A High School Dropout Builds $1B Startup at 23 | Vise Samir Vasavada

Today's story is about Samir, who operates Vise. Samir, unbelievably, started taking university classes at the age of 12 and founded his first company at the age of 13. Faced with the failure of his first two startups, Samir encounters new opportunities. He drops out of high school and moves to San Francisco's Tenderloin district. He lived there and he begins to grow his company. After numerous failures and challenges, his company reaches a corporate valuation of $1 billion. His age is only 23, making him the youngest person to own a $1 billion company. Let's meet his story in the video!
00:00 Intro
00:49 Chapter 1. A 13-Year-Old Builder
04:47 Chapter 2. Learning from failures
08:49 Chapter 3. Right people make better result
11:59 Chapter 4. Do what you're passionate about
EO stands for Entrepreneurship & Opportunities. We're looking for more inspiring stories of entrepreneurs all over the world, so don't hesitate to contact us! :)
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Subtitles for this video were created using [XL8.ai](xl8.ai/) machine translation.

[@entreprenuership_opportunities]

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[@ab.normal.]

This is one of the best, genuine entrepreneur interview ever online.

[@la.vibracion]

bro has inspired me to give up💯💯

[@JustTheHighlights]

🤣🤣🤣

[@brotherhood11111]

Fr

[@abi3751]

Moral of the story 😂

[@InFellowShip]

Tell me why ? i have the inverse feeling

[@Marcelosalasdubai]

I’m married so I won’t never be billionaire 😢… 😂

[@nicholaswoods8840]

Success is not built on success. It's built on failure, It's built on fraustration. it's built on fear that you have to overcome. I pray that anyone who reads this will be successful in life

[@luckywealth8639]

You are right.!

[@luckywealth8639]

That is why I had to start forex trading 2months ago and l now am making benefits from it.!

[@FranksPhilosophy]

More like both. Sure you learn from mistakes and failures to make better things, but it’s with every small successful thing you achieve that builds momentum for more successful steps later on because it brings more and more confidence.

[@OurFountainofYouth]

Such an inspiring interview. Samir, absolutely love your grit, drive & determination! Congratulations to you & your team! All the best to you! 👏😃🎉🎊

[@InFellowShip]

Boy, with every sentence, I have to pause the video and take notes, because it's genuine.

[@mandateonmandalay7632]

This bro exactly knows what he's doing and what he's talking about. These are very impressive words to hear from such a younger person. As someone who deep dives into this industry, I can feel the every value he can provide since his teenage days. Congratulations bro you're amazing.

[@throwaway-lo4zw]

congrats samir, seem like a hard working man, u deserve the success

[@NEO-wl9ox]

such an astronomically flourishing and sophisticated guy, who dropped off genuinely mesmerizing perceptions and remarkable speech.As I am programmer who still trying to see light in tunnel , I think i should literally single out to this guy

[@ashwinkale2870]

The way he convey his message 🔥!! Motivated

[@pocketgreetings6450]

Excellent video! This young man knows his business, and knows how to do it and operate it. I am so glad I watched gives me great ideas and inspiration! Thank you.! 🎉🎉🎉

[@TalesOfTrillions]

Love how Samir emphasizes the importance of learning from failures. It's not about how many times you fall, but how many times you get back up and keep pushing forward.

[@chrisvithuu]

What great advice we can get! It is truly a blessing that I came upon this video today. More especially, the value of "burning the boat."

[@Hardknock-grinders001]

Am really motivated by your story buddy thanks a lot and success as your scale and maintain your company ...good luck

[@borisk5256]

i was spellbound untill he said , they were offering consultancy to great Banks at 14, chargin 500-1000€. At 14 without external support you can't just do that. That seems very irrealistic to me or at least the story is not complete or rather embellished. It is important to be transparent with people so that they have realistic expectations

[@ellesunshyn]

Such a bright and hardworking young man!

[@Anduardus]

wow what an inspiring and down to earth dude.

[@DennisRiungu]

One of the most inspiring founders I have listened to

[@Escape_The_Mundane]

This guy is genius. Inspiration to all.

