Samir Vasavada (Vise) - From Teenage Founder to Tech CEO

Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders (ETL)

Stanford eCorner

Journey, Startups, Education, Stanford, Culture, Strategy, Stanford University, Entrepreneurship, Business, Life Lessons, Thought Leadership, Creativity, Etl, Challenges, Leadership, Innovation, Founders

4.4 • 739 Ratings

🗓️ 9 July 2025

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Samir Vasavada, co-founder and CEO of Vise, shares his inspiring journey from launching an AI-powered asset management startup as a teenager to raising more than $130M from top VCs like Sequoia and Founders Fund. Vasavada discusses navigating the “dark side” of venture funding, the lessons learned from hiring seasoned executives too early, and why the best leaders often come from within. His reflections offer a candid look at staying focused amid hype, aligning incentives, and building a category-defining company where you stay committed to your vision while responding to customer feedback.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome back to the Entrepreneur Thought Leaders series.
0:17.0	My name is Emily Ma and I'm an adjunct lecturer here for Stanford School of Engineering.
0:22.6	The Entrepreneur Thought Leader series is hosted by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program,
0:26.6	which is the Stanford Entrepreneurial Engineering Center.
0:29.6	It's also hosted by BASIS, which is the Business Association for Stanford Engineering Students.
0:35.6	Okay, so today I'm so thrilled to host Samir Vasavada
0:42.4	from Vise.com here.
0:45.3	He is the co-founder and CEO of Vise,
0:48.4	a technology-powered asset manager
0:50.3	that uses artificial intelligence to help
0:52.1	financial advisors build, manage, and explain
0:55.3	personalized portfolios for their clients.
0:58.0	Vice Manage is nearly $19 billion in assets as of today, across thousands of individual
1:05.2	client accounts with a team of world-class engineers, PhD quant researchers, and investment
1:10.6	strategists. Co-founders Samir quant researchers, and investment strategists.
1:12.0	Co-founders Samir Vasavada and Runic Mahotra
1:15.9	also started advice when they were 12, 12 years old,
1:19.6	living in the Midwest.
1:20.7	I don't know what you were doing when you were 12,
1:22.2	but I think I was coloring, coloring books.
1:24.7	They bootstrap the company for several years
1:26.9	before raising a single dollar, and
	...

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