MEET THE TEAM
Knowledge is everywhere, not just in schools. My father was an Italian immigrant who came to the United States in the late 1950s with $10.00 in his pocket. He self-taught his way into making money with the stock market. He passed that knowledge to me.
But I’m not a ‘finance’ person per se. In college, I majored in French literature. Instead of getting a job… teaching French literature I suppose, I moved to New York City. I earned a master’s degree in journalism. After college I worked at women’s magazines. You know, the glossy ones with the impossibly beautiful humans on the cover… of course you do.
I began to realize many of these girls and women weren’t financially empowered – both in the US and abroad. As a mother of girls, this was disconcerting to me. My girls feel empowered when they play softball, tennis, trumpet, piano, saxophone, or sing. The same positive feelings can come from practicing good financial habits.
Though financial knowledge is all around us, it has no home. There’s no place where young people can come hang out, make friends and learn about how to succeed with money (and life).
I co-created CentSai largely due to the inspiration my father gave me. Instead of getting my father as a teacher, you get a powerful website filled with bloggers, vloggers, podcasters and financial experts who will teach you what you want to know. We stay on the cutting edge of subjects and technology. The technology being integrated into CentSai partially stems from my passion (obsession, really) for artificial intelligence, but not in an Ex Machina sort of way.
Empowerment has no age minimum or maximum. I ran the NYC marathon at age 43 to prove age is just a number. CentSai will have a place for anyone, whether they be 9 or 99.
Want to know the best part about this wall-free teaching method? You only have to learn about things that interest you. You may think that mortgages don’t interest you but everyone needs to learn about them. Browse through the blogs. The information our ‘CentSai’s’ provide is accompanied by stories and games. You’ll soon find learning about money is as fun as reading about your favorite celebrity. Finance made easy.
We’re so quick to run up the ladder of life. Instead of focusing on the long-term, we lust after fast gains: fine dining, a new car, the next vacation… we want it all. But before you ascend the ladder, shouldn’t you make sure it has a solid footing?
For much of my life I followed the wealthy, and how they made money. My home base has changed from Kolkata to Mumbai to New Delhi to London to New York City. I was a journalist at Reuters, and a columnist at Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal. I would often spend my days meeting with people who quickly scurried up their ladders. These were obviously smart people. But their ladders were planted in quicksand.
In the 2008 financial crisis, many of my contacts lost a lot. Some everything.
Like a crime scene investigator, I was paid to probe what went wrong. I saw the quicksand. People built their lives on this semi-solid surface: baristas, construction workers, teachers, doctors, artists, lawyers… most people.
I discovered the problem, but how was I to alert the masses?
I had an idea. However, the Bat-Signal was in Gotham City and I live in New York City. The next best thing to a Bat-Signal? The Internet.
Our mission is to provide a safe space for the creation and dissemination of financial knowledge. Have a look around our financial platform. It’ll help get you the solid footing you need. Figuratively speaking, CentSai’s mission is to turn quicksand into concrete. Care to climb with us?
When I got a call from Arindam, one of CentSai’s co founders, asking me to lead their product development, I was nervous, a bit scared and also excited. I have handled many overseas projects but this was a big one.
I came on board right from the start. The time difference between Mohali and Brooklyn meant my life needed some adjustments. My wife Ekta, who handles SEO for many U.S. clients and runs her own business, helped me get organize. My 3-year old daughter learned to adopt Doria and Arindam as part her own family, she saw me so frequently with them on video screens.
I love building products (I have a Masters’ Degree in Computer Science) but I fell in love with online education when I helped build WizIQ, a an online platform and virtual classroom tool for students and educators.
At CentSai I am responsible for market research, overall product strategy and corresponding roadmap, business and product planning, user experience, business intelligence and analytic, user base growth planning. I lead CentSai’s product management team and and working with the core design/ engineering teams to ensure the success of the product. If you have any questions or just want to say hi, its Sandeep@centsai.com
I ran a successful financial planning practice for 17 years, advising a diverse group of clients and also training and developing financial advisors. A few years ago I realized that while helping individuals with their finances had its rewards, my sphere of influence and contribution to people’s financial well-being could be bigger. I sold my practice and went back to school to obtain a Ph.D. in Management in Finance. By working as a researcher and consultant in the areas of financial literacy and corporate social responsibility I feel I can potentially contribute to improving people’s financial conditions on a much greater scale. And have more fun at the same time!
I have just moved to New York City from Ireland after graduating from Trinity College, Dublin with a double major in English literature and French. It turns out not to be as useless of a degree as it may seem!
Having served as Literature Editor of my college newspaper, the University Times, I have a passion for journalism and current events, particularly relating to the hardships of immigration and the difficulties of translating Irish slang into American English — topics which, sadly, I know all too well.
I was surprised and delighted to find that my skills could be integrated with a medium that focuses on financial education. I'm an extravagant, live-beyond-your-means millennial who could (and should) become CentSai's greatest student of all. When I'm not spending money on things I don't need, you can find me penning short stories and sarcastic tweets in a hipster café that is far too cool for someone who's favorite sport is speed reading.
I've worked as a culture and arts journalist for five years, serving previously as a managing editor, staff writer, and contributor for a number of print and web-based outlets. While my focus has primarily been in music journalism, I think what I enjoy most about writing has been unpacking difficult or abstract subjects and presenting them in ways that are easily understood. I’m glad to be a part of the CentSai team and to help with its mission to demystify financial literacy, while I learn how to overcome my addiction to buying overpriced vinyl records.
I am a user-facing designer who focuses on creating a meaningful experience to those visiting our site. CentSai’s mission to make finance more approachable attracted me because it directly aligns with my design approach in breaking down a complex problem into simple and actionable solutions. One of my favorite parts about working at CentSai is the various opportunities to work collaboratively with other teams. I am excited for more challenges and opportunities to grow. When I’m out of work, I usually indulge in trying out exotic snacks and going on spontaneous late-night movie runs with friends.