[@galleon8129]

I love his straight talk and ambition

[@ReflectionOcean]

- Recognize the value of real-world problem solving over formal education (00:12) - Prioritize hiring individuals with the right mindset and customer focus (00:25) - Continuously iterate products based on customer feedback (07:35) - Maintain direct communication with customers to improve the product and sales (08:10) - Focus on hiring top performers and incentivizing them properly (09:19) - Embed customer obsession into the company culture (11:43)

[@HT_Ray]

This kid is on a whole different vibration! Pure class

[@redgrant4897]

So, who incorporated the "consulting" business? Who provided the service agreements and contracts for the consulting business? Who provided liability protection if the 14 year olds AI advice hurt a Goldman client? How was the 14 year old able to attend school and also give investment banking presentations at the same time? Sounds like an Elon Musk story. So many missing details. The answer is that there are people behind the scenes pulling the strings.

[@DK-ry8hr]

Correct 👍

[@lilyinthewater161]

True

[@exelgensets]

Greta..fication has been done to this boy by his parents ! Greta Thunberg and this.boy operates on almost same operating system

[@rajatverma1611]

whatever you think of...really doesn't matter. If you can just reflect back at the opportunities that you could have turned into business. But this mindset would really not gonna help you to start something great.

[@Khan_kpk007]

I am from Pakistan. Truly inspired by this guy. Hats off to this young guy..

[@AwomKenneth]

one thing I can say for sure is that never ignore that hunger that calling that forces you to look unreasonable in the eyes of the society

[@SameerSameer-fp9lf]

this is almost magical. Love the passion and energy in this guy.

[@hardeepdhull8215]

Super duper session. Thanks EO team.

[@nitikapatil5340]

Kudos brother.Keep getting 1% better everyday 😊

[@Mr.Boonseeohhh]

He didn't give up, good stuff Samir 💯

[@user-wu2ks2ss7q]

What I have learned from this young dude is that, as long as you give something of value, the world will reward you for it. Age is just a number and tech has really revolutionized the world. Young guys are doing bug things because they are taking the leap of faith and doing the unthinkable.

[@AbracadabraFC]

*big things :)

[@daddy6757]

Business 101: Invent a problem, sell a solution and profit

[@atharvakpatil]

yes us young ones are being bugs

[@Eden639]

I like this young guy, he is sincere.

[@shrix]

So honestly well said Samir, it's all about building the stuff

[@plannerjoy]

9:01 “The right people that are thinking about solving the right customer problems, operating at the right speed, is what makes companies grow and scale faster.” Incredibly insightful quote for a 23 year old.

[@evurohardware]

It's simply operating at speed with clear conscience, not sure if anyone particular is right people

[@vamostimow]

His idea isn't worth 1b

[@richardottum1]

It's not always what you know; but who you know and how you learned it. Educational is the key, but school systems are the locked up. That's another reason the added security lock is called a deadbolt

[@AsiaRomaria]

That was just pure gold....

[@healthHQ332]

This is the best founder story I've ever had

[@EasyCapitalArsh]

i teared up watching this. The confidence is commendable

[@reprovedcandy]

I respect absolutely everything about this guy... other than waiting till the platform was perfect to give to users, but it seems he learned that lesson!

[@rolodexter]

🙌 Preach! It's all about finding that balance between perfectionism and getting the product out there for people to use and enjoy. It sounds like Pinokio's creator has definitely figured that out and learned from past mistakes. Now, we can all enjoy the fruits of their labor and have a slick, all-in-one AI tool at our fingertips. It's like having a digital Swiss Army knife for all our AI needs! 💪 Talk with Pi This early version of Pi can make mistakes. Please don’t rely on its information. Voice off

[@ricegum7583]

Really inspiring, I like this guy and his ideals

[@asbedkar]

Super insightful ! Love it

[@Mr.Boonseeohhh]

Inspiring story about following you Passions 💯

[@omkar6107]

I am surprised by the fact that he was consulting Investment banks at such a young age. At that age even our families don't take us seriously. Moreover, machine learning is such a deep subject. TBH, I am finding it hard to believe in his story. Having a 1B startup at 23 is believable because there are a lot of such cases now and really irrational valuations and pump and dump schemes and so on. Not saying his startup is not good.

[@vamostimow]

Liarrr

[@mustafabektas7207]

finally.. someone with some sense. After building an app and getting into grad, they start to get paid 500-1000 dollars per hour to give their AI knowledge to top consultant companies... The companies that continuously hire the top talent in academics suddenly wanted to get prep talk from two guys who crashed into machine learning a year ago. And its not like this happened in 2010s, in a time era maybe companies didnt know much about machine learnings capabilities... Its in 2020s. Thats bizarre. Not saying they are lying, but there are some missing pieces here.

