[grahamannett]

I can understand why they guide people towards investing in "hip" companies versus an index fund, but regardless why is their so much animosity towards robinhood on HN? Is someone getting into investing and investing in an Apple/Amazon/etc. not overall a pretty good entry point compared to opening up thinkorswim or the pretty atrocious (at least on mac) schwab desktop client? Investing a small amount of money is better than blowing that money on tons of consumeristic bullshit that that tons of people do and RH seems like a genuinely good stepping stone compared to the current incumbents in a lot of ways (fees/minimum deposit/super simple). The fact that you can even start with RH and then at a later date transfer to a brokerage once you have a large enough portfolio is also a huge plus in my opinion to people who may have otherwise never set aside that money in the first place.

[dguo]

I agree Robinhood is better than the incumbents in multiple ways. But at some time, other startups offer similar benefits while promoting an approach that is more likely to help the average person increase their wealth in the long term.

I don't think Robinhood is terrible. I just think someone who doesn't know what they're doing would be better off starting with Betterment or Acorns, which are just as user friendly as Robinhood.