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:

1. Started in France as a Mechanical Engineer, came to the US 10 years ago and switched to banking / Finance.
2. Worked in a couple of large banks in Florida, as the head of strategy.
3. Managed a retail bank that they acquired directly and also built another retail bank from scratch on behalf of another institution.
4. 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.
5. What makes Wizest different? The market has (3) investing solutions: 1) DIY  2) Passive solution and 3) Financial Advisor.
6. 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.
7. Wizest was created to close this gap; in the app you can browse the portfolios of others and follow them.
8. Objective not only B2C solutions but partnering with banks/credit unions and employers.
9. Wizest is the solution for everyone who struggles with wanting to start investing but don’t know what to do.
10. 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

1. 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.”
2. 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.”
3. 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).”
4. What is a tool that you use everyday that you would recommend? “Excel”
5. 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.”
6. 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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