[@thomas0086]

Yeah, like how was it possible to learn those topics and code them at that level in a year for major banks who literally rejecting some ivy leaguers with PHDs, I’m not saying it’s impossible, but must be a genius.

[@fillingswithtobydonut]

He's a very good storyteller.

[@BethanyNes77]

Wow powerful testimony go run and live for your passion. Thanks 🙏 for inspiration

[@Brodragon2225]

yeah but those who are not from usa

[@ramonahill9633]

Amazing video! So inspirational

[@jaigangemata4166]

Wow! What a guy. I am like I have listended to 10 successful founders at one go. So wise!

[@H4R4.]

Man he's immensely knowledgeable....great guy to look upto and excited to see what he builds in the future....!!

[@VietYork]

00:03 A high school dropout builds $1B startup at 23. 01:48 Started as teenage consultants for investment banks, recognized the need for technology in wealth management 03:31 Vise AI is an artificial intelligence platform tailored to investment advisors. 05:21 Overcoming rejection and raising funds for the startup 06:49 The founder learned from failures and had many iterations before launching the product. 08:34 Talking to customers is crucial for success in building a business. 10:22 Building a successful startup requires a shift in culture, hiring the right talent, and a problem-solving mindset. 12:06 Starting a company at a young age requires passion and determination. Crafted by Viet York

[@vammotv5183]

you are using merlin for this

[@alainportant6412]

@@vammotv5183 yeah this ai crap is longer than the video

[@barkakashtu8699]

valuable advises for startups,

[@highnitin]

Every word has a strong meaning, I can feel it 🙌

[@worldbanks]

Felt that too.

[@marchlopez9934]

Summary: Samir Vasavada, co-founder and CEO of Vise, dropped out of high school to pursue his passion for technology and building things. He and his co-founder initially started building apps, but after consulting with large investment banks on AI and machine learning, they saw an opportunity to build technology to automate the investment workflows for financial advisors. They built their first prototype at 15 and, after being advised by Jamie Dimon to look at the independent financial advisor market, discovered a massive market they could serve. Vise now helps advisors build personalized portfolios, manage those portfolios, and explain them. Vasavada believes that the right people who are thinking about solving the right customer problems and operating at the right speed are what make companies grow and scale faster. He also believes that the smartest people don't necessarily have to go to the best universities to be successful.

[@kennywismopow9607]

Nice summary 😊

[@mwaikariithi6317]

Well summarised 👏🏽👍🏼

[@iam-Coder]

Thing to keep in mind "NOT EVERY DROPPER is SUCCESSFULL"

[@e.a5612]

Fr , which dropout is going to make a vid if they are unsuccesfull. you only hear the successes

[@PO-sw7in]

no every graduate is sucessful whats your point? Work hard dropout or graduate or not even go

[@yytambaya3120]

Smart people speak these way

[@kyokushinfighter78]

Wait. 13/14 years old, not even finishing high school, become a consultant to a large investment bank charging big money. Am I living in the wrong country here? I have 20 years of experience in AI with a Ph.D. in ML and am still undergoing a lengthy bidding process for an AI consultant role in ANY institution.

[@Mandelasmind]

I honestly think people lie or misrepresent details to sound more credible.

[@sputnik8543]

These stories all sound great - but after SBF, Elizabeth Holmes and Charlie Jevice - very skeptical when seeing a young startup founder claiming success

[@TheBlackManMythLegend]

exactly. wise.. I mean vise statement ;) too good to be true most of the time... its too good to be true. especially when they say.. I am disapointed by people from big school or education. I smirk.. in high school

[@kaynkayn9870]

Not just young founders, anyone that can make money that quickly must be doing something great or something really unethical.

[@mesumasghar3328]

Inspiring!

[@startup_404]

Together we can start something. I am 2nd year engineering student.🤘🤘

[@FinGrear]

I didn't become financially independent till I was 40 ,in addition to buying my second house, I'm also making money on a monthly basis through passive income, and I've also met some of my goals. I really hope this motivates someone to know that it doesn't matter if you don't have any of these things yet; no matter your age, you can start today. Investing can help you change your future! By participating in the financial market, I took a significant decision.

[@FinancialPaul]

Thank you

[@stefcon2000]

Okay, start of the story doesn't end up. No top investment banks are taking advice from couple of 14 year olds and giving them that much money. You need to have some serious connections for you to get to that spot, and even if you're consulting, 14 year olds won't know how to set up their consulting firms. So good job, but there are some crucial information missing here

[@leon2385]

Amazing!!

