WealthBlock is a fintech firm that built the industry’s #1 white-label private capital-raising platform. And by integrating key funding tools (CRM, data room, investor verification, sub-doc e-signature, fund admin, etc.), the company’s solution streamlines processes and increases productivity by ten times. Pulse 2.0 interviewed WealthBlock founder and CEO Trilliam Jeong to learn more.
Trilliam Jeong’s Background
Between 2012 and early 2018, Jeong served as Lead Quantitative Analyst, building the first quant team in the Market Regulation department of the National Futures Association (NFA). And at the NFA, he led the quant team to build algorithms and systems to detect suspicious trading behaviors in financial derivative markets. Before NFA, Jeong obtained his master’s degree in financial mathematics from the University of Chicago and another in applied mathematics from Queens College, CUNY.
Formation Of WealthBlock
How did the idea for WealthBlock come together? Jeong said:
“I used to run my own hedge fund on the side for a few years. I realized capital raising was a painful process that took all the fun out of beating the market. However, I recognized that as a great opportunity for which I was sure I could build a good solution.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far? Jeong shared:
“I’m grateful for the team of people we have. We share a set of common values documented in our Core Ideology. Working with the right people towards a common goal makes every minute meaningful.”
Challenges Faced
What challenges have you faced in building the company and has the current macroeconomic climate affected your company? Jeong acknowledged:
“Remote working has been challenging for team morale and trust building. Current slow-down of investment market certainly puts pressure on our growth.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Jeong cited:
— White-label capital raising and investor management platform
— Workflows streamlined in one platform:
— Investor Outreach & Acquisition
— Investor Onboarding & Document E-sign
— Reporting
“Fund managers and General Partners can simplify their day-to-day and increase growth by harnessing WealthBlock, eliminating the need for multiple apps to accomplish various tasks. Ditch the slow, manual processes and step into the future of investor relations.”
“In the prospecting phase, you can gain deep insights into investor behavior, trigger strategic actions, and generate comprehensive reports on engagement levels, such as who has spent time analyzing specific pages.”
“With WealthBlock, investor acquisition becomes a mind-reading exercise, observing their actions within the app to understand needs and preferences.”
“With WealthBlock, you can:
— Accelerate your funding with data-powered analytics
— Ensure security and compliance with secure document storage
— Send secure messages to investors, monitor portfolios, and provide reports
— Collect payments with ease using payment gateways
— Wow your investors with stunning offer pages, videos, news, and more
— Increase your signups with integrated referral programs
— It’s a new level of productivity and profitability for your funding endeavors.”
Evolution Of WealthBlock’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Jeong noted:
“As of today, we have three modules catering to three parts of the investor journey. In 2018, we only started with the first two modules, investor acquisition and investor onboarding. Unsurprisingly, the 1st group of buyers were placement agents. Then, crowdfunding portal operators approached us, and we started building more features for them. In early 2020, COVID brought VC, PE, and Real Estate investment firms to our door. While we met their demand for investor onboarding, we started building more reporting features for them. That’s how we have our all-in-one platform today.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Jeong cited:
“Achieved $1 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR); Became profitable; and became cash flow positive in early 2021.
Customer Success Stories
Upon asking Jeong about customer success stories, Jeong highlighted:
“Akkadian Ventures: Moved all of their investor relations and fundraising activities to WealthBlock. And Equifund: Raised $13 million in just four hours.”
Revenue
After asking about revenue metrics, Jeong revealed:
“Over $1 million in ARR; Monthly cash flow positive; Over 10% profit margin.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Jeong assessed it is about $3 billion.
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates WealthBlock from its competition? Jeong affirmed:
“1.) Speed of setup (What takes rivals takes typically a day wait time and a week to set up; WealthBlock can do it in 30 minutes)
2.) Superior UI/UX
3.) Flexibility and customizability:
4.) Create a custom onboarding flow
5.) Convert any legal document into an e-sign-ready format
6.) Create a custom investor dashboard
7.) Create custom outreach and follow-up campaigns
8.) Half the cost of other platforms (most are $20K)
9.) Fast feature rollout based on client feedback
10.) We also cater to a wide range of customers so we must listen to every customer and what makes our platform outperform for them.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of WealthBlock’s future company goals? Jeong pointed out:
“Branch into adjacent industries to offer a holistic package to bring financial free to the masses (e.g. investment network for private investments, robo-advisor/wealth management for retail investors, bank/custodian, capital conference organization, etc.)”
Additional Thoughts
Any other topics to discuss? Jeong concluded:
“Emerging fund managers should be careful not to let back-office functions derail your assets under management (AUM) growth focus. Accounting and compliance are important, but they shouldn’t distract you from focusing on making your investors happy so they give you more money.”
