Hadley: Case Study

Hadley is a fintech startup on a mission to simplify saving for education by making 529 contributions as easy as sending a Venmo payment. Founded by  Yosh Miller, Hadley enables parents, family members, and friends to contribute to a child’s education savings in a user-friendly and social way—no complicated paperwork or siloed financial systems required.

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Technologies & Services User

Tech Stack:

  • Backend: Ruby on Rails (or comparable framework)
  • Frontend: React / React Native (for mobile)
  • Hosting & Deployment: Heroku / AWS


Third-Party Integrations:

  • Plaid: Securely connects users’ bank accounts
  • Stripe: Facilitates payments and transfers
  • Skyflow: Ensures data privacy and regulatory compliance


Services Provided:

Sprint Zero


Discovery & Prototyping

UI/UX Design

Web & Mobile Development

Product Management

Ongoing Support

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The Challenge

529 education savings plans are a critical tool for funding K–12 and higher education, but they’re notoriously cumbersome to set up and manage. Even after opening a plan, allowing others to contribute often involves cumbersome bank interactions and forms. As a first-time founder, Yosh wanted to build a platform that:

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Seamlessly linked any bank account to any 529 plan.

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Streamlined contributions so family and friends could easily chip in.

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Complied with financial regulations and offered robust data security.

Our Approach & Work

Sprint Zero

  • Research & Prototyping: We kicked off by mapping out user flows for contributors and plan owners. We also needed to understand how the 100+ 529 programs accept contributions and design a way to allow Hadley users to contribute to any of them seamlessly. Early prototypes focused on a “Venmo-like” simplicity, despite financial industry regulations that added complexity.


  • User Journeys & Technical Discovery: We explored how multiple back-end systems could talk to each other in a safe and compliant manner. This included investigating third-party APIs (like Plaid and Stripe) and data-privacy solutions.

Development

  • Agile Sprints: We ran weekly sprints, holding planning sessions, daily standups, and end-of-week demos to ensure full visibility and rapid iteration.


  • Financial Integrations: We utilized Plaid to securely connect bank accounts, Stripe to handle fund transfers, and Skyflow for data privacy and compliance.


  • Social Features: We built an intuitive interface that allowed users to invite friends and family to contribute to a child’s 529 plan, making the process as straightforward as sending a digital payment.

Ongoing Support & Iteration

  • Post-Launch Enhancements: We’ve continued to refine the user experience, adding features to guide users in choosing the right 529 plan and advising them on low-cost options.



  • Collaboration & Feedback Loop: Frequent check-ins with Yosh and the Hadley team help us evolve the app based on real-world usage and user feedback.

The Results

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New Technology Pipeline


Hadley now has the “pipes” to connect any bank account to any 529 plan—technology that didn’t exist previously in the market.

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Reduced Complexity


By centralizing all contributions through the Hadley app, families and friends easily make regular or one-time contributions.

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Secure & Compliant


With trusted third-party integrations and robust security (via Skyflow), the platform meets the complex regulatory needs of financial transactions.

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Market Traction


Hadley is available on both iOS and Android, enabling thousands of families to conveniently save with confidence.

Testimonial

“Tanooki Labs took all my inputs, applied their own best practices, and created something that aligned exactly with my vision. They even improved it by proactively identifying features I hadn’t thought about. As a first-time founder, I’m grateful for how easy they make it to adapt to my evolving needs.”

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Yosh Miller
Founder of Hadley

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Key Takeaways

Deep Collaboration


Close partnership with the founder enabled Tanooki Labs to blend industry best practices with innovative ideas.

Security & Compliance First


Leveraging Plaid, Stripe, and Skyflow allowed for a seamless user experience while meeting stringent financial regulations.

User-Centric Design


Early research and prototyping were crucial for ensuring that non-technical family and friends could contribute easily.

Scalable Architecture


The backend can support growing user demand, new 529 plan integrations, and additional financial product expansions.

Hadley successfully turned the traditionally complex world of 529 savings into a simple, social, and secure experience—allowing parents, grandparents, and friends to invest in a child’s future with just a few taps.

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