Tell us how you came to be the CEO of Redko.
I started Redko about a year ago in the midst of the quarantine. It was always my dream to have a business. During the quarantine, I had a quarter-life crisis and thought I needed to stop waiting and start my company. My boyfriend at the time said I should keep my job and gain more experience. So I sat down and wrote how I envisioned my day in 5 years as a CEO. Working out while on calls, having an amazing team, and a product that makes people’s lives easier… A week later something life-changing happened and I started Redko. Now my day is exactly the same as what I wrote in that notebook
What are some of the industrial sectors that Redko caters to?
We specialize in custom products and solutions. So anything that isn’t mainstream. We build apps, software, and web apps for our clients in addition Redko’s own apps like REDVEST investment app.
What are some of the common challenges customers approach Redko with?
Our clients usually are in need of expanding their pre-existing technologies or they come to us to bring their ideas to life. Our clients vary from hotel chains to hedge funds to entrepreneurs. Most importantly Redko’s own mobile investment app Redvest addresses a problem we get approached by individuals and companies all the time. Algorithms for automating trading! People don’t have enough time and know that computers are better at math than humans. An algorithm can place more precise orders and doesn’t get emotional when making decisions. So Redvest helps individuals that don’t have crazy assets to go to hedge funds/asset managers, automate their investments.
What are some of the distinctive features of Redko products that differentiates you from your competitors?
We are an LA-based development company and have mostly local clients. Because we are local, we really try to cater to the specific needs of our clients. We provide special solutions and build products they envision. No matter what you want, we’ll build it! In addition to building apps and software for our clients. Redko has its own mobile apps. Redvest, our investment app makes it even Easier Than Robinhood to invest. We know there are two major issues with investing that millennials/GenZ face
- They don’t know where to begin and want to try learning with no risk.
- They don’t have enough time to watch the market to sell at a profit.
For people that want to try investing with no risk and see the market before diving in with real money, we combine paper trading (trading with play money in the live market to learn) so that our users can learn how to invest first and then switch to investing their own money within the app when they are ready, with the touch of a button. We gamified our learning platform to make sure our users get the most informationally rewarding experience.
Can you give us a sneak peek into some of the upcoming product upgrades that your customers can look forward to?
Anyone that has a TDAmeritrade will be able to easily link their account and automate their trades soon! We currently have 1 brokerage on Redvest and we will be adding TDAmeritrade as a second brokerage. So Redvest does all the dirty work of watching the prices, buying, and selling after they easily set up their strategy for Redvest to follow within 2 minutes.
Give some important tips that can strengthen an organization’s information security program?
Database rules! Make sure there are security rules in your database and put disclaimers all.
How do you keep pace with the rapidly growing AI Solutions product for businesses?
We do a company Sharktank day for innovative product improvement ideas.
One of our company values is Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Our young and dynamic team every other Friday, we have the company-wide SharkTank event, where 4 selected judges of different tech backgrounds give points to our team members pitching product upgrades and whoever gets the most points gets their ideas executed.
What are some of the unique lessons you have learned from your customers being the CEO at Redko?
Think like the user or your customer. If you were in their shoes, what would make you love the product or tap a button? Always ask “how” and “why”.
What is that one quote that has stayed with you throughout your professional life?
“Coding is 75% googling.”
“Sometimes getting it done fast is better than making it perfect and missing an opportunity.”
Anya Bio
My name is Anya Ozmen, I’m a female tech entrepreneur living in Los Angeles. I know that there is a major discrepancy in male to female ratio in technology and leadership. As a founder of an LA-based Development Company, I feel like it’s my responsibility to tell other young aspiring entrepreneurs and future CEOs that if I did it with no help and my own life savings, they can do it too. When I moved to the US about 5-6 years ago, it was my first time ever being here. I was on my own and knew no one. I had a partial scholarship and graduated from Loyola Marymount University with 2 degrees. I was very interested in artificial intelligence and in my last years of college, I taught myself how to code machine learning algorithms and worked at different startups as a data scientist. Out of college, I got a job as a data scientist at the Pacific Design Center, learned, and got to experience a lot for my age. During the quarantine, I decided to put all my life savings at risk and start my own business. My company Redko was like my baby that I had to grow during the quarantine, away from my family with little to no help from anyone. It was a challenging time but I now believe in myself more because of how I was able to work through the tough times. Redko has an amazing team of almost 20 US-based team players that have very interesting backgrounds and talents. We build apps and software for over 25 clients and we also build our own apps. I grew up watching my father invest in stocks and the stock market has always been a passion of mine. My dream was to build an AI roboadvisor and it came true. We just released our new Investment App Redvest. If I made my dreams come true, anyone can do it no matter what their gender or background is. We need more girl programmers in tech! I was the only woman programmer at almost all my interviews. I hope soon I will be seeing more girls understanding that they are smart enough to program life-changing applications and software. My goal/dream is to soon see more females understand their true potential and show them they can program applications and software that can make an impact in the world. Redko Bio
Redko Bio
Redko is an LA-based development company that builds custom software and apps for local clients. Our mission is to solve daily/business problems with technology and build dreams into real products. In addition to the work we do for our clients, we have our own products. Redvest our new investment app makes it even easier than Robinhood to learn and start trading! Statistics say that 80% of people report losses in the stock market. There are many reasons for this but one of the biggest reasons is missing the right time and price to sell or buy. People who have 9-5 jobs don’t have time to constantly watch the market. It’s both emotionally draining and time-consuming. Redko’s first investment app Redvest has a mission to bring an opportunity to have anyone automate their trades easily. On our app, you can both buy and sell stocks easily and automate with popular strategies like value, growth investing and we even have a Reddit trend trader. Everything is for now completely free. I care about making asset management accessible to everyone. Anyone should be able to automate their trades and save time. This is a very untapped field in the financial market.