CEO, Vestr

B.A., Economics, 2022

What role do you play in the entrepreneurial ecosystem?

I started Vestr my senior year at Clemson with the vision of creating the finance super app -- combining trading, social, research, and news into one product. We have a second business, VestrData, where we sell live market data to developers and startups for 80% cheaper than incumbents

What are some of your best memories of your time at Clemson?

Some of my best memories at Clemson involve playing on the soccer team, football gamedays, and spending time with my best friends. Choosing a favorite is difficult, but I will never forget the roar of Death Valley when Christian Wilkins sacked the Syracuse quarterback in front of the student section with 20 seconds left on the clock to seal the game, or the chaos that followed downtown after beating Alabama 44-16. Putting on the Clemson soccer jersey and playing the sport I loved with my friends in first-rate facilities, with endless snacks and protein shakes, on a team ranked No. 1 in the nation was a childhood dream that I feel extremely fortunate to have experienced.

What were the key inflection points in your career after you left Clemson?

I think my first public failure at the end of 2022 and the struggle of 2023 was a real wake up call. I raised $150k from angel investors my senior year (early 2022) and was almost positive Vestr was going to go on a straight line to the top of the app store post-launch, I would be a billionaire by 23, and by 2025 Vestr would be the largest investing platform in the world. What really happened was the app barely worked, I burned through half my investors' money, I was all alone and had no idea what to do because when I looked in the mirror I saw a failure. At the end of 2023 we had $5k left in the company bank account.

The change came when I found a partner willing to work with me who was equally passionate about building the future of finance. In 2024 we raised $400k and right-sided the ship. From graduation May 2022 to May 2024, I felt like I lived ten lives, but I needed to experience the lows to cherish the highs, and I needed to work through the pain to prove to myself and others that I still believed wholeheartedly in the vision of Vestr.

What are your personal and professional dreams?

Personally, I want to have a family and give back to the communities and people that gave me so much

Professionally, I want to build Vestr into the largest retail finance platform in the world, and VestrData into the de facto live market data API.

What would you recommend students do to maximize their remaining time at Clemson?

Find something you are passionate about and go all in. People love people with vision, it doesn't matter if you are young, you don't need to be old to be right!

What else should we know about you?

I believe that the world of investing is experiencing a fundamental shift. Gen Z will not invest with local wealth managers, but go online to find the best investors in the world rather than in their neighborhood. 

We are still a long, long way off from where I want us to be. But we chip away at our goals every day, and we are always looking for young talented individuals who share our vision for the future.