312: [Justin Kuyper] Openvest Democratize Access To Investment
In this conversation, Anthony Weaver interviews Justin Kuyper, the CEO and founder of OpenVest, a fintech platform designed to help the sandwich generation build strong financial habits. Justin explains how OpenVest democratizes access to investment opportunities typically reserved for elite hedge funds, allowing users to start investing with as little as $300. The discussion covers the company's customer-centric approach, innovative pricing model, marketing strategies, funding methods, and future expansion plans. Justin emphasizes the importance of user trust and the mission to provide better investment options for everyday Americans.
The platform being highlighted in this recording is Openvest — a fintech platform offering actively managed, institutional-grade investment strategies to retail investors for just $3/month for individual accounts.
In addition, Openvest now offers IRA and 401(k) options, making it a comprehensive, low-cost solution for both everyday and long-term investors. The platform is currently live in 11 U.S. states and expanding
Takeaways:
- Wealth is not just about money; it's a freedom enabler that allows us to pursue our passions and enjoy life to the fullest.
- OpenVest makes investing accessible for everyone, starting with a minimum of just $300, which is a game changer for many.
- The platform aims to democratize wealth building, giving users access to the same investment opportunities as elite hedge funds, but without the hefty price tag.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to OpenVest and Its Mission
02:42 The Value Proposition of OpenVest
05:16 Building a Customer-Centric Business
08:22 User Growth and Marketing Strategies
10:45 Funding and Investment Strategies
13:40 The Inspiration Behind OpenVest
16:39 Future Plans and Expansion
19:15 Final Thoughts and Advice
Website:
Thank you for listening!
Be sure to check https://aboutthatwallet.com for more podcast episodes and many more resources!
Disclaimer:
The content provided in this episode is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as financial advice. Please consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions.
Episode: 312
Transcript
This episode is sponsored by openvest Co.
Speaker B:Wealth is honestly just a tool that enables you to do what you want to do in life.
Speaker B:So I would call it a freedom enabler, but in the sense that it just gives you the wealth or the freedom to basically pursue your own passions and hobbies.
Speaker B:So I think that's ultimately what wealth is and that's what we aspire to provide for our youth.
Speaker A:Welcome back, everybody, to another exciting show with the about that what a podcast where we help the sandwich generation build strong financial habits so that they can talk about money, spend money, and enjoy their money with confidence.
Speaker A:Today we have a person who was in the fintech platform.
Speaker A:And you know, I love having fintech people on the show because it's always showing the future of where banking can actually go.
Speaker A:And this person is the CEO and founder of OpenVest.
Speaker A:So welcome to the show, Justin Kilber.
Speaker B:Thank you, Anthony.
Speaker B:It's great to be here, really, with.
Speaker A:My audience being the sandwich generation and fintech being the way to kind of ease everything to make life easy for most of us, how is open invest really making that happen for people who really just don't have that much money?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So thank you, Anthony, for the question.
Speaker B:I can dig into that and explain exactly how this.
Speaker B:So I'll talk a little bit about openvest first and then explain how exactly it makes it easier for people, especially on the investing front.
Speaker B:So essentially what we've done is we've built on a platform, so it's live on the iOS app store, on the Google Play Store.
Speaker B:It's available in 11 states.
Speaker B:You can check the website Openvest Co for all the states.
Speaker B:Live in New York, California, Florida were the first three.
Speaker B:And now we've expanded to eight other states, we're expanding to others.
Speaker B:And we will, we expect by end of the year, early next year, we'll be live in all 50.
Speaker B:But anyway, the point is that we've taken what the elite hedge funds and the private equity firms are doing in New York and based off of their our proprietary algorithms, where we've figured out how to get these sources of information that they are using to make their investments, we're giving that to the user who can start with as little as $300 to invest.
Speaker B:The key thing here is we're allowing users to participate in the types of investment returns that they would not get anywhere else.
