Today's Entrepreneur: Charles Gillig
No. 1 Mistake: They don't understand their users
Today's Entrepreneur is Charles Gillig, Co-founder and CEO at RemitRight. RemitRight is a comparison platform for international money transfers, the KAYAK for remittances. They compare online money transfer operators, revealing hidden fees and exchange mark-ups for their predominantly immigrant users. They also provide information on other remittance preferences such as send and receive method and transfer time.
Gillig is a Los Angeles native, he has started companies, legal clinics and projects from SoCal to DC to West Africa. He got his JD degree at Georgetown University Law Center last 2011.
RemitRight self-categorizes in these areas: Comparison shopping, and Financial technology (Fintech).
Here's a little about Gillig:
Companies I've founded or co-founded: RemitRight, Casa Cornelia Law Center City Heights Office
Companies I work or worked for: Skadden Fellowship Foundation, Economist Intelligence Unit, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,United States Peace Corps, Time Magazine - Asia Edition
Achievements (products built, personal awards won):
In 2011 I founded a non-profit legal services clinic for indigent immigrant victims of abuse in San Diego, CA. I represented over 500 clients, providing free representation to asylum-seekers, victims of domestic violence, unaccompanied minors and others. I was a Mayoral appointee to the City of San Diego Human Relations Commission. I won the Jeffrey Crandall Award upon graduation of Georgetown University Law Center, given to the graduating student who bets exemplifies a commitment to legal aid. I co-founded a satellite treatment center for HIV/AIDS in Northern Togo, West Africa with the United States Peace Corps. Started and ran a life skills camp and club for HIV/ADIS orphans.
My favorite startups: Nerdwallet, HipMunk, KAYAK
What's most frustrating and rewarding about entrepreneurship/innovation?
The most frustrating is the time it takes to build something great. The most rewarding is building something and seeing a positive impact in the lives of others.
What's the No. 1 mistake entrepreneurs make? They don't understand the users.
What are the top three lessons you've learned as an entrepreneur? Build a great team. Test your product. Be open to change.
A Los Angeles native, Charlie is Co-Founder and CEO of RemitRight, a comparison platform for international money transfers. Previously he was a Skadden Fellow in San Diego, where he founded and directed a legal services clinic for indigent immigrant victims of human and civil rights abuses.
Outside of RemitRight, Charlie is a Commissioner on the City of San Diego Human Relations Commission and serves on the Boards of Directors of several non-profits. He also writes for the Economist Intelligence Unit on politics and economics in Africa and recently acted as a NGO legal observer to the Military Commission Hearings at Guantanamo Bay.
Charlie is a proud graduate of Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and Georgetown University Law Center, where he received the Jeffrey Crandall Award for commitment to legal aid. Prior to graduate school, he served in the United States Peace Corps in Togo, West Africa. He grew up in the Hancock Park area of LA and went to Harvard-Westlake High School
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Mitos Suson
I produce Vator Events and enjoy the challenge. I am learning and growing a lot, being involved with Vator and loving every moment of it!
All author postsRelated Companies, Investors, and Entrepreneurs
RemitRight
Startup/Business
Joined Vator on
RemitRight is a comparison tool for the $550B international money transfer market, We are the KAYAK of remittances. Our mobile and web responsibe platform provides individuals sending remittances with perfect market information associated with sending money. The intuitive website lets users quickly search and compare transfer options based on their individual needs. This includes information on the transfer operator, total costs, exchange rates, user reviews, payment methods, delivery options, transfer times and importantly, best value.
RemitRight helps our users, mostly hard-working immigrants, send more money to loved ones in their home countries. Money transfer operators currently take advantage of remittance senders through hidden fees and exchange rate mark-ups. In the U.S. alone, remittance senders spend an additional $1billion simply due to lack of transparency. We are attacking that $1 billion by helping our users make informed remittance choices. We estimate that the average RemitRight user will save $122/year. This money goes to life's essential needs like food, shelter, school supplies and healthcare.
We will reach our users through digital marketing, content creation and through our network of partnerships throughout the U.S. Our CEO’s background in immigrant rights and advocacy gives the company credibility as a unbiased third-party source to prevent hard-working immigrants from being taken advantage of by money transfer companies. Organizations want to partner with us and help their members make informed remittance choices.
Charles Gillig
Joined Vator on
A Los Angeles native, Charlie has started companies, legal clinics and projects from SoCal to to DC to West Africa. He is Co-Founder and CEO of RemitRight, a comparison platform for remittances.