Startup of the Week – Wyzer

Founded in – 2020

Industry – FinTech – more specifically WealTech

Founders – Daniel Avnieli, Luiz Pompeo

Startup Motto – When you want to invest, think Wyzer.

Startup Funding – Bootstrap

Startup Market Cap – 2M

Team Size – 4

Below is the transcript of our interview with Wyzer

Could you please tell us about Wyzer to our readers & followers, and what it is all about? 

At Wyzer, we believe everyone deserves to have access to great financial advice, no matter your income level, background, or beliefs. Our goal is to be the marketplace for investment advice. We do that by bringing financial advisors and investors together under the same roof, creating more value and ease of access for everyone!

Could you please tell me about the Copy Trading? And how does it works?

Copy-trading is a technology that our team developed to let users copy portfolios of financial advisors in real-time. Every time advisors add a new stock to their portfolio, their investors automatically buy that same stock – it’s that simple! (no fees or increased investments are required).

We want to know who are advisors and who are investors? How one can invest in a stock?

We work with registered investment advisors (RIA) that are actively registered with the SEC and FINRA. These are professionals that are legally allowed to sell financial advice and have prior experience doing it. 

We are targeting retail investors who want more stability and confidence in their investments. 

People invest in Wyzer by selecting an advisor & portfolio that they like, choose an amount to invest, pay the advisor monthly/quarterly copying fee, and hit copy. Now every time advisors trade, investors also trade.

When it comes to data protection and safety, what precautions are you taking for your users? 

Privacy and security is an essential part of almost every application, but when it comes to financing it becomes much more important. There are third-party services like Plaid for bank transfers and APEX for account creation that allow us to have the same level of security as any other financial app on the market. This is the beauty of starting an app in the 21st century, we can build off all the previous knowledge that has come before us.

How can a user find top advisors and on what basis do you choose and rank?

Users respond to a questionnaire that helps us understand their financial needs and risk tolerance. We work with a third-party company that helps us measure how much return each portfolio is generating and rank advisors by profitability after. We recommend advisors for users based on risk level and personal interests.

What are the challenges you faced during the initial days? How did you push through? And how the whole concept came to your mind for the very first time?

Trying to start a business in such a highly regulated industry is a challenge. We have built a strong team of advisors that help us get to places much faster than we thought. The idea came from people not having access to financial advisors. We learned that only a selected group of people had access to amazing financial returns, and we decided to do something about it.

What is your vision and mission behind this company? And where you want to reach? Any future plans?

The vision is to empower everyone to achieve financial freedom. We don’t want any person to feel that they can’t afford financial advice because of their income levels. There needs to be a starting point for everyone, and we believe Wyzer is that point.

What have you failed at? And how you recover from that phase? Because being an entrepreneur is not easy, it’s like walking on the stone each day. What boosts your mind when you face failure?

Failure is a mindset that entrepreneurs have, so in a sense, we have failed throughout the entire process, but also we have not failed once because each one was a lesson. Sounds corny but it’s the truth, our definition of failure is when you give up. For a more concrete answer, some of our biggest failures have been at the strategy level. Spending time building or doing something that was not essential, but again we learn along the way.

In which city or country you’re currently serving? Any further expansion plans?

We operate in the US but are headquartered in Denver, Colorado. For now.

Any secret formula to young entrepreneurs?

Being relentless and resourceful. Not having enough money is a gift, not a curse. Teaches you how to make things work when others may find it impossible. Do things that don’t scale.

Could you describe yourself in one word?

Courageous 

Before we conclude the interview, anything you want to say to the Unboxing Startups team?

We love what you guys are doing. We believe highlighting early-stage companies gives a different perspective than just focusing on the big companies that have already succeeded. We would love to help you at any point along the way.

Karan Jain

Born in the family of entrepreneurs and have inherited the same. Started building applications in order to pay for my tuition. Later founded a tech company, marketing agency, and media outlets.