Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Demas.
Hi Alex, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I have always been a huge wine enthusiast, so right before the pandemic, I decided to take my love of wine to the next level. A friend and I signed up to be certified by the WSET, the Wine & Spirits Education Trust. We both completed level 2 in January 2020, which I completed “with distinction”. The next thing I knew, I was furloughed from my hospitality technology sales job due to the pandemic.
With tons of downtime, I decided to start doing virtual tastings with friends. But since I find acquiring knowledge to be the most fun part of drinking wine, I added an educational twist. The first tasting was just 8-10 friends and myself on Zoom and I started it off with a powerpoint to teach everyone about the grape they were drinking, which was Sangiovese. Week over week in lockdown, the tastings steadily grew and so did the knowledge I was sharing with the group. To manage it all, I decided to start an Instagram (@the305wineguy) and a mailing list to notify people in advance of what the themes would be and what wines they would need to acquire.
In June of 2020, I found a new job in advertising technology sales, so I had to put the tastings on the back burner, moving them to once a month. However, the passion for wine continued, and I started learning about wine investing. It came as a shock to me to learn that wine is a better investment over time than investing in traditional equities. This realization and new passion led me to launch a wine investment platform, which I call VinFin, and can be found at www.VinFin.co.
Since launching VinFin in July of 2021, I have raised over $100,000 in capital from just friends and family and already returned over 10% YTD. Since a developer and I are the only ones behind the platform and my current project is to sync my website via an API to our fulfillment website, I have yet to start traditional marketing. However, once I do, my eyes are set on the $1 million mark!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The most difficult part of starting your own business is self-doubt. But once you are able to get past that obstacle, you can figure anything out.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Not only do I have a traditional day job and run my own wine investment platform, I am also one of South Florida’s top amateur runners. I manage to run anywhere from 50-70 miles a week and have a personal best of 1:15 in the half marathon (that’s 5:42 pace)! I credit my ability to do this to being a lifetime competitive swimmer, all the way from age four through college. From a very young age, I learned about how to structure a day around both athletics and my schoolwork. This discipline has been integral in helping me be able to manage my time effectively.
Pricing:
- My minimum investment is $1000
- My annual management fee is 2.75%, amortized monthly
Contact Info:
- Email: alex@vinfin.co
- Website: www.vinfin.co
- Instagram: @vinfinco
