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Guideline

Retirement plans for small business

201-500 employees
  • B2C
  • B2B
  • HR
  • Personal finance
  • Investing
3050 S Delaware St , #202, San Mateo, CA 94403, US

Company mission

To help everyone arrive at a secure retirement.

Top investors

Some candidates hear
back within 2 weeks

-6% employee growth in 12 months

Otta's take

Theo Margolius headshot

Theo Margolius

COO of Otta

When businesses offer a 401(K) plan, a message is sent to employees and potential employees that their future is valued by their employer. However, small businesses are often left behind, being charged extortionate fees or ignored by 401(K) providers altogether, leaving many American families with no retirement savings and the potential of retiring into poverty.

Guideline spotted this oversight as an opportunity to jump in and offer small businesses an affordable 401(K). It generates income by charging each business a flat monthly fee per participant.

The company now manages retirement plans for hundreds of thousands of people in over 40,000 companies and has accumulated over $8 billion in assets under management. Benefits providers Intuit, Gusto, and Square all use Guideline as their 401(K) partner.

Benefits

  • Comprehensive medical, dental and vision plans—100% for employees, 70% for dependents
  • Generous 401(k) match
  • Paid time off + unlimited vacation days
  • Paid parental leave
  • Mental health coaching and therapy
  • Learning and development stipend
  • Cash referral bonus
  • Commuter benefits

Funding (last 2 of 6 rounds)

Jun 2021

$200m

SERIES E

Jul 2020

$80m

SERIES D

$339m

Total funding

This company has top investors

Founders

Majored in Computer Information Science at Fitchburg State University. Started out as an Advisory Unix Systems Administrator at IBM and then founded LinkedUp.net, an Open Source consulting company, in 1996. Acted as Chief Information Security Officer at the Institute for Health Metrics and was Director of IT at Humedica. Co-founded TaskRabbit in 2008, acting as its VP of Technology until 2015.

Majored in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Southern Maine. Was Mobile Developer and CTO at TechStars-backed Accelgolf from 2007 to 2010. Joined SkillSlate as Rails Engineer and CTO, before being hired by TaskRabbit as Staff Engineer in 2012.

Started out as a Junior Programmer at Mail Boxes Etc. Worked as a Photographer and Videographer from 2007 to 2011, and then as a Freelance Digital Designer. Was Lead Designer at lifestyle adventure brand Targa Trophy before joining TargetSafety's UX team. Was made Lead Product Designer at TaskRabbit in 2012.

Endorsements

All

Nice people (1)

Supportive management (1)

Growing fast (1)

My manager was supportive and cares about my career development and what he can do to support me and bring up to upper management to improve the team as a whole. We had regular 1-1's that were very helpful as well. Once he left, his manager stepped in in the interim and took the opportunity to support us during the transition.

Operations & Strategy

Supportive management

Jul 2022

Guideline is growing very fast and is ran smartly, responding to macroeconomics trends and acting accordingly in a way that is in line with the business's goals.

Operations & Strategy

Growing fast

Jul 2022

The people at Guideline are really nice, friendly, and helpful. We get to know other members a little better outside of work, and there is an effort for team members to get to know each other more. My team specifically is very helpful and collaborative; I don't feel apprehensive in asking for help, and know that they will help me when they have the time.

Operations & Strategy

Nice people

Jul 2022

Jobs (6)

All locations

Software Engineering