Speaker B:So if you look, you can go on the platform and even while you're signing up, you can see the homepage that shows you what the previous Three years, the previous five years, the previous three years are on the homepage so you can see what those returns would have been and it's anywhere at least on the longer term options ranging from 120% up to I believe it's about 300 in some other cases at least over the past three years we do expect some performance like that to continue.
Speaker B:So think of it as basically baking in 30 to 40% annualized returns as long as you leave your money in there for let's say a year, a little more than a year.
Speaker B:So it's a good way to multiply your wealth and build especially for, for yourself and even for the next generation if that's something that is a concern to people as well.
Speaker B:The key thing in terms of pricing.
Speaker B:So usually to get into those types of funds you have to pay a steep buy in amount.
Speaker B:Usually it's in the millions, usually tens of millions of dollars.
Speaker B:You have to pay them a management fee and a performance fee.
Speaker B:So you're basically giving them sort of of the, of those large buy ins a certain amount that they're taking off the top.
Speaker B:Here we're giving it to you flat, no more than $3 a month maximum on the retail accounts and Even on the IRA accounts that we've now recently launched.
Speaker B:IRA and 401k we're not charging more than a flat fee.
Speaker B:So I think it go it goes from $5 if you have less than 10,000 in assets per month up to I believe it's 40,000 if you have over half a million or something then it's.
Speaker B:But the most common amount has been $10 a month.
Speaker B:So it's still less than an ETF if you do the math on it and you're getting the higher performance.
Speaker B:So what we've basically figured out how to do is build this platform in a way where the user gets more value now but also over time while they're investing.
Speaker B:Because if you're only getting a flat fee, a small flat fee deducted the compounding amounts, especially even when you're starting with small amounts will just make a massive, massive difference.
Speaker B:I mean those numbers really balloon, especially years 4, 5, 6, 7.
Speaker B:I mean you know, really makes a huge difference.
Speaker B:So, so that's the value proposition that we have.
Speaker B:And like I said, we're currently live on the app store, Google Play, anybody can download it.
Speaker B:And yeah, we encourage people.
Speaker B:We have seen some user growth so far and some network effects but we're just at the point now where we're trying to get the word out and obviously give this value to the users that we've built.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And one of the things when it comes to the bigger banks, because you talk about a flat fee and most of them usually charge you based on the amount that's under management.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:Or the value under management.
Speaker A:And because of the flat fee it seems like how are y' all making, is this still making money just from a flat fee perspective instead of, you know, percentage space?
Speaker A:Why did you guys decide to do that though?
Speaker B:So that's a great question.
Speaker B:To answer your question, we want to build a customer centric business.
Speaker B:So what that means is we do not want to charge users more than just the small amounts that we need just to cover simple costs.
Speaker B:So we're actually happy to break even at least at this stage in anticipation of adding more value over time.
Speaker B:Base.
Speaker B:Basically what I'm saying is don't worry about us not making money.
Speaker B:We have ways to make money in other ways without charging the user.
Speaker B:User.
Speaker B:And so, so that's why we don't necessarily, we're not looking to take money from the user's pocket.
Speaker B:We actually want people to start using this like we said.
Speaker B:And again the minimum investment amount to start is just 300.
Speaker B:So all we're telling people is hey, try this.
Speaker B:Because what we've seen is our initial users that tried it just two months back, they've already fully bought in and more than 80% of those individuals have already reinvested in just in a two month span.
Speaker B:We, we, we are very confident that our value proposition is working, meaning people that see and how little they're paying, they're basically switching very, at least relatively quickly within, you know, a short time period.
Speaker B:So, so we're more than happy to, to give that to the user in anticipation of basically we will make money in other ways.
Speaker B:There's, there's no way to worry, no need to worry about that.
Speaker B:But what we want is to build user trust at this stage.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And when it comes to trying out something new, how old is the company?
Speaker A:Because most people rather invest with a younger mean an older company than a younger one.
