A former Goldman Sachs banker who spent his teenage years helping families negotiate debt has created a new fintech platform after realising that even high level finance professionals often struggle with their own money management.
Daniel Afan Jones grew up in an environment where financial understanding was limited, leading many around him to make damaging money choices.
From the ages of sixteen to eighteen he worked as a telephone debt negotiator, witnessing the impact of financial mistakes unfold in front of him.
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He explained that his early experiences, combined with his time in banking, showed him how widespread the problem is. Despite working in risk, collateral management and private banking at Goldman Sachs, he found that very few people truly understood how to handle their money effectively.
After leaving the firm, Daniel launched a traditional financial advice business aimed at wealthy clients, but quickly realised the industry itself was stuck in outdated systems and remained inaccessible to most people.
With the advice gap growing larger, he became convinced that technology could bridge it if used properly and supported by regulators.
This insight became the foundation for Bonsai Smart Wealth, an AI led platform designed to make personalised financial guidance available to anyone, regardless of income or background. Bonsai aims to offer tailored support, instant access to advice and a smart, evolving system that helps users work toward their goals.
Daniel hopes to eventually build a complete personal finance ecosystem that understands each user individually.
Although the platform has not yet launched publicly, Daniel has already completed two key milestones: building the first version of the product and securing his initial funding round. Both achievements came with difficulties, especially raising enough money to grow the team and bring a top quality product to market.
Starting young in such a traditional field brought challenges. Daniel often battled imposter syndrome and found it difficult to win the trust of older, established clients. The personal sacrifices were equally tough.
Much of his twenties was devoted entirely to building his career, often at the expense of social life and time with family. Despite this, he says those sacrifices strengthened his determination.
Daniel credits his wife as his biggest source of support and remains focused on his mission to make financial guidance available to everyone while ensuring stability for his own family.
His approach to leadership centres on hiring exceptional people, giving them freedom and ensuring they share in the success of the company. He believes businesses are built by teams, not founders alone.
Looking to the future, Daniel is open about the fact that full momentum is still ahead of him. His ambition is to put a financial adviser in the pocket of ten million people worldwide by the year 2030.
He says he holds himself to incredibly high standards and will not stop until that vision becomes a reality.
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