After his first company failed, Jeff Chang studied for the CPA exam not to become an accountant, but to acquire a "hard skill" that would always be in demand. He calls this an "FU skill," a safety net providing the freedom to take entrepreneurial risks without being beholden to others for a job.
Beyond traditional 60/40 stock-bond diversification, investors should diversify their *methods* of risk management. Adding hedging via options-based funds introduces a new source of protection that is not reliant on the hope that stock and bond correlations will remain negative, especially during inflationary periods.
Vest's co-founder Jeff Chang, a Y Combinator alum, argues that the most critical traits for success are grit, influence, and creativity, in that order. He contends that traditional markers like intelligence, often prioritized by parents and schools, are less important for building a successful company from scratch.
Buffered funds are explicitly designed for the "stay rich game"—protecting existing wealth for those nearing or in retirement. This is a critical positioning distinction from "get rich" strategies aimed at aggressive growth. Understanding which game a client is playing is essential for product-market fit in wealth management.
The success of buffered ETFs isn't just about offering downside protection. It's about solving the two biggest operational roadblocks for financial advisors using options: compliance burdens and the inability to scale manual trading. By packaging the strategy into a fund, it becomes a simple, scalable asset allocation tool.
Jeff Chang uses a behavioral finance analogy to explain product design. Just as children eat more apples when they are pre-sliced, investors are more likely to adopt complex strategies like options hedging when they are packaged into a simple, ready-to-use format like an ETF. The key is removing friction and making it easy to consume.
Jeff Chang admits that if he had known upfront that building his company would require over four years without pay, he might not have started. This ignorance of the full extent of the struggle—seeing only the next step instead of the entire mountain—can be a "superpower" that allows founders to persevere through otherwise discouraging challenges.
Vest's partnership with CBOE, the world's largest options exchange, led to a fundamental market change: GLD (gold ETF) options trading hours were extended by 15 minutes. This was necessary to make Vest's product work, demonstrating that a startup with the right incumbent partner can alter the entire industry's trading infrastructure.
Vest's co-founder explains their "Silicon Valley meets Wall Street" identity. They embrace Silicon Valley's grit and problem-solving focus but reject its "move fast and break things" mantra. In a highly regulated industry like finance, this hybrid approach is essential, prioritizing stability and client trust over reckless speed.