The TikTok and Wall Street universes have finally intersected, and what happened is Dub—a copy-trading platform that’s making investing as simple and habit-forming as browsing your go-to social feed. If you’ve ever dreamed of just being able to mimic the actions of successful investors, politicians, or that street-smart YouTuber who always manages to catch the market at the right moment, Dub believes you’re not alone. They’re gambling that’s precisely how the next generation will want to make money.
At the helm is 23-year-old Dub founder Steven Wang. His story has all the makings of a Silicon Valley startup fairy tale: dropped out of Harvard, sold a VR company as a teenager, worked on Apple Watch, and now he’s out to disrupt the way ordinary people invest. Wang’s mission is clear: to create “the first influencer creator economy for finance” by connecting smart, capable investors with ordinary users who would like to follow them automatically.
So, how does it work? Dub allows you to “copy trade,” which means you can follow hedge fund manager portfolios, financial commentators, or even celebrities such as Nancy Pelosi. It’s a tap, and your investments mirror the experts’ strategies, and whenever they make a trade, it automatically gets updated in your portfolio. As Wang explains, “Instead of picking stocks, we’ll be picking people to invest in.”.
Dub’s subscription plan is straightforward: $9.99 a month or $89.99 a year to have users access a marketplace of vetted portfolios from a diversity of investors, from billionaires to up-and-coming stars in the retail trading universe. But where things get more fascinating is with Dub’s creator program. Certain users can now be rewarded with royalties for sharing their portfolios with others. It’s sort of like the TikTok Creator Fund—but for finance. The more individuals replicate your trades, the more you can make. You get paid based on a combination of social interaction and one-on-one agreements with the platform.
The app is playing particularly well to Gen Z. Wang says that almost half of Dub’s users are under the age of 28—and they’re the most active on the app. That jibes with more general data, such as the Schwab Modern Wealth Survey, which finds that Gen Z adults started investing at an average age of 19, well ahead of earlier generations. For this generation, Wang says, Dub provides an investing experience that’s familiar, convenient, and much less scary. “It makes it not scary to be part of the American dream of building your wealth,” he says.
Dub’s creator program also represents a significant departure from how talent is discovered and rewarded in the financial world. First, users are required to have at least $1,000 of assets to make their portfolios duplicable. Today, the creator program provides real financial rewards to talented traders, whether or not they have a background on Wall Street. The platform already has over 200 creators, ranging from hedge fund managers to top-performing traders from Twitter and YouTube. “Launching a hedge fund usually means being part of Wall Street’s elite boys’ club,” says Wang. “But what about the brilliant investor in the Midwest with no pedigree? Dub levels the playing field. We’re not just helping regular Americans invest—we’re building a marketplace of money managers.”
Supporting Wang’s ambitious vision is a heavyweight roster of investors. Dub recently raised a $17 million seed round, topped by Tusk Venture Partners, with Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, Robinhood co-founder Nathan Rodland, and Detroit Venture Partners among the participants. The firm also raised a $2 million venture debt facility from Silicon Valley Bank.
Aside from the hype, Dub is intent on getting it right. The platform’s broker-dealer affiliate is SEC-registered and a member of FINRA and SIPC. Wang has also hired an experienced executive team with backgrounds from premier companies such as Affirm, Millennium, Goldman Sachs, Meta, and iCapital.
Wang’s big idea? That the future of investing isn’t about choosing stocks—it’s about choosing people. “The ultra-wealthy don’t pick their stocks,” he says. “They hire wealth managers at Goldman Sachs or invest in hedge funds. We’re bringing that experience to regular Americans in a familiar, accessible way.”
With Dub, the next Warren Buffett may not be on Wall Street. They may be your go-to TikTok influencer—or even you.
