Our Idea Finally Has A Homepage
Things are getting serious. A reflection on our website launch, and what comes next.
We recently launched our website on July 11, 2026. If we could describe the experience in just a few words, we would. Unfortunately, we can’t.
As a result, we wanted to dedicate a post to documenting this milestone while sharing some thoughts about what comes next. So far, things are progressing as planned: we expect to launch our first prototype in ~1 month. Nevertheless, we’ve got some pressing matters on our plate.
How certain are we that we will meet the deadline? Not certain at all.
Do we believe we can do it? Yes, as much as Rocky believed in round 14.
Thankfully, unlike Rocky, the punches we are taking to the chin are purely metaphorical.1 Our research tool is currently moving through the final stages of the engineering process, and all that remains is to design a stellar UX for our initial users. The ‘punches’ more so stem from the development of the portfolio optimization tool.
Development has been challenging for several reasons, mainly stemming from the fact that there are few precedents to go off of, and that the work is purely foundational. There are no plug-ins or shortcuts we can use, but perhaps that’s why it feels promising. Indeed, some of our early conversations with potential users have demonstrated that there is a massive need for this tool in the market. What more motivation could we need?
Moving forward
Over the next month, our focus will be on completing these tools and beginning to design the processes for how people will interact with them on the Arbor terminal. This stage is especially crucial because the experience itself will determine whether we can deliver on the promises we have made, namely:
To create the investing tool you have always wanted.
It’s a strong statement, we know. Nevertheless, we aim to deliver on nothing short of this.2 Arbor aspires to make investment research accessible and free of technical jargon, fragmented opinions, or unnecessarily complex interfaces. Furthermore, we aim to instill discipline in retail investors by helping them think about what comes after clicking “buy”. A great thesis is incomplete without an even better exit strategy.
Arbor’s first voyage
At some point, Arbor had to leave the whiteboard and encounter the conditions it was being designed for. Otto Neurath compared progress to sailors rebuilding their ship while already at sea, where every change must contend with the surrounding water.3 We set out to sea with a similar philosophy. In our opinion, launching the website first was a far lower stakes way to get used to the pressures we will encounter when the product itself launches.
There were a few reasons behind our ultimate decision, and we wanted to outline our thought process for you:
First and foremost, we want people like you to hear about Arbor and give us as much feedback as possible. The earlier we receive feedback, the faster we can iterate and shape the product around your needs. Ideas begin alone, but products require people to flourish.
To gather that input, we built a short survey into the website. Surveys, admittedly, are not enjoying a cultural renaissance. So we tried to make ours less of a chore and more relevant to you as an individual. Based on your investing experience, the survey adapts to ask about the habits, priorities, and concerns most relevant to you. The cherry on top? It takes just 3–4 minutes to complete.
Finally, we launched the site so Arbor could begin meeting the people we hope to build it for. It’s an early glimpse of the experience we’re creating and a way for you to meet the people behind it. We want to set a standard for the quality we aim to deliver and invite you to help shape what comes next.
No instructions? That’s just fine
We understand the problem we want to solve. The exact path forward will require experimentation, feedback, and most likely a few misplaced pieces. Fortunately, that is exactly what we signed up for when we set out to build Arbor.
We appreciate you being along for the journey and can’t wait to show you what we’ve built very soon.
Team @ Arbor
And we haven’t made it any easier for ourselves seeing that it’s plastered on the homepage. Since you’ve scrolled down here already, have a look!