I am all for improvement in the space, but is this actually an improvement? The premise is to remove wrappers and other fee add-ons, but the product itself is a wrapper for third-party investment funds, which raises the cost of managing a 401k.
Yes, you are in fact misunderstanding the point. We don't wrap anything. We use the same Vanguard funds as you would find in a Vanguard plan. It's the exact same costs. We don't make money based on AUM fees. You're also forgetting about all the other services you need in a 401(k), fiduciary, compliance, education etc. Not available via Vangaurd you have to hire it out and pay AUM fees.
I skimmed through your link, but don't see any numbers on what Vanguard's plan-administration-fee. They did mention the low average expense ratio on their funds, but that's different from the plan-administration-fees which Guideline seems to be optimizing for.
Vanguard can manage your company's 401k directly at a lower cost: https://investor.vanguard.com/what-we-offer/small-business/o...
Perhaps I am misunderstanding...