Speaker A:So why would they.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So what I will say is that just in response to that, it's, I wouldn't look at it as old versus new, at least in this case because we're taking what the top managers are doing and distilling that for you.
Speaker B:So we may be a new company, but we're not going bankrupt anytime soon.
Speaker B:We do have a large partner on our back end who's I think they're 100 billion more or less market cap company.
Speaker B:They decided to enroll with us.
Speaker B:We are talking to Visa about partnerships currently.
Speaker B:So I don't think there's any.
Speaker B:There shouldn't be any fear of like us going bankrupt or anything like that.
Speaker B:We're built on top of a very large infrastructure and are well supported in that regard.
Speaker B:So the other thing I would say is, yeah, they may go with the brand name like the, let's say the Fidelities, the Schwab's, the what have you.
Speaker B:But if you, if you actually read the prospectuses and you look at what they're offering you, it is a far inferior product relative to what we're giving you.
Speaker B:Just both on the flat fee side and just look at the performance over the last three years.
Speaker B:Compare, compare our results.
Speaker B:Like go into the app, go on the home screen and just compare it and you'll just see it's.
Speaker B:It's a world of difference.
Speaker B:And so, you know, I wouldn't have taken time out of my life to build something like this if I didn't think this was something that would add tremendous value to people's lives and ultimately the consumer base that we're going after.
Speaker B:I really think that the fees.
Speaker B:Also.
Speaker B:The other point I will bring up is the fees that the Fidelities and the Schwabs are charging you.
Speaker B:Sometimes they'll just layer in the expense ratio.
Speaker B:So give you an example.
Speaker B:I was reading a Schwab prospectus within the last month and it was showing how they still technically have the legal right to charge you intermediary fees without disclosing them to you upfront.
Speaker B:So if you.
Speaker B:I can, I'll find the prospectus and I can share it with you.
Speaker B:But, but there is.
Speaker B:There are sometimes embedded fees that are more than just those ETF expense ratios, at least on the ETF side, where they can still layer.
Speaker B:So all I'm saying is we're upfront about our pricing, we're flat, we're simple, and we're giving you the outperformance.
Speaker B:Just try it for a few months, see how it really kicks up your value.
Speaker B:And once you see it going up, which you will, because it just.
Speaker B:We know it works.
Speaker B:It will.
Speaker B:People, everybody that's tried that so far has, has bought into it.
Speaker B:And so the other thing I'll mention is that, like I said, we also have 401k and IRA accounts.
Speaker B:So our initial users that have already started using this, they've now switched over their IRA and 401k accounts because they're they're fully bought in.
Speaker B:So I, I just think it's something again, worth trying.
Speaker B:And again, if you only have to put in 300 bu to start, it's.
Speaker B:We're not asking you for a large commitment.
Speaker B:We know it works.
Speaker B:So we're willing to have people come in for small, small amounts just to try it out.
Speaker B:And so, you know, that's all, that's all we're asking.
Speaker B:Try it out.
Speaker B:There's no risk really.
Speaker B:I mean, other than your 300 bucks is still there, it's not going anywhere, it's still in your name, you know, so it's that kind of thing.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And because like some of the people that, like the person that's listening to this could be starting out just from a business perspective, just starting out and they trying to figure out how to get new customers and try not to do the traditional route of marketing.
Speaker A:So how are you all doing it?
Speaker B:Yeah, so, so right now we are.
Speaker B:So what I'll say is in the two months that we've started, we've gotten over 120 users without any marketing.
Speaker B:So that's relatively good signs.
Speaker B:Strong natural network effects.
Speaker B:The other thing we're doing is obviously podcasts like these to get the word out.
Speaker B:And then we're slowly dialing up as we're seeing more user growth.
Speaker B:More user growth, meaning just it's happening right now.
Speaker B:We'll get to a point where we'll have to do some paid marketing as well.
