When former YouTube product manager Kevin Xu, known as “Sir Jack A Lot” on Reddit, turned $35,000 into $8 million in trading stocks between 2020 and 2022, many people thought his fortune and investing style had peaked, right? as the memestock of 2021 madness had.
Xu disagrees, however, and is now creating a startup for private investors that aims to bring the well-meaning investment advice and community that people have enjoyed on platforms like the WallStreetBets subreddit, but with a level of accountability that discourages scammers and scammers.
Launched in April 2022, AfterHour allows users to log into their trading accounts and, under a username of their choice, post their investments to a social media feed. “The only reason people trust me and Roaring Kitty is because we are transparent,” Xu told TechCrunch. “Why not show your real positions or prove that you’re really into something? [AfterHour] restores a level of credibility and trust. You connect your brokerage and share real verified positions and screenshots.”
The company currently has more than 23,000 users, and while that’s hardly an impressive number, its user base is growing and early adopters seem engaged — Xu said more than 70% of its users are on the app every single day . The company is currently focused on growth, Xu said, but has plans for how to generate revenue in the future.
“Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. it’s the game,” Xu said. “When we started, I was so afraid it would be quiet on the weekends, but on Mondays, people just come back. We don’t do fraudulent push notifications to get people back on Mondays, but of course they come back.”
The startup recently raised a $4.5 million seed round led by Founders Fund — Keith Rabois’ latest investment in the company — and General Catalyst. Pear VC, Daybreak Ventures, and F4 Fund, among many others, also participated. Xu said AfterHour is now focusing on growing its user base and team.
Xu believes that letting users be pseudo-anonymous is why AfterHour’s approach works. He recalled that he used to feel uncomfortable when he thought about talking to his fellow YouTubers about stock trading during his off hours, and he thinks he’s probably not alone in feeling that way.
But on the other hand, he recognizes that an environment that encourages zero accountability is not a good idea for a platform like his. This dynamic breeds scammers and scammers like you see on Reddit and X who want to pump and dump their positions or post fake trades to get other people to invest.
He added that because people can only post their real transactions, it eliminates many of the bad actors. Of course, there will be some bad apples, but Xu said the startup works to monitor posts and flag anything suspicious with a system of community warnings and notes — not unlike X’s approach to community-based moderation.
Xu acknowledged that such a tracking system will not remain effective as the platform continues to scale. “Right now it’s basically me on the app reminding people that independent thinking is sexy,” Xu joked. He added that the company is working on a plan to curb bad behavior and is considering ideas like an algorithm that can automatically flag posts that appear fake.
This deal stood out to me because I think it’s a smart play to create services for retail investors. The trajectory of this space reminds me a lot of the crypto world. Although very different, both invest in areas that had their 15 minutes of fame, but as they faded from the mainstream, they still maintained dedicated and growing communities of people interested in their approach.
However, AfterHour is a particularly smart idea because, as with crypto, there’s a lot of money to be made here — and just as much to be lost. Such platforms cannot guarantee that their users will find financial success, but that does not mean that average people should be completely excluded from the stock markets, which companies such as Robinhood and more recently Destiney Tech 100, have worked to democratize.
“The big misconception in the Valley was that retail was a fad in 2021, referring to incentive control,” Xu said. “It’s only growing. The data supports that.”
For context, 2023 was the longest active year for retail. Robinhood raised more than $86.6 billion transaction volume only in May.
AfterHour isn’t the only company realizing the potential in this space — Robinhood’s media expansion is a good example. The trading app bought the retail investor-focused newsletter Snacks in 2019. More recently, it launched Sherwood Media, a financial publication aimed at the same audience.
While it’s starting with the stock market, Xu hopes AfterHour will move into other funding areas down the line to become the one-stop-shop for retail investors in the future.
“AfterHour should exist,” Xu said. “I look at the Internet of Finance and how it’s evolving, and I’m disappointed by all the other efforts [to build a similar platform]. They were just disappointing.
I think very long term. I want it to be fun and accessible. I think it’s more fun than sports, and I think a growing number of people online do as well.”
