Divya Narendra is the 28 year old CEO and co-founder of SumZero, a website designed to help professional investors to share their investment ideas and network with one another. Running a business isn’t easy work, and so Divya spends his days generating new feature ideas, consulting with lawyers, forming partnerships with third parties, marketing the website, and yes, even handling the company’s bank accounts. He paused the work whirlwind for a moment to talk with TILE about starting up a start-up.
TILE: How did you get the idea for Sumzero?
Divya: The concept of SumZero was partly inspired by Wikipedia and partly by social networks such as LinkedIn. My co-founder and I wanted to create a universal, user-generated investment idea database consisting of rigorous investment recommendations whereby only professional hedge fund, mutual fund, and private equity analysts were allowed to contribute. This idea database is structured within a transparent social network enabling site members to connect over shared research, educational affiliation, prior employers, asset class expertise, etc.
TILE: What was one of your biggest challenges in starting the company?
Divya: One of the biggest challenges we’ve faced (and one that is faced by nearly all start-ups) has been building a team that is committed to growing SumZero.
TILE: Did you always want to go into business, or did you fall into this career path?
Divya: I first knew I enjoyed entrepreneurship when I was a junior in college. That year, I created a website aimed at connecting college students and alumni.
TILE: What’s in the future for you/ Sumzero?
Divya: We are currently working on raising capital to give SumZero the necessary financial resources to take the company to the next level. We hope to one day become the de facto platform for buyside analysts to exchange research.
TILE: What advice would you give your teenage self?
Divya: I would advise my teenage self to learn web programming to avoid having to hire others to do the job.
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Tags: Divya Narendra, investing