Speaker B:But I'm saying we're transitioning from that pure word of mouth and sort of podcast or larger media stages to then doing some paid marketing to really get the word out.
Speaker B:So we're approaching that stage is what I'm saying.
Speaker A:That's awesome.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So did you do.
Speaker A:Because I'm thinking about, from a business perspective of, you know, especially at a young business in the financial industry, when it came to finding investors, was that something that you just kind of thought of on your own saying like, hey, mom, dad, or family and friends, do you mind supporting my business?
Speaker A:Or did you have to go through a route of like, hey, let me go and send some venture capitalists for.
Speaker B:Okay, so that, that's a very good.
Speaker B:So I'll tell you exactly how we're thinking about that for this around that we're currently raising.
Speaker B:We're, we're halfway through the round, so we're making good progress on it.
Speaker B:I think we're targeting a 1.2 million dollar raise.
Speaker B:But even if we don't reach that full amount, we'll still have more than enough to operate.
Speaker B:That would just be a trade off against like speed of operations like escape Velocity in terms of, you know, getting the growth versus not.
Speaker B:What I'll say is we have the committed amount of capital we need today to I'd say run operations for let's say almost 18 months, let's say between 16 and 18 months.
Speaker B:So we're okay on that front.
Speaker B:We haven't called it in yet just because we're still at the tail end of that call it the natural network effect stage.
Speaker B:Getting the word out kind of a thing.
Speaker B:Just dialing in a little more on the like.
Speaker B:We've added a few features but now I think it's working to a point where the actually on the app too, there's a referral link now.
Speaker B:So what people are actually incentivized to do is start with 300 bucks, get invested, meaning start with 300 and then send it to their friends.
Speaker B:Because we're giving $10 rewards per referral, meaning per user that signs up, it's up to a cap.
Speaker B:But I still think you can make up to 3,500 at least on the $10amounts.
Speaker B:And then the top prize for anybody who refers at least 10 people who also invest, meaning they can invest 300 or a few hundred bucks or more, they will get a fifteen hundred dollar reward at the end of November.
Speaker B:So we're, we're incentivizing people to kick off and well get rewarded for just sharing, you know, something that should be pretty easy for most people.
Speaker B:But going back to your question, we would prefer to not have a venture capitalist in this round only because we're building for the longer term and you can, you can take money from a VC and that's, that's great.
Speaker B:But you are giving up.
Speaker B:The sort of taking that money comes with its own caveats.
Speaker B:And especially at this stage, you can give up control, especially later down the line if you're giving up too much equity now to a venture capitalist.
Speaker B:So we've, we have angels actually and to be honest with you, most of it has come from angel commitments where it's people I've known from work, you know, worked in New York City before, people I've known from school.
Speaker B:I did my MBA at Columbia and so just people I've met who are, honestly, some of them don't even fully understand the business.
Speaker B:They're just banking on me if I'm, if I'm being quite honest.
Speaker B:Sometimes that's the case.
Speaker B:Other times it's people who see the opportunities.
Speaker B:See what I'm doing and what I'm ultimately offering to hardworking Americans who I think just deserve more.
Speaker B:Because what I've seen, especially in the prior generations, people, whether it's their 401ks, their IRAs, their brokerage, if you're not invested in the right asset classes or you're not invested in the right companies at the right time, you are not going to get to that point where retirement or paying for your child's education or, you know, any of those things will be met.
Speaker B:We've seen a lot of people who've just kind of, their, their IRA or their 401k is just kind of flatlined, maybe gone up a little bit, but it's really not doing anything.
Speaker B:So we decided to just create a solution that works much better.
Speaker B:And it's already started working, at least in the time period we've started.
Speaker B:But I guarantee you, if you have, if you're a longer term investor, this will work very, very well for you.
Speaker B:And again, it will always stay low cost.
Speaker B:Very, very low cost.
Speaker B:It's just, to me, this is a no brainer, you know, it's just.
