In today’s episode, Jeff interviews Axel Thibon, the CEO of Wizest in Cleveland, OH. Axel is originally from France, he moved to the US 10 years ago to switch from a career as a Mechanical Engineer to Finance. Here in the US he managed a retail bank and built a bank from scratch on behalf of another institution. Out of frustration in managing the bank and when he was a mechanical engineer, Axel started Wizest to start learning how to invest to build wealth for his future and to help others.
Axel and Jeff discuss:
- Started in France as a Mechanical Engineer, came to the US 10 years ago and switched to banking / Finance.
- Worked in a couple of large banks in Florida, as the head of strategy.
- Managed a retail bank that they acquired directly and also built another retail bank from scratch on behalf of another institution.
- Frustrated in his career and not knowing what to do to start investing to build wealth for his future, he started Wizest to be the solution.
- What makes Wizest different? The market has (3) investing solutions: 1) DIY 2) Passive solution and 3) Financial Advisor.
- No investing option for the people who want the “Do it with me” option but don’t have 100-250K to invest with a financial advisor.
- Wizest was created to close this gap; in the app you can browse the portfolios of others and follow them.
- Objective not only B2C solutions but partnering with banks/credit unions and employers.
- Wizest is the solution for everyone who struggles with wanting to start investing but don’t know what to do.
- Wizest is going live soon, to keep up to date on the latest developments subscribe to their newsletter or sign up to get access at www.wizest.com
Fast Five Questions
- If you woke up and your business was gone, you have $500, a laptop, a place to live, and food, what would you do first? “That is funny, that will bring me back to where I was 3 years ago, the story has written itself so I would do it again. Start first by investing in myself a little in the stock market to get some fuel and then let's build a solution that would work for me and for others.”
- What is the biggest mistake that you have made in business? “When working for a retail bank, issues we were having I was wanting to change the system we were using and not pushing as I should have as top management for what I think was the best solution. Now a few years after, this is the direction other players are taking. I should have pushed more.”
- What is a book that you would recommend? “Traction by Gino Wickman and to think about something different, The behind (French, Science Fiction from the 19th century).”
- What is a tool that you use everyday that you would recommend? “Excel”
- What is your definition of freedom? “Being able to be in full sync in between what is my personal vision or mission and what I’m doing.”
- What is the best way to contact you? “
- Website: www.wizest.com
- Social Media: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn
- Email: Axel@wizest.com ”
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