Reinventing Traditional Services through Modern Platforms, with David Snider CEO of Harness Wealth

Lex interviews David Snider - founder and CEO of Harness Wealth.
David shares his extensive fintech journey, including his pivotal
role at Compass, a real estate technology firm. He discusses the
challenges of aligning agents with new technology and the
evolution of Compass's business model to empower agents with
better tools and incentives. Transitioning to Harness Wealth,
David explains his vision to enhance tax advisory services
through a modern platform, addressing complex financial needs.
The episode underscores the importance of innovation and human
expertise in fintech and real estate.


 


Notable discussion points:


 


Empowering Advisors in Complex Industries: David Snider has built
platforms that enhance human advisors rather than replace
them—first in real estate with Compass - a technology-powered
real estate brokerage, now in tax with Harness Wealth. In
industries with high complexity and large transaction sizes, like
wealth management and real estate, human expertise remains
essential. His approach emphasizes that technology should enable,
not displace, trusted advisors.


 


Compass Pivoted to Power Top Agents: Compass began with a plan to
disrupt real estate agents but pivoted to support top performers
with better tech and economics. This shift—paired with smart
execution—enabled rapid growth and market leadership by focusing
on high-value agents and transactions, rather than cutting them
out of the process.


 


Harness Wealth Modernizes Complex Tax Advisory: Harness Wealth
applies a Compass-like model to tax, serving clients with equity
comp, crypto, and private investments by connecting them to top
advisors through a modern, tech-enabled experience. The platform
improves both advisor workflows and client usability, targeting a
large, underserved market that DIY tools can’t effectively serve.


 


MENTIONED IN THE CONVERSATION


 


Topics: Fintech, Harness Wealth, Compass, AI, RealEstate,
Platform-As-A-Service, Advisory, Data, Tax, WealthTech, TaxTech,
CryptoTax, PersonalFinance, FinancialAdvisors


 


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TIMESTAMPS


 


1’06: From Bain to Compass: David Snider on Navigating Finance,
Real Estate, and the Rise of Advisor-Enabled Tech


 


5’42: Evolving Real Estate Through Tech: Market Levers, Rollups,
and Building Compass's Super Agent Model


 


13’20: Digital vs. Human: Why Tech Wins in Some Industries—and
Advisors Thrive in Others


 


17’16: Scaling Compass: How Tech, Economics, and a New
Go-to-Market Strategy Fuelled Rapid Agent Growth


 


22’20: Overcoming Resistance: The Grind Behind Compass’s Data
Integration and Agent Tech Adoption


 


26’13: From Compass to Harness: Building a Tech-Driven Platform
to Simplify Complex Tax and Financial Advice


 


31’05: Serving the Underserved: How Harness Wealth Empowers
Advisors and Clients Navigating Complex Tax Needs


 


34’16: Building Smarter Tax Tech: Harness’s Curated Approach to
Streamlined Data, Insights, and Advisor Collaboration


 


36’02: Scaling with Purpose: Harnessing Data, Advisor Value, and
a Massive Market Opportunity in Tax


 


37’46: The channels used to connect with David & learn more
about Harness Wealth


Disclaimer here — this newsletter does not provide investment
advice and represents solely the views and opinions of FINTECH
BLUEPRINT LTD.


Contributors: Lex, Laurence, Matt, Farhad, Mike, Daniella


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