Guideline

Overview

This profile covers Guideline, Inc. — the San Francisco financial-technology company that provides 401(k) and other retirement plans to small and medium-sized businesses — and not other businesses using the name. Guideline built an integrated system for retirement-plan setup, participant enrollment, recordkeeping, investment management and compliance, and grew to more than 65,000 business customers with $20 billion in assets under its plans (401(k) Specialist Magazine). Founded by former TaskRabbit co-founder Kevin Busque, it distinguished itself with a flat, per-employee fee instead of the traditional model of charging a percentage of assets under management (TechCrunch). In August 2025 Gusto — the payroll and HR software company that had been Guideline’s partner since 2015 — announced it had agreed to acquire it in its biggest-ever acquisition (401(k) Specialist Magazine).

The flat-fee challenger

Guideline’s pitch to small employers was simplicity and price. Rather than the asset-based fees traditional 401(k) providers charge, it levied a flat per-employee fee, betting that automation and deep payroll integrations would make serving small plans profitable at volume (TechCrunch). The strategy worked at scale: by 2025 Guideline served over 65,000 customers, helping more than a million people at businesses, startups and franchises save for retirement, with $20 billion in plan assets (401(k) Specialist Magazine). CNBC reported its annualized recurring revenue at $140 million as of January 2025 (TechCrunch).

Its distribution ran through payroll providers. Gusto was its first fully integrated payroll partner, and Gusto CEO Joshua Reeves recalled meeting Busque in 2016 when “Guideline was just getting started” — calling the company “already the most popular retirement product on Gusto by far” (401(k) Specialist Magazine). The relationship was never exclusive: customers could also set up Guideline plans through ADP, Intuit, Paylocity, TriNet and Rippling (TechCrunch). Investors rewarded the growth: a $200 million Series D led by General Atlantic in 2021 valued Guideline at $1.15 billion, bringing total funding to about $340 million from backers including Felicis, Tiger Global and NEA (TechCrunch).

The Gusto acquisition — and its disputed details

On August 27, 2025, Gusto announced it had signed an agreement for Guideline to join it, calling the combination a single modern product for payroll, retirement benefits, health insurance, HR, time tracking and compliance for small businesses; the terms were not disclosed (401(k) Specialist Magazine). Reeves said the combined product would let business owners set up all their benefits in one place, employees onboard and update benefits in a single app, and compliance, taxes and payments be managed on one dashboard (401(k) Specialist Magazine). He also pledged that Gusto would keep supporting rival retirement providers on its platform: “We will always provide customers with a choice so they can use the software that best meets their specific needs” (401(k) Specialist Magazine).

What Gusto paid is contested. TechCrunch reported, citing a source familiar with the deal, that Gusto paid approximately $600 million — below Guideline’s $1.15 billion private valuation, but still a return for early investors including Felicis, Tiger Global and NEA, with General Atlantic expected to earn a small profit (TechCrunch). Guideline’s spokesperson characterized the $600 million figure as incorrect without offering another number (TechCrunch). Also contested: TechCrunch reported, citing three sources, that Gusto plans to sell off Guideline accounts associated with rival payroll companies, with proceeds shared among Gusto and Guideline shareholders — while the company’s spokesperson said it has no plans to part ways with any customers (TechCrunch). Gusto declined to comment on both the price and the divestment plans (TechCrunch).

The rationale for selling also drew attention: a Guideline spokesperson confirmed the company had been profitable for over a year, but it faced intense competition — notably from Human Interest, its closest rival, backed by SoftBank and Baillie Gifford, which grew 70% the prior year (TechCrunch).

What this profile does not claim

• It does not state the Gusto acquisition price; the reported $600 million figure is disputed by the company.
• It does not state whether Gusto will divest Guideline accounts tied to rival payroll providers; the reports are denied by the company.
• It does not resolve the founding-year conflict (2015 per TechCrunch, 2016 per 401(k) Specialist Magazine).
• It does not state whether the acquisition has closed; the August 2025 announcement was described as subject to final approvals.
• It does not claim anything about other companies named “Guideline”; identification rests solely on the sources above.