Customer Success Spotlight: Spartan Capital Intelligence — Intrinio
Our mission at Intrinio is to power a generation of applications that will fundamentally change the way our broken financial system works. Intrinio data feeds form the basis of everything from large enterprise business reporting applications to startup fintech apps. It’s rewarding to see our product come to life at the hands of today’s most innovative developers building powerful things.
We’re lucky to be in a business where we grow together with our customers, and we’re proud to show off their hard work. Each blog in this series will highlight a customer that has leveraged our financial data feeds to build something incredible.
Meet Spartan Capital Intelligence — financial advisory services powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning. SCI, in its own words, is a “group of elite US military veterans and international business professionals that believe in financial inclusion.”
We talked to SCI founder Todd Flores about what inspired him to start SCI, his biggest challenges, and his partnership with Intrinio.
Give us the elevator pitch for SCI.
Spartan Capital Intelligence provides high-confidence investment advisory services that effectively enable subscribers to make informed trading decisions. Our suite of tool sets are driven by the state-of-the-art computing power of AWS and Artificial Intelligence, combined with a proprietary approach to big data and financial forecasts. The result is a Wall Street caliber investment advisory service that informs our users’ investment decisions, at an accessible price point for all.
What is your professional background?
I was an Intelligence Officer in the U.S. Army, deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. After leaving the service in late 2012, I did some contract work for the military and the intelligence community. I decided to change industries in 2016, attended the ESADE MBA, which sparked my interest in finance and investments, and I have been building SCI ever since!
What inspired you to start SCI?
It was a combination of two things. I recognized financial services was a scenario of “the more you pay, the more you get,” and I believed it didn’t have to be that way. Technological developments in AI/ML and digitization of financial data have vastly reduced the costs of performing advanced analysis, which has not necessarily been reflected in the price you pay for financial services.
Secondly, I grew up in a very large and modest family that worked hard to get what we had, we took care of what we earned, and everyone was a contributor. My family imparted to me the meaning of hard work, and the value of a dollar earned off the sweat of your own back. I started this company because I wanted to build an AI-driven financial advisory firm that treats your money with your hard work in mind.
What have been your biggest challenges, and what did you learn from them?
As a fintech startup, resources are limited. Using data as an example, SCI has experienced occasions where we have identified a need for specific types of data formatted in a digestible manner for ML. At this decision point, we either 1) dedicate the money, time, and personnel resources to develop the system ourselves or 2) look to other businesses in the fintech ecosystem to find a solution.
In the past, I sought out the solutions of the “big names” in financial services, and quickly found SCI was boxed out due to price. What I learned in times like these was that there were other disruptors in the financial services industry, offering products that were equal to or better than the traditional brand names, and at a more equitable price point (I am talking 1/10th the price)! Lesson learned: Turn to other disruptors in the fintech space for partnerships, they often offer lower cost agreements, provide much better service, and can speed up the development for your business’s fintech solutions to get you to market more rapidly.
What have been your biggest successes?
Hands down… the #1 success is the team SCI has built. We have U.S. military combat veterans, combined with international talent, coming from top Master’s programs around the world. We have an impressive list of accolades (CFA, CPA, MBA, etc.). Most importantly, everyone on our team is onboard with SCI’s mission to build an AI-driven financial advisory firm that treats your money with your hard work in mind, at an accessible price point for the brick and mortar of America. The SCI team is young, extremely motivated, and ambitious to find unique technical solutions in financial analysis and provide top-tier advisory services at an equitable price.
How do you set yourself apart from your competitors?
Patents. SCI is developing systems that do not exist, enabling advanced and accurate financial analysis driven by AI. These systems are scalable, and with continued development, will provide AI driven forecasts for all US equities, and international companies in global markets. All available on demand.
Why did you choose to work with Intrinio?
Values. Intrinio’s values are in alignment with SCI. As organizations, we are both dedicated to providing elite and accessible services in a financial industry that has historically been a market where “the more you pay, the more you get.” If you read about how Intrinio started, SCI had a parallel experience, and therefore it was an easy relationship to establish. Additionally, the data is accurate, and the documentation is amazing!
How would you describe your experience working with Intrinio?
Seamless, supportive, and cooperative! It has been fantastic, and we look forward to continuing to work with Intrinio in the future.
Interested in working with Intrinio? Request a free, one-on-one consultation with one of our data experts.
Originally published at https://blog.intrinio.com on March 30, 2020.