[@Arunnnnnnue]

first 3 min speech is from steve jobs inspired after that elon musk ( about risk) Both are the great insprition to all

[@ananthakrishnank3208]

17 year old. He is profound. He is Vise! for his age.

[@7573ztcal]

"Lived in a place called Tenderloin" - Won me here! IT startup folks go to Sand Hill Road Palo Alto, not Tenderloin San Francisco. He found love in a hopeless place? :) Samir will go places!

[@izakmizrahi8569]

Impressive stuff. You can tell he's watched many interviews of the top 10 richest men in the world though, this interview is a regurgitation of all their go to answers.

[@jobbahart-sc9mv]

damn so he's just reading a script basically. I just wasted 14m

[@kwameowusu-apenteng1303]

Did people hear he say there was an investment banker at his summer camp who directed them to consulting for these banks? Evidently, this same person setup their billing and business structure for them. Yes, they had great help. And everyone needs support.

[@josippardon8933]

Very impressive!

[@DennisSmithGrandCayman]

Well done. Sounds easy in hindsight but this was incredibly difficult to evolve. It wasn’t an invention. It was Chaos stumbling towards a desire. The goal eventually defined itself. Not the stuff taught in business school. You can’t think out of the box. The box will always be lingering and hindering your thinking. I dropped out after the 10th grade and created many businesses all of which I walked away from. Left millions on the table and didn’t care. A different mindset. Glad that I never went to school. Well done!

[@AnomalyBelleza]

Excellent comment. I really enjoyed reading it. I surely would love to hear your story more in-depth. I like how you said, chaos, stumbling towards a desire. 👌Accurate way to frame it.

[@patricijaradojicic4299]

Such a great inspiration!

[@harshilpatel7833]

Passion can also be felt via voice. A confident young GenZ can have a profound impact on this planet. 🎉

[@alainportant6412]

hes a scam artist

[@nizamphoenix]

"I really didn't give my parents a choice" -- Uno reverse in action there 😎

[@rolodexter]

Wow, that's a truly inspiring story! Starting a company at 13, overcoming failures and challenges, and then building a billion-dollar business by 23 is no small feat. Samir's determination and resilience are truly remarkable. It's also pretty amazing that he was able to bootstrap his business before getting funding from some of the biggest names in venture capital. It really shows that with hard work, passion, and persistence, anything is possible. This is a great example of how grit and perseverance can pay off in a big way! 💪

[@chautatsing1813]

👍Very inspiring.

[@Mr.Boonseeohhh]

Damn by tenfold 🔥

[@chintanudani5631]

he said valuation of 1B but on what parameters? See brand value of company and actual value of company depends on several parameters

[@danielyang3995]

This guy has light in his eye,he's really a dream chaser!

[@plannerjoy]

10:38 We’re a company that’s figuring it out, that’s going to win because we’re all problem solvers, we’re all thinkers and we’re all hustling to make it happen.

[@worldpeace1822]

Yeha but you also need money to make it 😅 just like him with his investors

[@Blueskies7775]

Great story but it’s really hard for me to trust someone who doesn’t blink. 😣

[@fadedsedated]

what i want to know is, how tf did you learn the nitty gritty details of asset management, portfolio optimisation processes and investment advisory to be able to identify EXACTLY where the inefficiencies to exploit were, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME LEARNING THE MACHINE LEARNING KNOWLEDGE AND MEGAPLATFORM-TECHNOLOGIES TO PRODUCE A PRODUCT?!?!? bro, i study both of these areas purely because i love them, and i'm not even close. AND I'M THIS DUDES AGE. i so badly wanna work these guys man

[@purpleey]

i guess theyre just built different

[@simonchristian160]

you dont need to know everything, you can build a well rounded great team

[@AJ-nd4nk]

Some humans are meant to excel much faster than others. He is probably in the upper echelon percentile of IQs. It's like asking how Newton was able to invent differential calculus at 26, whilst most that age today can't do basic arithmetic.

[@alainportant6412]

@@purpleey he's a bullsht artist

[@CrazyRocks29]

My parents sent us to a summer program. Investment banker mentor.

[@rahrjiyanin8072]

I love seeing immigrants changing the world! ❤ Congratulations & thank you!