Speaker B:Yeah, so that's.
Speaker A:So do you allow people?
Speaker A:Because I know if you don't angel investors, is there like, so say the person listening to this, you're like, you know, I'm, I'm hearing what he's doing.
Speaker A:This is a great opportunity.
Speaker A:I want to get in before you guys take off and possibly go public.
Speaker A:What could they do?
Speaker A:Is there like a different avenue?
Speaker A:Are you guys accepting additional funding or investments?
Speaker B:Oh, in terms of investment, meaning on the, like investing in the business?
Speaker B:Yeah, yes, absolutely.
Speaker B:Yeah, we're open to that as well.
Speaker B:So anybody who's willing to come in, I mean, as long as the.
Speaker B:I'll just say because we're at a point where we've had about half of the target raised already and enough for operations.
Speaker B:I would say the check sizes would have to be.
Speaker B:Meaning it can't just be like a 5 or a 10k check would have to be a little bit bigger.
Speaker B:But anybody who's willing to come in for those amounts, I'm happy to discuss with, with anyone.
Speaker B:So we're still open for accepting investor capital at that point?
Speaker B:Yes, perfect.
Speaker A:And the reason why I wanted to ask that, because it's like, you know, this is new, just, you know, not often that a lot of people actually get to listen to how startups actually work.
Speaker A:And I often know, like, okay, what are you doing for the community?
Speaker A:And one of the things that you already hit in both parts, which is, hey, for the community, we're trying to understand that investments are expensive and that you're coming in with a three dollar cap for right now, which is on the retail.
Speaker B:Yeah, on the retail side, the IRA is like 5 or 10, but still way less.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker A:And so you're looking at about, you know, $36 a year.
Speaker A:I mean you could spend that going out to eat, so.
Speaker B:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, just stay in one night.
Speaker A:You know, and so, you know, just take us back a little bit just so we can know a little bit about you, which is like, how did you even come with the concept, like what was going on?
Speaker B:So I think we'll have to go back a little bit to my work history.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:So I'll, I'll touch on that and sort of how this idea came about.
Speaker B:So basically I was working in New York, you know, one of those kids fresh out of college getting a job on Wall Street.
Speaker B:What I learned there, I worked at one job where I had basically access to all of this, what I would call exclusive, meaning just because it's not out in the open type of hedge fund private equity data.
Speaker B:And it was literally all the big funds you could possibly think of and like, like every big name.
Speaker B:And so I had this.
Speaker B:Basically one of my jobs was just working there and analyzing the data and working as a consultant essentially to these big groups.
Speaker B:What I realized was how differentiated access to the investments those guys were getting, meaning the people in those funds and everybody else.
Speaker B:When you look at the fidelities, the Schwab's, the vanguards, all of that, it's just like, it's a world of difference, A world of difference in terms of not just access, but also the performance they're getting over time.
Speaker B:So I was like, hold on, wait a minute.
Speaker B:There's this huge gap, right?
Speaker B:And I saw this every day just going into work and whatnot.
Speaker B:And so I thought there has to be a way to close this.
Speaker B:So that was the first sort of light bulb moment, at least trying to figure out how to do this.
Speaker B:Then I spoke with, meaning our, our current backend partner who is like I said, a hundred billion dollar public market cap brokerage who they're providing the back end infrastructure and we're just layering in sort of we're built on top of them.
Speaker B:Interactive Brokers is the name, meaning they're fully vetted, public, fully licensed, all the licenses, custody.
Speaker B:Sometimes people ask, oh, are you SEC ready?
Speaker B:Yes, we have SEC registration on our side.
Speaker B:So don't worry about fraud or anything like that.
Speaker B:It's not going to happen.
Speaker B:The bar is pretty high.
Speaker B:So basically what we did is we figured out a way with this partner to make this happen.
Speaker B:So then I was like, okay, now I have to build it, right?
Speaker B:So I saved my own money.
