Finwize Fintech · Financial modeling SaaS · 2023

How an MVP sprint helped a fintech SaaS get into a top accelerator.

Outcome Two prototypes, one survived, MVP shipped in weeks, accelerator-incubated, in beta. A repeat client we’d already shipped Lity with.
Finwize, fintech SaaS for financial modeling

Imagine building a venture-grade financial model without ever opening Excel.

Finwize is a fintech SaaS for financial modeling, it turns the intimidating spreadsheet into a visual planning tool a non-financial founder can actually use. The team behind it had already shipped Lity with us; when the new bet hit the table, they came back. Same studio, same dedicated designer, no ramp-up.

01Repeat client, zero ramp-up. The designer they’d worked with on Lity was reassigned to the new product. First sprint shipped in week one.
02Two parallel prototypes. Strategy Modeling vs. Financial Modeling, each with its own landing page, presented to stakeholders. Feedback picked the winner.
03MVP in weeks, not quarters. Multiple syncs daily with the founders and dev team. The MVP had to stand in front of investors and accelerator selection committees.
★★★★★
Denovers revamped our app’s UX/UI design, which increased our 30-day retention by 11% and reduced the drop-off percentage from 51% to 14%. They had seamless project management and a proactive approach.
Alexander Back
Alexander Back Managing Director · Finwize · repeat client from Lity
Client Repeat Same client, second product. The team we shipped Lity with came back to Denovers for the Finwize MVP.
Continuity Same designer Zero ramp-up. The designer they already knew was reassigned. No re-onboarding, no domain relearning.
Pacing Weeks MVP shipped. From blank canvas to a fully functional product the team could put in front of investors.
Outcome Accelerator Incubated · in beta. The team was accepted into a top accelerator program; early adoption is underway.
The story

Repeat client, same designer, MVP shipped in weeks and accelerator-incubated.

Finwize is a fintech SaaS for financial modeling and business-strategy planning, built for pre-seed and seed-stage founders who need investor-ready numbers without opening Excel. The team behind it had already shipped Lity with us. When the new bet hit the table, they came back to the same studio, the same dedicated designer, no ramp-up. The first sprint started shipping in week one.

The founders held two product directions in their head, Strategy Modeling and Financial Modeling, so we built rapid prototypes of both, each with its own landing page, and let stakeholder feedback pick the winner. The team chose Financial Modeling. From there we landed on a Parent and Child Subnode vocabulary across three switchable view modes (Kanban, List, Tree Flow), wired a Formula Builder that links node dependencies to live financial data, and shipped a Dashboard that recalculates the moment any number changes, so the founder can adjust a model in front of a VC and watch the impact propagate in real time.

ClientFinwize · fintech SaaS · repeat client (Lity)
RegionUS · accelerator-incubated
DurationMVP in weeks · daily syncs
StatusIn beta · early adoption
Chapter 01

Two prototypes. Stakeholder feedback picked the winner.

Rather than argue over two product directions in the abstract, we built rapid prototypes of both. Strategy Modeling and Financial Modeling, each with its own landing page, and presented them to stakeholders. The team chose Financial Modeling. The Strategy prototype shaped the visual planning vocabulary that survived into the final product (Kanban / List / Tree Flow views); the Financial prototype became the MVP’s core value engine.

app.finwize.app/business-model/all
Finwize Business Model · All View, composite view of nodes and subnodes that turns business strategy into a visual planning canvas
Business Model All View · nodes + subnodes · visual planning canvas The surface every flow returns to
Chapter 02

Three views for three brains: Kanban, List, Tree Flow.

Founders don’t plan the same way, some think in boards, some in lists, some in hierarchies. The Parent & Child Subnode vocabulary lets users switch the same business model between Kanban, List, and Tree Flow without losing data. A right-side control panel handles live edits across all three.

app.finwize.app/business-model/kanban
Finwize Business Model · Kanban view, visual board-style layout with parent and child subnodes for strategic planning
Kanban view Board-style nodes · parent + child subnodes · right-side control panel For visual planners
app.finwize.app/business-model/list
Finwize Business Model · List view, clean itemized layout for users who plan in lists
List view Clean itemized layout · same data, different brain For list thinkers
app.finwize.app/business-model/treeflow
Finwize Business Model · Tree Flow view, hierarchical map of strategies and sub-strategies, parent-child relationships visualized as a flow tree
Tree Flow view Hierarchical map · strategies and sub-strategies as a flow tree For systems thinkers
Chapter 03

Formula Builder: Excel’s power, without Excel’s pain.

The Formula Builder turns every node into a live financial calculation, spend, salaries, and impact calculated from node dependencies, with templates doing the heavy math. A non-financial founder composes business logic in the Business Model views; the Builder propagates the impact across dashboards and reports the moment any number changes.

app.finwize.app/formula-builder
Finwize Formula Builder, interactive panel that links node dependencies to financial calculations, templated formulas for spend, salaries, and live impact
Formula Builder Templates · node dependencies · live recalc across dashboards Excel without Excel
Chapter 04

Dashboard, Financials, Goals, the investor-ready view.

The Dashboard auto-reflects nodes from the Business Model in customizable widgets, with real-time KPIs in charts and graphs. The Financials section ripples backend edits across the platform live. The Goals module lets teams plan goals, subgoals, and tasks across Board, List, Chart, and Calendar views, whichever rhythm matches the work.

app.finwize.app/dashboard
Finwize Dashboard, customizable widgets that auto-reflect business model nodes, real-time KPI tracking with charts and graphs
Dashboard Customizable widgets · auto-fed by Business Model · real-time KPIs Investor-ready
app.finwize.app/financials
Finwize Financials, backend financial data view, edits ripple across the platform in real time
Financials Backend data view · edits ripple across the platform live Live
app.finwize.app/goals/board
Finwize Goals · Board view, collaborative goals, subgoals and tasks visualized on a board
Goals · Board Collaborative goals + subgoals + tasks · lightweight reporting Team rhythm
app.finwize.app/goals/charts
Finwize Goals · Charts view, progress visualized as charts for at-a-glance reporting
Goals · Charts Progress visualized · lightweight reporting feature At a glance
Outcome · accelerator-incubated · in beta

From blank canvas to accelerator-incubated.

Within weeks, the team had a fully functional MVP ready to present to investors and accelerator selection committees, and got incubated into a top program. The product is in beta today, with early adoption underway and a strong design foundation for the next round.

Book a free sprint
Pilot week · on us

Pre-seed founder building toward an investor demo? Start with the same free week we ran for Finwize.

Five working days, a senior product designer on the surface that matters most for your demo. If it doesn’t click, keep every file we ship.

  • Capped at 4 sprints / month
  • No card · NDA on request
Next case study → Case 10 · Lity · 2022

UX redesign that cut drop-off 51% → 14% and lifted retention 11%.

German EV-adoption mobile app. The prior engagement with the same client, verified Clutch 5.0 from Alexander Back. The work that earned the repeat.

51% → 14% Drop-off cut
+11% 30-day retention
EV adoption · Mobile UX Read →