S7E7: Samir Vasavada of Vise on Building a Fintech Unicorn and the Future of Investing

Welcome back to another episode of The Room Podcast! We are so excited to share another inspiring conversation with the co-founder and CEO of Vise, Samir Vasavada.

Vise is an AI powered asset manager that enables financial advisors to build, manage, and explain personalized portfolios for their clients. Vise is on a mission to create financial freedom for all with a platform that allows all investors, regardless of age, net worth, or geography, to access personalized, automated, and intelligent investments across all asset classes.

Samir started vise with his cofounder Runik when they were just 16 years old. After giving advice to finance professionals through expert networks, Samir and Runik decided to bootstrap the company before raising 128M from funds like Sequoia Capital, Founders Fund, and Bling Capital.

In this episode, we sit down with Samir and discuss topics such as advice for young or first-time founders, tips on fundraising & going-to-market, and the mission of Vise and future of tech-enabled investing. Let’s open the door.

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4:45 - Where did Samir grow up and how did that affect his view of the world?
5:27 - How old was Samir when he started founding?
7:06 - How and why did Samir switch from making apps to consulting?
9:47 - What encouraged Samir to found Vise
12:25 - When did Samir know it was time to fully commit to Vise?
14:11 - What advice does Samir have for founders who are in the stage of turning their idea into an actual product?
17:51 - What is the mission behind Vise?
20:33 - Who is the team behind Vise?
23:31 - How did Samir convince investors to get in early on Vise?
26:49 - What advice does Samir have for businesses going through financial struggles?
30:26 - What was the go-to-market strategy for Vise?
32:39 - What roadblocks has Samir run into while growing Vise?
34:33 - What does Samir think of UBS acquiring Wealthfront?
36:57 - How will the market of investing evolve as we head into a market downturn?
39:43 - What is coming up for Samir, personally?
30:39 - Who is a woman in Samir’s life that had a profound impact on him and his career?

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