Speaker B:I was working, you know, working my way up and doing all those things.
Speaker B:Then I decided, all right, I think there's a way to do this.
Speaker B:And actually I found a team of a few engineers in India of all places.
Speaker B:So what I did is I booked a ticket, flew there, worked with these guys for a few months just to build this fully.
Speaker B:I sat there every day, I worked with these guys.
Speaker B:They're a core part of the team.
Speaker B:And I still work.
Speaker B:We still work with them to this day.
Speaker B:They're ultimately the guys that, you know, they see what I'm building.
Speaker B:So we're not.
Speaker B:We're launching in the US first, right?
Speaker B:Because obviously, I mean, homegrown, I want to give the value to Americans, but we're also looking at launching into India.
Speaker B:So we're currently doing the registration for that right now.
Speaker B:So over the next one to three months.
Speaker B:So what we're trying to do is again, be customer centric, but give that value to the user base that wants it.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:People that want to grow, want to try again, just try small amounts, see it work for them and grow in a way where they're not going to get that sort of opportunity at any other place because they're going to charge the fee.
Speaker B:Fees and layer in the, you know, it's not just the fees.
Speaker B:I would argue the performance is better.
Speaker B:And I can give you all the.
Speaker B:Anybody who wants the, the charts and the data and to, to prove that out, I can give that to you.
Speaker B:But, but the idea is the compounding will be much higher too.
Speaker B:Look at a hundred grand even a hundred GRAND Compounded at 20%, I believe it's over 20 years that that turns into $3.8 million.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker B:That, that's a lot of money, right?
Speaker B:That makes a huge difference for most people.
Speaker B:And all you have to do is consistently invest small amounts.
Speaker B:We're not, we're not do anything crazy or like, you know, become a professional athlete or do whatever.
Speaker B:It's like all you got to do is just click a button, just put in that little amount that everybody's got and just see it work for you.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Sorry.
Speaker B:That in terms of how the idea came about, sorry, circling back is just.
Speaker B:It started with where I worked.
Speaker B:It started with seeing the broad differences in access.
Speaker B:And then it was ultimately when a solution came up with a partner for how to go do it, and then it was just a matter of building it.
Speaker B:So I think that was sort of the iteration of how it came about.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's nice.
Speaker A:Is your parents, like, inspired you or anything like that to kind of go down this path or.
Speaker A:Or was it just some, like, you know, buddy.
Speaker B:So both.
Speaker B:Both my parents are lawyers, but in the tech field.
Speaker B:So I guess I would say I had a little bit of an understanding from that.
Speaker B:But I wouldn't say that they veered me in one direction or another.
Speaker B:It was just kind of what.
Speaker B:I mean, I knew I wanted to work in finance coming out of college and all of that because that's, you know, I was.
Speaker B:I was very, very good at.
Speaker B:I'm a strong math guy and, you know, numbers always interest me.
Speaker B:And so that.
Speaker B:That was sort of where my interest guided me.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So then I was there.
Speaker B:But I didn't necessarily know at that time that I was going to launch this business.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:It was more after working in that environment and learning about the gaps and what was flawed about the current system and the way it works, and then looking at every competitor, Fidelity, Schwab, Vanguard, Betterment, all these other guys, and how they're all effectively doing the same thing, but just marketing in a slightly different way.
Speaker B:And I was like, no, we're going to do something different here.
Speaker B:We're actually going to give people the value that they're not getting access to using the.
Speaker B:Again, the resources that we have, and we're just distilling that for the user.
Speaker B:So all they got to do, even if they went on the platform and clicked their thumbs around, they couldn't possibly go wrong because it's already curated for you.
Speaker B:So you can't.
Speaker B:You can't possibly mess it up.
Speaker A:And because of that, like, most of these bigger banks actually do have, like an education portal.
Speaker A:Do you guys have something like that so they can learn more about it?
Speaker B:We have a website right now, so we'll work on the education part of it.
