How I Built A Financial AI SaaS At Age 15! [Soon-To-Be-Launched]
Hello, I am Vedant Verma. I’m 15 years old and I started a NFT marketplace at 14 and grew it to a million dollars in company valuation. Currently, I run an AI startup named Segmentize. We are revolutionizing investing and the wealth equation for everyone.
Our full version is going to launch soon. We’ll help build everyone's financial investing discipline to maximize their income.
I also run a blogging website for entrepreneurship and philosophy - vedantverma.com. I’m also an author and my next book “Blockchain Mania” is going to launch by the end of this year.
I’ve a lot of time in terms of a traditional entrepreneur, I’m quite young but I love the grind and I believe that intelligent people cannot stay idle for long, we need to keep ourselves busy and create an impact in the world.
My vision is just not to build a mere product but to create a whole ecosystem around investing.
What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?
I started my first startup at 14 years of age and had a team of 5 individuals (including me) on 3 different continents. I have experience in team leading and fundraising. I had a huge network of Angels, VCs, and blockchain developers who shaped my entrepreneurial skills. After that startup failed due to market volatility and our lack of marketing reach. I took a break and then started Segmentize.
It still hurts to my core that Metabasket failed. I loved that startup with all my heart but I think we all fail and that’s an important part of learning. I don’t believe that failure is necessarily good but it's quite discouraging. Accepting our failure and not giving up is what makes us entrepreneurs, right?
I saw the problem of the lack of financial awareness (in my country) which limited them to their only income. I wanted to improve their financial life. Since I have a finance background and I’m pursuing Investment Banking, I was keen to solve this problem.
Segmentize’s monthly visits are growing 8-10% monthly without marketing and launching officially. Mainly the traffic comes from my blogging page and Instagram.
Take us through the process of building the first version of your product.
I had no idea how to build it and it makes me proud that at 15 years of age, I learned the AI mechanics and protocols. Now, we are so close to the launch (By the end of this year) and it’s overwhelming how the next few years are going to be for Segmentize.
I used Webflow, OpenAI’s API, and a couple of more third-party tools and custom codes to build this. The only reason we aren’t launching just yet is that financial advice requires a lot of legal backing since it involves a certain amount of risk that the customer could lose some money.
We are going to use social media content creation, Facebook groups marketing, LinkedIn cold messages, email subscriptions, SEO, etc.
Following the creators in your niche is important for every starter. They keep you accountable and also educate you more about your niche. I watched a lot of videos on SaaS and read a lot of finance books to make this thing happen.
Describe the process of launching the business.
It’s not fully launched yet but building the initial website was a headache too. I’m an ambassador in many incubation programs run by some local startups. Everyone told me this won’t work. I said, “I’ll make it work”.
Webflow runs a startup program so I contacted them and they gave us the first 3 months for free to use their application, after that I contacted them again and explained the depth of our work and they gave us 1 year more. This should be inspirational to everyone who says I don’t have enough capital to start.
I used Webflow for web development, Stripe for payment systems, and Zapier for connecting everything. Though the API is added to the website it is still not public yet. I bought the domain from GoDaddy. We are currently using Open AI’s embedding technology since finetuning is not required and will not meet our requirements. We have started embedding the algorithm and training it. It still needs some time to mature. We also plan to add a chatbot assistant to our website using the finetuning model
How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
Right now, the project growth is phenomenal. Even Webflow recognized our work at Segmentize and supported us by not charging for web hosting. We’d soon launch it and see how the algorithm will perform. We will also add affiliates to investment options on our website to add revenue. However, the platform fees are also applicable.
I’d like to believe that the future is optimistic. I have faith in my product, let’s see if the market will accept it. We are projecting 1000 paid customers by the end of this financial year.
My vision is just not to build a mere product but to create a whole ecosystem around investing. Of course, this would require some time but I believe that what I’m creating is a genuine good product that will help people.
Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?
This might come out to be surprising but I learned a lot of listening skills. Of course, I learned about Artificial Intelligence and SaaS, etc. However, the amount of patience you need to deeply understand your niche requires a lot of listening skills.
I talked to many relatives about their investment plans etc. I learned how to build SaaS using AI which is a skill that’s going to be the most demanded in near time.
When you understand your customer, you build a certain level of empathy which carries forward in life too. I learned a lot about how this whole AI revolution is going to change the social and political scene of this world which in turn is important for startups and how efficiently they can put their product in the market.
I also learned that whenever you’re starting something new there’s always a chance of failure. Even Elon didn’t believe that Tesla and SpaceX would be successful, but when the problem is big enough you have to just do it, irrespective of the outcome.
What platform/tools do you use for your business?
For building the product:
For Productivity:
What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?
I read a lot of books but these have inspired me greatly:
- Elon Musk biography
- Rework
- The psychology of money
- Zero to One
- The almanac of Naval Ravikant
Podcasts:
- Starter Story
- Figuring Out
- Roe Rogan
- Tim Ferris
Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?
I’ve made a lot of mistakes and I still do but I never let that define who I am. I would recommend everyone to read a lot, consume knowledge, stay fit and work hard. The SaaS industry is on the boom right now so if you are working anywhere near it you can also start your own. Trust me it's not impossible. We fail, we rise up and then we start again. Success requires time and grit.
There will come times in your life when you feel like you’re the absolute king of the market and sometimes you’ll feel like you’re nothing. I like to take the middle routine to avoid this, I try to stay consistent through the ups and the downs.
Entrepreneurship is tough, really tough, and sometimes not as lucrative as you might think. But if you choose this path, I respect you.
Consistency and dedication are the base of your startup. Never weaken your base. Love what you are doing and be the best in it. That would probably get you to success. Even if you fail, try again and again and again until you win as I’m trying.
Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?
We are looking for Data Analysts who have experience in AI. Unpaid. Though we can share ESOP.
Where can we go to learn more?
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!
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