Arjan Schütte is an early-stage investor at Core Innovation Capital who frames his work around the thesis that it's expensive to be American, using this data-driven view of structural costs to evaluate fintech opportunities that can lower core living expenses like housing, healthcare, and transportation for everyday Americans. He takes an unusually people-centric approach to evaluating founders, looking for non-obvious indicators of grit and meeting entrepreneurs as early in their journey as possible to build long-term relationships based on mutual fit and trust.

• Focuses heavily on the kitchen table economy and financial solutions that serve everyday Americans rather than just the wealthy. This includes a strong interest in platforms that democratize access to wealth creation, such as making life insurance available to everyone via companies like Bestow or creating alternative investment classes for the average person.
• Prioritizes business models that combine profit with positive social impact, specifically those addressing the racial wealth gap and financial health. He frequently highlights PadSplit as a model for this, noting how it addresses the affordable housing crisis and high rental costs while remaining a scalable, profitable real estate business.
• Advocates for savings-driven financial health over credit expansion, often mentioning that credit can be dangerous while savings is the most important financial muscle to cultivate. He has backed companies like Yotta that use gamification to encourage people to save money rather than spend it.
• Interested in structural changes to the financial system that reduce friction and costs for low-income users, such as the implementation of real-time ACH to eliminate the need for predatory check-cashing industries. He also discusses the need to solve the retirement crisis, noting that current 401k structures are insufficient and suggesting bold ideas like mandated lifetime income.
• Looks for solutions that tackle the fragmentation of financial services and the high costs of customer acquisition. He has expressed a specific wish list for tools like an autonomous personal finance manager or systems that help people get a better return on investment from their college education.