Speaker B:But what I can do, I guess, yeah, so we don't have an official education part portal yet, but that is something that we're working on at the moment.
Speaker B:I think what you can see, at least on the website, distillations of what we've done.
Speaker B:And like I said, if you sign up on the app, you can see the performance.
Speaker B:I think ultimately what drives people in is they see the numbers and they're like, okay, I'M willing to try 300 bucks or 400 bucks or whatever and try see how this works.
Speaker B:And then once they see it working, usually what's happened is they've come back and then they've started putting in a lot more.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker A:So for the future of the business, like what skills that you need to take this to the next level, just one level up from where you're at now.
Speaker B:Yeah, I think the next level is honestly just expansion.
Speaker B:So in the sense of acquiring more users, the good news is that we've already prepared, especially on the technology side of the platform to scale to very large amounts and being able to handle that even if there was a sudden influx of users.
Speaker B:But, but where, where I see this going is ultimately we will expand beyond the 11 states we're in.
Speaker B:So we're either going to go another 10 states at a time or we'll just do all 50 and that'll be just pending on depending on how the round continues to evolve.
Speaker B:But in the worst case we'll maybe add 10 states sequentially.
Speaker B:So may in the next three iterations we should be there in the coming months fairly soon.
Speaker B:Even in that case we will ultimately we're doing international expansion as well.
Speaker B:So the way I see this going is I anticipate this being a very big business and I plan to pursue the international market as well as the US And I think more exposure, more user adoption.
Speaker B:I already have, meaning individuals other than the team I'm working with.
Speaker B:There are people that are interested in joining this mission and so it'll just be a matter of hiring out more people as we're, as we're building out.
Speaker B:I think a sales team would be another key component obviously.
Speaker B:So hiring one or two guys on that front, it's especially over the coming, let's say, you know, two to six months, that'll be top of agenda as well.
Speaker A:And is there anything for you yourself?
Speaker A:Like do you feel, is there something that will take you personally to the next level, like habits that you want to work on?
Speaker B:Habits, yeah.
Speaker B:So I think, I think one element would be like delegation and especially now where it's like there's so much on my plate just in terms of just, I mean just to get it this far without raising a dollar has been quite a challenge.
Speaker B:But I think that's good as well because what it means is we get, I get to keep control of the business.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And basically shape the longer term outcome.
Speaker B:Because I think Peter Thiel had this quote and I think he's right is like ultimately the biggest businesses, the ones that become the biggest businesses, they just don't sell their stake.
Speaker B:Meaning, like, there are times where being acquired is a good thing.
Speaker A:Well, is there anything for the person that's listening right now?
Speaker A:Is there something you want to say to them before we dive into the final four?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:So I just want to emphasize the.
Speaker B:So there's the retail side, which again, anybody can try for as little as $300 if you also have an existing IRA or 401k account.
Speaker B:We have seen our initial users just being onboarded into that.
Speaker B:I think that is something that would be very appealing for most people just because the current 401k and IRA plans.
Speaker B:At any employer where an individual has started working, they usually only let you put select one of, let's say, a few investment options.
Speaker B:And if you look into any of those options anywhere across the country, I've seen hundreds and hundreds and probably thousands of examples of this.
Speaker B:They're all the same.
Speaker B:They're all overly diversified bundles of garbage, in my opinion.
Speaker B:But, but like, my point is that that's not the way to do it.
Speaker B:That will crucify you to that sort of flatline growth.
Speaker B:And it's like.
Speaker B:Whereas if you actually move your accounts over like, you know, our initial users have, you will be able to retire fully guaranteed, full stop.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker A:So, you ready for the final four questions?
Speaker B:Let's do it.
Speaker A:All right, so these final four questions are four questions that I ask every guest at the end of the show.
Speaker A:So just to kind of wrap up the show, these questions may alter as I go forward, you know, depending on how I feel.