[@cliffpollard6975]

I don’t believe his whole story. It doesn’t add up. Why would bankers hire a 13 year old and pay them 1,000/hr to consult.

[@IbbiAhmed]

+1 but it kinda makes sense too, since they hire him to learn more about technology and AI. but 1k/hr is a bit... sus

[@chandlerfreeman1633]

In a bull market every loss making company and dumb decision makers gamble, btw none of those companies make profit, not even single $

[@eddie6167]

I was thinking the same thing. Bro said he lived in the tenderloin but made all that money too.

[@mohammadaqdas7998]

@@IbbiAhmed I think he mistakenly say that

[@GodofStories]

its not really a rags to riches story. They're semi rich kids with networks and Indian parents for support. btw im indian too

[@godseye4665]

I like this person.

[@ahmedeensaeed991]

Incredible language

[@ujwalsahu-mg8jh]

4:00. Risk🔥

[@swaminathangnanasambandam7940]

He nailed down what worlds best mba can't teach

[@Ecroff]

some people are just born for it man. when i was a 13 years old my mind wasn't as divest has him even though also learnt how to code around that age but i wasn't thinking has big has him........ as Lex Luthor said "Some people can read War and Peace and come away thinking it's a simple adventure story. Others can read the ingredients on a chewing gum wrapper and unlock the secrets of the universe"

[@tamsirniang5964]

Hi! May you please give me the name of the background music starting at 9:30?

[@-BarathKumarS]

He is a child prodigy,bound to suceed no matter what. Look at his history,was taking University level classes by the age of 12. I bet his parents are geniuses working as professors at top universities,high IQ runs in families. Edit:And look at the opportunities he got when he was just 12,his parents set him up with a summer program at a top CS School. How could one even get that on their own? This is called privilege my friend,no 12 year old is getting something like that unless his parents are well connected to the CS academic industry.

[@Brodragon2225]

truuu he was made by his parents

[@Brodragon2225]

at that age we cant think of that

[@DropBox-jx6yr]

This was the comment I was looking for.

[@vinaypalwe]

COPE this is what losers do always

[@-BarathKumarS]

@@vinaypalwe lol where's your $1 billion company?

[@EqualToBen]

7:28 this kid is wise as fuck

[@richardottum1]

Would a communication network produced by drones carrying wifi routers be too much hands on work to be profitable?

[@pedro.zurita]

When I almost hear myself say "I can't"...I will instead hear "I was sleeping on a dorm floor to make sure our business didn't fail"

[@danieltermann1983]

Immensely inspirational. Talking to customers is the job of the founder Create a small team of top performers Being at the top is a lonely process Never give up and follow your passion

[@rsv6603]

Is it possible 2 build these kind of businesses in India leaving school? 🤔🙏🏼🧿🤞🏼!

[@soccersprint]

Smart kid

[@shinkurt]

Inspirational

[@mefisto05s.20]

Bump for future reference

[@TheBruceKeller]

Not to be too negative, but I highly doubt Vise is worth $1b anymore. That number's been used since 2021 during the bubble years, for reference, even the BEST startups from then have lost ~60% valuation, like Stripe. Vise also had $250mil AUM at the time in 2021 and only have $72mil AUM now unless I read some things incorrectly. Still pretty inspirational, but also slightly disingenuous.

[@recursion.]

It's not just disingenuous, it is borderline fraudulent. Btw, can you link the source?

[@TheBruceKeller]

@@recursion. In all fairness, at one point it was valued at $1B, so it's kind of true, it's just not $1B anymore. YT doesn't like links. I found the original 2021 numbers from TechCrunch reporting on Vise's series C funding round. Vise's own site tells their current AUM. I don't think there's a recent source talking about Vise's current valuation, but it certainly can't be higher considering they've effectively shrunk and lost customers / AUM / rev, and the multiples on rev for startup valuations have shrunk.

[@EliTheCryptoAndAiGuy]

I was looking for the honest comment here with the actual truth. Thanks for posting this lol

[@AkireMaru]

What does AUM have to do with the valuation of the company? Tech and data companies often receive a 20x multiple on EBIDTA.

[@TheBruceKeller]

@@AkireMaru They aren't a public company, so their AUM and number of customers are the best way to guess rev / EBIDTA.

[@resa574]

Well the top students at top schools don't go to startups unless they're starting their own

[@ajay7079]

You inspired me so much thanks 😊💯👍