Keystara Capital: Scaling for the Future of Fintech

Navigating a Shifting Financial Landscape

For nearly a decade, Keystara Capital had been a trusted name in automated investing, helping customers grow their wealth through hands-off financial management. But as the financial landscape evolved, the company faced growing challenges:

• Customer acquisition slowed, with signups dropping from 12% annual growth to just 4%.
• Retention suffered, as more users canceled within six months, citing a lack of personalized guidance.
• Product development lagged, with misalignment between engineering, compliance, and market needs.
• Competitors like SoFi and Robinhood expanded aggressively, diversifying into banking and crypto, while Keystara’s offerings remained static.
• SEO and website performance faltered, with 20% less traffic from high-intent search terms and frustratingly slow load times.

CEO Patricia Wittlinger saw the warning signs.

“We had an incredible product,” she said, “but we weren’t adapting fast enough to keep up with what our customers needed.”

Rather than making short-term fixes, she turned to ShanVic & Co. to identify the core obstacles and implement solutions that would ensure long-term success.

Pinpointing the Challenges

ShanVic & Co. conducted an in-depth evaluation of Keystara Capital’s business, analyzing customer data, internal workflows, and competitive positioning. The key issues were clear:

• High Customer Acquisition Costs, Low Conversion – Marketing spend was increasing, but fewer prospects were converting into long-term users.
• Retention Struggles – Customers weren’t engaging with Keystara’s platform, leading to early churn and lost revenue.
• Slow Product Development Cycles – Features took months to launch due to bottlenecks between product, engineering, and compliance.
• Competitive Pressure – Fintech leaders like SoFi and Robinhood were expanding aggressively, while Keystara’s services remained too narrow.
• Underperforming SEO & Website Experience – Traffic was down, conversions were weak, and slow site performance frustrated users.

Instead of treating these as isolated problems, ShanVic & Co. helped Keystara build a system for sustainable growth.

Building a System for Scalable Growth

Rather than introducing one-off solutions, ShanVic & Co. worked alongside Keystara’s teams to redesign how the company made decisions and executed strategy.

Senior Product Manager Sarah Klein described the shift:

“We had great ideas, but they kept getting stuck. ShanVic helped us build a system to prioritize, test, and launch them—without the bottlenecks.”

Strengthening Subscription Value & Reducing Churn

Customer data revealed a major insight—users who engaged with personalized financial coaching were 40% more likely to remain subscribers. To capitalize on this:

• Keystara redesigned its subscription tiers, making AI-driven financial coaching a core premium feature.
• Loyalty-based pricing was introduced, offering lower fees for long-term users.

The results?

• Subscription churn dropped from 8% to 3%.
• Customer lifetime value (LTV) increased by 22%.

Accelerating Product Development

Slow feature rollouts had been a major frustration internally and for users. ShanVic & Co. implemented changes to:

• Create a structured innovation pipeline, moving ideas from concept to launch in weeks instead of months.
• Build cross-functional teams, ensuring product, engineering, and compliance worked in sync.

The impact? Keystara’s new tax-optimized portfolio feature launched in just five weeks, a process that previously took four months. Product development cycles accelerated by 50%.

Repositioning for Long-Term Investors

Customer research uncovered a shift— younger investors weren’t looking for short-term market wins. They wanted a stable, long-term plan for financial security. Keystara adjusted its positioning accordingly:

• Messaging shifted to emphasize long-term wealth-building over high-risk speculation.
• New ESG-focused investment portfolios launched, appealing to socially responsible investors.

The shift worked: Engagement from first-time visitors increased by 18%.

A Year Later: Keystara’s New Trajectory

• Revenue growth rebounded from 4% to 11% year-over-year.
• Subscription churn dropped by 35%, leading to higher customer retention.
• Product development cycles accelerated, enabling faster innovation.
• SEO-driven traffic increased by 32%, boosting organic acquisition.

CEO Patricia Wittlinger summed it up:

“We didn’t need someone to tell us what to do. We needed a system that let us execute on what we already knew. ShanVic helped us build that system.”

Scaling the Future of Fintech

• Expanding internationally, bringing its platform to new markets.
• Integrating deeper AI-driven insights into investment tools.
• Continuing to refine its investment offerings, staying ahead of customer needs.

Keystara is now positioned for long-term success—leading with confidence.