Speaker A:So, number one, what does wealth mean to you?
Speaker B:Wealth is honestly just a tool that enables you to do what you want to do in life.
Speaker B:So I would call it a freedom enabler, but in the sense that it just gives you the.
Speaker B:The wealth or the freedom to basically pursue your own passions and hobbies.
Speaker B:So I think that's ultimately what wealth is and that's.
Speaker B:That's what we aspire to provide for, you know, our users.
Speaker A:Number two, what was your worst money mistake?
Speaker B:I don't know if I've had a worst money mistake, to be honest with you.
Speaker B:But what I will say is, like, the biggest mistakes are honestly the ones where you know something about a particular investment and you don't make a decision.
Speaker B:So it's like, it's usually the ones you missed out on.
Speaker B:So I've had a couple of those.
Speaker B:But yeah, other than that, I mean, but those would just be, you know, specific investments at A specific time where I thought, okay, we probably should have invested something and we decided to pass for one reason or another.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Because I've done that with Facebook.
Speaker A:When I first IPO, then I was like, that's only like $20.
Speaker A:Who want to invest in a social platform?
Speaker B:I've done, though.
Speaker B:I've done that with Facebook as well a little bit later on, but.
Speaker B:But still.
Speaker B:Yeah, I've done that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Facebook was a big one, so that.
Speaker B:That would be the example I would give.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:A big airball for that one.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Number three, is there a book that inspired your journey or change your perspective?
Speaker B:Yes, if there's one book that I would recommend, this is usually the top book that I recommend.
Speaker B:It's always at the top of my list.
Speaker B:But it really changed my thinking was it's called the Everything Store by Brad Stone.
Speaker B:I think it's a really good read.
Speaker B:And if you.
Speaker B:You should read it fully, meaning cover to cover, because it really gives you the insights and details of how a company is built.
Speaker B:So basically it goes into the Amazon story, but it gets.
Speaker B:It provides really granular details that you're not going to find anywhere else.
Speaker A:Number four, what is your favorite dish to make?
Speaker B:Favorite dish?
Speaker B:Food.
Speaker A:Like, I don't cook.
Speaker B:That's tough.
Speaker B:I don't cook that often.
Speaker B:But honestly, I'm a pretty simple guy.
Speaker B:I'll usually go with the.
Speaker B:With the steak and eggs.
Speaker B:Like, protein diet is more.
Speaker B:More my thing.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker B:That's my go to.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:All right, so this is the very last question of the show is where could people find out more about you?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Uh, so you can go on the website for the business.
Speaker B:I'll give that.
Speaker B:So that is OpenVest co. You can find OpenVest on Twitter.
Speaker B:So at OpenVest1, there's a LinkedIn as well.
Speaker B:LinkedIn page for OpenVest.
Speaker B:I think we're on Instagram as well.
Speaker B:And OpenVest1.
Speaker B:And then otherwise, honestly, anybody has any questions, whether it's on the business front or anything, you can honestly just email me.
Speaker B:I'll.
Speaker B:I'll drop that as well.
Speaker B:So it's J a k@openvest.co Again, that's J A K at Openvest.
Speaker A:All right, man.
Speaker A:Thank you so much, Justin, for sharing with us about OpenVest.
Speaker A:And really, I commend you on your.
Speaker A:Your mission on really making sure that this is something that's simplified and reasonably done.
Speaker A:Because usually when you look at these investments, you're getting that 1% or even 2%, even though there's some free ones.
Speaker A:But also those are limited as well, depending on which brokerage you go with.
Speaker B:Correct.
Speaker A:Thank you so much for with this platform and please you as a listener listening and saying like, hey, you know what, I want to try this know leave a comment down below, inside Spotify or even on YouTube just let us know how did that work out for know.
Speaker A:We actually curious to see what's going on.
Speaker A:So thank you so much and y' all be safe.
Speaker A:We out.
Speaker A:Peace.
