Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur | Start and Grow Your Own Business 1305: This Founder Built an "Agentic CFO" to Help Small Businesses Win w/ Chris Dargin
Ever feel like you’re flying blind with your business finances? You’re not alone. In this episode, we sit down with Chris Dargin, founder and CEO of Echelor, a groundbreaking startup building an "agentic CFO" powered by AI. Chris shares his incredible journey from the Navy and working in the trades to building a tech solution that provides real-time financial intelligence to the backbone of our economy: blue-collar businesses. This episode is a masterclass in identifying a real-world problem and taking swift, decisive action to solve it with cutting-edge technology. You'll learn how AI can augment, not replace, human capability, and how to build a business deeply rooted in serving a specific, often-overlooked niche.
💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business
- 🚀 How to transform personal experiences, like seeing a family business struggle, into a powerful, mission-driven startup idea.
- 🤖 The difference between static AI (like ChatGPT) and “agentic” AI that proactively works on your behalf, finding problems and opportunities 24/7.
- 🛠️ Why niching down to a specific audience, like the "physical economy," can be your greatest strategic advantage in a crowded market.
- 🧠 How to move from a reactive business owner to a proactive one by leveraging data and AI to see around corners and anticipate future challenges.
- 💡 The power of rapid prototyping and getting immediate feedback from your ideal customer to validate your idea and build a product people actually need.
- 📈 A founder’s framework for managing a thousand ideas and prioritizing tasks by using a sprint-based approach to maintain focus and drive impact.
- 🤝 Why human-centered design is critical, even when building a complex tech product, to ensure your solution is simple, clean, and valuable to non-tech-savvy users.
📝 About Chris Dargin
Chris Dargin is the founder and CEO of Echelor, a Detroit-based startup building the agentic CFO for the physical economy. Drawing from his experience in the Navy, working in the trades, and leading innovation in the corporate world, Chris has a unique ability to connect complex technology with real-world needs. His mission is deeply personal, inspired by watching his mother's small business struggle with finances. Chris is dedicated to closing the financial intelligence gap for everyday business owners, using AI to amplify human capability and empower entrepreneurs in the real economy.
🎯 Chris’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs
"You can't let the fear of just getting started stop you. If you truly believe in what you're building, there's someone out there waiting for your help, and you just have to keep going."
📢 Memorable Quotes
- “The real core strength of AI is augmenting human jobs right now… something has to be in the background kind of having their back, watching out for them and helping them to understand.” – Chris Dargin
- “A lot of times in a conversation... you're waiting to just talk. You're not actually listening. You're waiting to have a response back... as opposed to actually being present.” – Chris Dargin
- “I could have a thousand ideas, but it doesn't mean that people necessarily need them or want them. You have to really get close to the people in the field that are doing the work and making sure that you're providing the right features and solutions for them.” – Chris Dargin
🔗 Links & Resources