“It is in our company’s DNA and our deeply felt social consciousness to be committed to the financial benefit of public entities and higher Ed institutions, no matter their size or location.”
Three+one®, a Rochester, New York-based financial-technology company, offers innovative liquidity-data and cash-management solutions that deliver better financial outcomes for public entities and higher Ed institutions—and for those they serve. The firm’s unique liquidity-data tool, cashVest®, has brought over $550 million in new revenue to communities nationwide. cashVest® is endorsed by the National Association of Counties (NACo), as well as 17 state associations.
three+one® was incorporated in 2012.
The Silicon Review reached out to three+one’s New York headquarters and spoke with Joe Rulison (CEO) and Peter Forsgren (COO), who co-founded the company. Here’s what they said.
Interview Highlights
Q. What methodology does three+one® implement to exceed customer expectations?
As a company, we saw an underserved marketplace in the sectors of public entities and higher Ed institutions. Specifically, we felt they needed to better understand the role of liquidity and how to view and capture all aspects of cash. In a changing banking landscape, they were being challenged with fewer financial resources, and they could profit from the new sources of revenue we could offer them.
As a result, we saw the need to bring solutions to this underserved marketplace. To do that we needed to be seen as a positive disrupter in the public financial marketplace. To that end, we created a core value for our company—to exceed expectations for our clients, employees, and stakeholders. We’re proud to say that the core value has been woven into the very fabric of three+one®.
By exceeding expectations, we have maintained a dedicated and extremely satisfied team of highly qualified and energetic employees. This has led to a very strong client retention rate (99%). We have also helped our clients find new sources of income and savings amounting to over $550 million; these additional funds have gone back to the communities and entities they serve. Without our innovative liquidity-data technology, these results would never have been attained.
Q. What does three+one® seek to achieve by enhancing its customers’ liquidity-management strategy?
We want to make a difference in each community and organization we serve, and it is our goal to reach over $1.0 billion in new savings and income for these communities by the end of 2022, and over $5.0 billion by 2025.
Q. What are your focus areas?
three+one® offers two liquidity platforms: cashVest® and rfpPrep®. These technology platforms are unique to the public and higher Ed marketplace. We created the technology that provides the value of liquidity management on all cash while digitizing the banking services and investment management Request for Proposal (RFP) process.
As an independent FinTech company, we provide pure analytical data that captures all aspects of an entity’s cash positions. That provides the time horizon on all cash and its value in the marketplace. Our liquidity data also provides forecast modelling that helps public and higher Ed entities in times of uncertainty. During the Covid-19 pandemic, three+one® was deemed an essential service by our clients in managing their liquidity needs.
Q. How skilled is the three+one® team?
Our company is made up of very talented individuals. We see ourselves as a total team. We like to look at ourselves as a jigsaw puzzle. Each team member is a separate piece that brings certain unique talents. While our members may look completely different in talents and skills, when combined, they make up an incredibly beautiful picture. As we grow, so will the pieces of the puzzle—and the picture we will create for the national and global marketplace will only get bigger and better.
As a team, we are growing together, ensuring that no one gets pigeonholed into a specific position. The capability to grow and develop personally and professionally is how our company’s culture exceeds expectations.
In addition, all team members become owners of the company at no cost to them, leading to strong company culture and an exceptionally high retention rate.
Q. How does three+one® stay relevant in the public and higher Ed marketplace as circ*mstances change, as shown during the worst days of the Covid-19 pandemic?
Our company was built for circ*mstances like the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2020, we created the Pathway to Recovery® program that helped both public and higher Ed institutions develop and understand liquidity patterns and how they could best deal with the pandemic. Our liquidity strategies helped entities in forecasting revenue patterns, locking in new income streams, and meeting funding gaps that otherwise may have gone unnoticed. The cashVest® liquidity platform was deemed an essential financial and technology tool by local, state, and federal government entities throughout the pandemic. For our Pathway to Recovery® program, we created a six-step process that can be viewed on our website: threeplusone.us.
The Covid-19 pandemic reaffirmed the value of our company, team, and the services we offer as they provided a “peace-of-mind” strategy that allowed our public entity and higher Ed clients to focus on those they serve. Our role was to ensure our clients had the accurate and updated liquidity data they needed to meet all their financial needs and requirements. Doing this gave our team a great sense of purpose, just what was needed during those uncertain times.
Q. What is the long-term goal of three+one®?
As a company, we are just getting started. We will not feel complete until we have reached every local community in the United States and beyond. three+one® is in a unique niche that offers great value to our clients and prospects.
Q. As co-founders of three+one®, what is your message to The Silicon Review readers about entrepreneurship?
Vision, belief, passion, and determination in making a difference to the public entities and communities we serve; that’s the foundation three+one® is built on. It is in our company’s DNA and our deeply felt social consciousness to be committed to the financial benefit of public entities and higher Ed institutions, no matter their size or location. We are as unique as a company as we are as a team. We are a jigsaw puzzle comprised of many pieces of the incredible talent that together create an image of hope, growth, and a bright future for those entities, their communities, our employees, and those who have invested in us.
