Dear Dave, Maybe STFU

Your advice doesn’t make sense (but it does make you money)

Andy Spears
2 min readOct 17, 2024
From an email sent by the Dave App encouraging using debt to solve debt

The Dave App is stupid.

The picture above is from an email Dave sent out encouraging people to use the App to get a loan.

The email offers “tips” for better managing your finances and reducing stress from debt.

Here are those “winning” tips:

  1. Prioritize repayment (pay higher interest debts first)
  2. Negotiate with creditors
  3. Avoid new debt

That last one is a joke, though. Because Dave very much wants you to take on new debt.

From Dave.

The fine print in this particular email notes that Dave loans average about $160.

And, um, they have to be paid back.

So, they ARE debts.

Does Dave read Dave’s marketing emails?

No.

Dave doesn’t give a shit because the guy who started Dave makes more money when desperate people use a cartoon bear app to take on more debt.

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Andy Spears
Andy Spears

Written by Andy Spears

Writer and policy advocate living in Nashville, TN —Public Policy Ph.D. — writes on education policy, consumer affairs, and more . . .

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