Anthony Zhang, Vinovest: Fine Wine as an Alternative Investment

Our guest today is Anthony Zhang, co-founder and CEO of Vinovest, the first of its kind investment platform where individual investors of all kinds can own fine wine (investment grade). He dropped out of the University of Southern California at the age of 20 when he was selected for the prestigious Thiel Fellowship, a two-year program that provides entrepreneurs under 23 a $100K grant to pursue their startups. Other companies he has held leadership or board positions include RateMyInvestor, Blockfolio, JOANY & JoyRun. He is also an active angel investor (portfolio holdings listed on LinkedIn profile). In today’s episode, we begin with discussing Anthony’s background as a serial entrepreneur, starting with the Thiel Fellowship, his pitch to Mark Cuban, and what led him to dropping out of USC. We quickly move to the life changing accident that Anthony experienced, including his painful rehab and his incredible return to save his company. We then discuss how his interest in wine led him to starting Vinovest. Then we get into the case for investing in wine, beta exposure and how you can generate alpha buying and selling wine. We also compare investing in wine vs. whiskey, storage, and most importantly, what success will look like for a Vinovest investor (performance vs. the U.S. stock market). Last, we discuss fundraising for a startup, his heavy hitter investors and the future of his company. Our host today is Steve Curley, CFA, Co-Founder of the Investors First Podcast and former President of CFA Society Orlando. Please enjoy the episode. Follow the Investors First Podcast & CFA Society of Orlando on Twitter and LinkedIn.