitter @jsfranklin221.
I live in S. Florida with my wife and 4 adorable dogs, Capri, Basil, Tofu and Moana.
I’m an ISTJ (borderline INTJ) who values my wife, dogs, health, independent thinking, authenticity, self-awareness, pragmatism, judgment, progress, intellectual honesty, and curiosity.
Here are some of my Favorites
Books
| Product Management | Inspired | highlights | podcast |
| Business | Built to Last | highlights |
| Business | The Age of the Platform | highlights |
| Business | Grinding it Out | highlights |
| Personal Finance | Stop Acting Rich | highlights |
| Personal Finance | I’ll teach you to be rich | |
| Personal Finance | Stay the course | Highlights 1, 2 |
| Personal Finance | Millennial Money | highlights |
| Personal Finance | The Millionaire Next Door | |
| Investing | The Intelligent Investor | highlights |
| Investing | Mastering the Market Cycles | highlights |
| Investing | The Four Pillars of Investing | highlights |
| Investing | The Elements of Investing | highlights |
| Investing | A Random Walk Down Wall Street | highlights |
| Investing | The Little Book of Stock Market Cycles | highlights |
Blogs, Posts, Memos, Vids, and Emails
Long overdue for an update...
| Product Management | Blog: SVPG Silicon Valley Product Group * Product Management – Start Here * Product Success * Behind Every Great Product * Good Product Team / Bad Product Team * The Product Manager Contribution * The Four Big Risks |
| Product Management | Post: Crossing the Canyon: Product Manager to Product Leader |
| Product Management | Post: Product Work Beyond Product-Market Fit |
| Product Management | Post: Good Product Manager / Bad Product Manager |
| Product Management | Blog: Black Box of PM * PM Mental Models |
| Product Management | Shreyas Doshi: * n+ Tweet threads * How to Improve your Product Sense |
| Product Management | Anthony Cintron Series: * Responsibilities of a Product Strategists * Responsibilities of a Product Manager |
| Product Management | Mini Thangaswamy (Braintree PM): What it Takes to Succeed as a Payments PM. * Podcast * YouTube vid * Slideshare |
| Product Management | Blog: Jackie Bavaro * How to Hire Great Product Managers Part 1, 2, and 3 |
| Product Management | Blog: Adam Nash |
| Product Management | Blog: Ken Norton |
| Product Management | Blog: Sachin Rekhi |
| Product Management | Resources: The Ultimate Product Management Guide |
| Business | Blog: Bill Gurley |
| Business | Blog: a16z |
| Business | Blog: Benedict Evans Essays and Presentations |
| Business | Essays: Paul Graham Essays |
| Business | Memo: Sequoia’s Investment Memo on YouTube |
| Business | Memo: Brad Garlinghouse Yahoo Peanut Butter Manifesto |
| Business | Memo: Slacks Stewart Butterfield We Don’t Sell Saddles Here |
| Business | Email: Howard Schultz The Commoditization of the Starbucks Experience |
| Business | Letters: Amazon Shareholder Letters |
| Personal Finance | Blog: The Irrelevant Investor |
| Personal Finance | Blog: A Wealth of Common Sense |
| Personal Finance | Blog: Of Dollars and Data |
| Markets & Investing | Essays: Eric Peters One River Asset Management Weekend Notes |
| Markets & Investing | Research: Vanguard Research |
| Markets & Investing | Research: Federal Research Economic Data |
| Markets & Investing | Blog & Letters: Eric Cinnamond of Palm Valley Capital |
| Markets & Investing | Letters: wknd notes by Eric Peters of One River |
| Markets & Investing | Letters: Howard Marks / Oaktree Memos |
| Markets & Investing | Letters: Alta Fox Capital |
| Markets & Investing | Blog & Letters: Crescat Capital |
| Markets & Investing | Letters: Hedge Fund Letters |
Podcasts
- Animal Spirits
- Acquired
- Business Breakdowns
- Invest Like the Best
- Masters in Business
- Capital Allocators
- The Twenty Minute VC
- a16z
- Venture Stories
- The Drive
Companies
Movies & TV
Activities
- Walking
- Working out
- Working
- Dog daddying
- Husbanding
Quotes/Mantras
- Luck favors the persistent & relentless.
- It could always be worse.
- Whatever the fuck it takes.
- All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. Ralph Waldo Emerson
- If your plan is clear, it will be easier for you to stay on plan. Malkiel, Ellis
- Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. Einstein
People
Tweet Threads
- Mine with 100+ Personal Finance tips and recommendations
- Kevin Dahlstrom on Stepping off the hamster wheel
- Jason Evanish on Product Management
- Tom Redman on Product Manager decision making
- Shreyas Doshi on Product Management Career Skills Map
- Shreyas Doshi on Product Management Career Management
Startup Investing
I'm a very tiny angel investor, targeting 1-2 per year. Reach out if you think I could be an asset to your startup. Regardless, I can put you in touch with The Fintech Fund and other great investors where it makes sense.
Below are some investments that I've made directly or through syndicates:
Professionally, as a venture capital investor, I sourced and helped lead the seed round for Tensec and Definite.