How a Swiss startup transformed from a simple comparison tool to a major fintech player over 9 years.
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What began as a simple idea to help Swiss homebuyers compare mortgage rates evolved into a journey that would reshape the country's mortgage industry. This case study follows Hypo's transformation through three pivotal phases, offering valuable insights for founders looking to disrupt traditional financial services.
In Switzerland, getting a mortgage traditionally meant visiting multiple banks, filling out excessive paperwork, and navigating an opaque market of rates and offers. While mortgage comparison tools existed, they had two major flaws. First, their rates were often inaccurate - customers would discover different final costs when meeting with banks. Second, after comparing offers, customers still had to go through the entire application process with their chosen bank.
For Mathias Joss, the co-founder of Hypoguide, this inefficiency represented an opportunity. His vision was straightforward yet ambitious: let people secure mortgages from their sofas. What made Hypoguide different was that once customers completed the application, it was ready for the bank's final approval - no need to restart the entire process, and no surprises about the final rates.
Rather than attempting to revolutionize the entire mortgage industry at once, the Hypoguide team started with a focused solution: an online platform for comparing mortgage offers. This decision would prove crucial for several reasons:
First, it solved an immediate pain point for consumers without requiring banks to drastically change their processes. Second, it generated valuable data about user behavior and market dynamics. Third, it established credibility with financial institutions who would later become crucial partners.
After exploring various development options, the founding team partnered with Lunar Logic. What started as a standard development relationship evolved into a true partnership, with both teams working as one unit towards the product's success.
The partnership's flexibility proved valuable - the team could scale up or down based on market needs and changing requirements. This adaptability helped maintain momentum while optimizing resources, a crucial advantage for a fintech startup where market validation and trust-building take time.
The team's approach focused on rapid validation and iterative improvement:
This methodical approach to validation proved crucial. Rather than making assumptions about user behavior, the team gathered both qualitative and quantitative data to validate or reject features. "We learned early on that some features we thought were crucial were actually cumbersome for users," notes Hanna, our lead back-end engineer. "By gathering real user feedback before fully automating processes, we saved significant development time."
The transition to Hypoauktion represented a complete reversal of traditional power dynamics in mortgage lending. Banks were now competing for well-qualified borrowers, leading to better rates and more flexible policies. This phase offers a valuable lesson for founders: Sometimes the most significant innovations come from challenging fundamental assumptions about how an industry operates.
Instead of starting from scratch, the team repurposed Hypoguide's existing codebase to create the auction system. This approach allowed for quick market entry while keeping development costs efficient.
"Our focus was on understanding the customer journey through data," explains Hanna. "We tracked where users dropped off and how to maintain strong conversion rates. The exciting challenge was finding ways to reuse Hypoguide's components while letting metrics guide our decisions. Every product change had to prove its worth through data."
The 2019 FinanceScout24 acquisition marked a new chapter that showcased the team's ability to scale while maintaining momentum - a delicate balance that many startups struggle with post-acquisition. The development team gradually grew from 4 to 13 people, responding to increased demands without compromising delivery quality.
The post-acquisition phase demonstrated the team's expertise in complex organizational integration. Beyond just maintaining development momentum, the Lunar team:
The journey from Hypoguide to FinanceScout24 demonstrates the power of early validation. Rather than pursuing an elaborate initial vision, the team validated core assumptions through careful testing and user feedback before making major investments.
The team's initial focus enabled them to build credibility and understand the market before attempting more dramatic innovations.
The selection of a development partner proved strategic not because of cost considerations, but because of shared values around product validation and market testing. This alignment in approach led to better decision-making and increased the odds of success through careful validation of assumptions before major investments.
As both Hypoguide founder and FinanceScout24 product manager noted, the relationship with Lunar Logic evolved into feeling like part of their own team, demonstrating the importance of cultural fit in technical partnerships.
The consistent use of A/B testing and user feedback created a culture of informed decision-making. This approach helped the team avoid the common startup pitfall of building features based on assumptions rather than evidence.
Each phase of Hypo's evolution built upon the lessons and credibility established in the previous phase:
"We transformed what was traditionally a lengthy, in-person process into a 5-10 minute online experience," reflects Mathias Joss. More importantly, we proved that even the most traditional financial services can be reimagined when you focus on validating assumptions and responding to real user needs.
His experience demonstrates that successful disruption in financial services doesn't require immediate, radical change - instead, it demands careful validation, iterative improvement, and the courage to challenge industry assumptions based on real market feedback.
The case study is based on Mathias Joss, the Hypoguide and Hypoaktion co-founder and Product Manager at FinanceScout24. A third-party entity gathered feedback, which we supported with Lunar Logic's team insights.
Hypoguide was acquired by FinanceScout24 in 2019.
FinanceScout24 was later acquired by SMG Swiss Marketplace Group in 2021.
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