Wheaties for Your Wallet

I make, as it turns out, a lot of chocolate chip cookies. I like making them. I hardly ever do them the same way twice — sometimes with a little more cinnamon, sometimes a little crispier. Over the past 15 years or so, I’ve slowly changed the way I make them, getting closer and closer to the ultimate cookie.

Original photo by Oi Jimmy!

I don’t mean to brag, but when people try my cookies for the first time, they often like them, and they can tell there’s something unusual about them. “What’s the secret ingredient?” they ask. A few years ago, one person wouldn’t leave me alone about the secret ingredient. She was throwing out one crazy idea after another, certain that my eyebrows would twitch when she said the right one. Finally I said, “The secret ingredient is that I really, really, really love cookies.” Don’t think that stopped her questioning! But that’s the truth.

There is no secret ingredient to my cookies. When I started making them, I used the recipe from the back of the Toll House chocolate chip package — the most standard cookie recipe there is. Yes, I add little things to them: some cinnamon, some nutmeg. I vary the amounts and the cooking time. But what I really do is pay a lot of attention to all the little parts of making cookies. How melty is the butter when I add it? Did the eggs get beaten to that particular fluffiness? When I put the cookies in, did the oven just stop heating to temperature, or did it just turn on again? How does the kitchen smell when the cookies are ready? That’s all there is to it. I like cookies enough that I give all of my attention to making them come out right. I pay attention to every step and how it affects the results.

I had a great time showing someone the Wesabe preview the other day, because they were incredibly enthusiastic about it — and a similar kind of question came up: “How did you come up with that feature? What’s the secret?” The answer is the same as the secret ingredient to cookies: I really, really, really care about getting it right. Everyone at Wesabe feels the same way. No pixel gets added to a page without at least two of us debating whether it’s in the right place. Our first release will probably feel for some like my first batch of cookies, many years ago — good, but with lots more needed to make it perfect. What I love, and what gives me hope, is that every one of us cares about making it that, in every way we can. If you come to like Wesabe and you wonder why, that’s the secret.

(P.S.: If you love cookies too, you have to run over to Mighty Goods and check out the ultimate cookie accessory!)

Wesabe — what in the heck is that? First, I should say, naming a startup is a special form of pain that I wouldn’t inflict on anybody. I was inclined to name it Knight Industries, but my co-founder Marc didn’t think that was a very good idea (you were right Marc). After months of brainstorming I came up with Wesabe which is based on the Spanish word “tu sabes,” or “you know.” Wesabe meant “we know” and our tagline is “together we know.”

This was great until I told the name to our good friend Neil, who is grammarian in both Spanish and English, and he had this to say:

The problem with tying this name to the Spanish-language verb saber (to know) is that the verb is conjugated thusly:

yo sé (I know)
tú sabes (you know, informal)
él, ella SABE (he/she knows)
nosotros sabemos (WE know)
vosotros sabéis (you know, plural, informal— today used only in Spain)
ellos, ustedes saben (they know, or you, —plural, formal— know)

As you can see, saying “we sabe” doesn’t sound cute or street slangy in this context. I doubt that the name would even register as Spanish or Spanglish for a Spanish speaker or a speaker of both languages.

Thanks Neil, thanks a lot. Which means, nosotros sabemos it isn’t conjugated correctly. It also nicely illustrates a point that Marc and I have been making for a while — there is a lot more knowledge out there than there is in here. And if you want to know something, for example proper Spanish grammar, ask and you’ll probably get back a ton of great information.

That said, we are sticking with Wesabe — to us it sounds great and it conveys our goal to our users.

Besides together we really do know.

I was in Washington Mutual the other day, and noticed that they were promoting the features of their “Free Checking” account. Very prominently on the poster was this offer:

One free waiver of an Overdraft/Non-Sufficient Funds fee per year

I looked at their ad and thought, what a strange offer! Why would they want to offer that? Isn’t that highlighting an experience that makes people feel bad (bouncing a check) and reminding them of it?

Then I remembered that Washington Mutual took the lead in raising bounced check fees. Why are they offering one free bounced check (NSF fee) per year? Because that would appeal to people who bounce checks! And those people are more likely to generate fee revenue for Washington Mutual than others. If you have trouble with bounced checks, don’t look for one free bounced check; if this is a concern for you, you probably have more than one fee per year to deal with. Look for the lowest bounced check fee in your area. According to Bankrate, the lowest NSF fee from a traditional bank in San Francisco is $19 per incident from Bank of America or Comerica, and Comerica looks lower on other fees, like ATM fees. Washington Mutual is $6 higher per incident. If you bounce five checks in a year, Comerica would save you $5 total versus Washington Mutual, even after Washington Mutual’s “free” offer.

No company will give you anything for free unless they think that will lead to getting more money from you later. Whenever you see an ad like this, think, “Who are they trying to appeal to?” Even if you decide to go with that offer, you’ll at least have a better picture of what you’re getting into. When I saw this ad, I thought, this bank is a bad deal for people who bounce checks.

Of course, a better tip is “Don’t bounce checks.” But, very often, people will choose the account that best fits the way they want to be, not the way they are. Don’t let that become a profit line for your bank.