Undaunted, Ponzi set up a stock company to raise money from the public. He also went to several of his friends in Boston and promised that he would double their investment in 90 days. Ponzi later shortened this to 45 days at 50% interest, thus doubling investments in three months, in an environment when banks were paying only 5% annual interest. The great returns available from postal reply coupons, he explained to them, made such incredible profits easy. Some people invested and were paid off as promised, receiving $750 interest on initial investments of $1,250.