CEO Nare Shares Journey from Armenian War Survivor to AI Fintech Founder

As the CEO and co-founder of Ntropy, I bring a unique blend of international experience, entrepreneurial spirit, and optimism to the world of financial technology.

1. Nare was born in Armenia, a small country in the southern Caucasus, during the collapse of the Soviet Union.
2. She grew up in a time of war with limited electricity and hot water.
3. Despite the harsh conditions, Nare emphasizes the importance of optimism and hope for better circumstances.
4. Experiencing a public speaking competition in the UK at age 14 sparked her desire to be part of a bigger world.
5. She started her career at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) focused on financial inclusion.
6. After realizing that working in a bureaucratic organization was not for her, Nare applied for a master's degree in London.
7. At University College London, she was exposed to artificial intelligence and machine learning advancements at DeepMind.
8. Nare wanted to be part of the AI world despite having no background in it and feeling imposter syndrome.
9. Her first startup, Mindbin, aimed to detect behavioral and mental health issues from phone usage data, but eventually pivoted to an employer healthcare platform solution.
10. The company was acquired after privacy law changes made it difficult for the technology to work effectively with iPhone users.
11. Nare transitioned into investing in startups while looking for her next entrepreneurial endeavor.
12. She co-founded Ntropy, a company that builds language models to understand financial data at scale, making it accessible and usable for anyone.
13. The technology is particularly helpful for banks with legacy systems that have no standard way of organizing transaction information.
14. To train their model initially, they used a consumer web page where users could upload transactions and receive help understanding them.
15. Ntropy's product was applicable to many areas but marketing it as a horizontal platform proved difficult; focusing on specific niches is more manageable.
16. Nare faced challenges when she became pregnant right after raising her seed round, including managing multiple identities and fearing resentment if she failed in one part of her life.
17. Hope, optimism, and believing that the world is a beautiful place are essential values for Nare.
18. Entrepreneurship, for Nare, means creating something new, whether it's a product, software, or even an experience.
19. She strives to avoid settling in her life, always seeking growth and new opportunities.
20. The fear of settling was particularly apparent when she became pregnant while being an entrepreneur.
21. Nare has learned that she doesn't have to stop who she is or what she wants just because of new circumstances.
22. She continues to encourage others not to settle and to remain optimistic despite challenges.
23. Ntropy's technology addresses the challenge of making financial data more accessible and usable for various industries, including banks with outdated systems.
24. The company employs large language models that improve in accuracy as they receive more data from users testing their system.
25. Nare hopes to continue expanding Ntropy's offerings while encouraging a growth mindset for herself and others.

Source: EO via YouTube

❓ What do you think? What is the most significant risk you've taken in your life or career, and how did you overcome any fears or doubts to pursue it? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!