Anthony Zhang (Vinovest) - What makes wine a profitable investible asset, How he recovered from a spinal injury that left him paralyzed while guiding his company to a successful exit, and other alternative investment markets

Our guest today is Anthony Zhang, founder of Vinovest. Vinovest allows you to invest in Wine Globally Without Leaving Home and Without Storing It Yourself. He also previously founded EnjoyNow and Know your VC. We discuss his introduction to entrepreneurship, what it was like coming back from a spinal injury to guide EnjoyNow to a successful exit, why he started Vinovest, how people were investing in wine previously, and much much more.

We discuss:

1. When was the first moment you were entrepreneurial?
2. You founded EnvoyNow, Know Your VC and now Vinovest. What do you feel like is the thread that combines each of those experiences.
3. In 2016 you suffered a huge accident and became paralyzed. This was while you were CEO of EnvoyNow and had to take a step back. You realized that your co-founders wanted to leave and the company wasn’t doing well. Walk me through what it was like coming back to your company day to day and still want EnvoyNow to be successful even though it was falling apart?
4. Why Vinovest? Why wine as an asset class? Were you always into wine?
5. How were people investing in wine previously?
6. What were your first steps when founding? How did you build the market?
7. How profitable is wine as an alternative investment?
8. How does it work?
9. What’s the level of demand for a platform like Vinovest? When did you feel like there was a significant demand for this product?
10. The wine is eventually is going to go bad / there’s an expiry date. How do you deal with this?
11. Who are they finally selling to?
12. When did you start Whiskey Vest?
13. Are you worried about the non-alc craze?
14. How do wine producers benefit?
15. Are their alternative assets that you don’t think make sense?
16. How did you raise capital?
17. What’s one book that’s inspired you personally and professionally
18. Six Types of Working Geniuses
19. 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership

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