Today we’d like to introduce you to Deon Yesudas.
Hi Deon, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I looked around me and saw how often poor financial decisions quietly limited people’s opportunities—choices made without guidance, education, or long-term perspective. From a young age, I knew I would not be one of them. That realization pushed me to take ownership of my financial future early, starting with personal finance: learning how to budget, save, and invest with intention rather than impulse. Along the way, I came to a defining realization: you do not build wealth by working endlessly for money, but by learning how to make your money work for you.
As I learned, I began to notice a larger problem. Many people in my generation are expected to make important financial decisions without ever being taught how money actually works. That gap inspired Euphoria, a startup currently being developed by me and my cofounders, Siddartha Kodithyala and Sriyan Bodla. Together, we are building a platform designed to make financial education accessible, practical, and empowering for young people. While Euphoria is still in progress, it reflects our shared mission: to help the younger generation take control of their financial future and transform understanding into long-term opportunity.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The road has been anything but smooth. One of the earliest challenges was grappling with the complexity of finance itself. Even foundational financial concepts quickly lead into dense, abstract ideas that require discipline, patience, and constant study. Learning these topics while still in high school meant pushing beyond what is usually expected, often without a clear roadmap.
At the same time, I was balancing a rigorous academic workload, commitments in band, and the responsibility of building a startup. Managing these demands required difficult trade-offs, late nights, and a level of time management I had to develop quickly. On top of that, building Euphoria has meant coding and iterating largely on our own. As three high school students, my cofounders and I have had to teach ourselves how to design, build, and refine a real product—debugging failures, rewriting features, and learning from mistakes in real time.
What sets someone apart from the rest is when they are tested by these challenges and setbacks and persevere, seeing it through to the end. These struggles have tested our persistence, sharpened our skills, and reinforced our belief in the mission. The lack of ease has not been a deterrent; instead, it has been proof that what we are building matters and is worth every effort.
As you know, we’re big fans of Euphoria. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Hi, My name is Deon Yesudas a sophomore at Emerson High School and co-founder of my investing education startup Euphoria. Euphoria is a financial learning platform designed to empower young people to take control of their financial future. Our mission is to make financial education accessible, practical, and engaging: helping users build confidence in managing money, investing, and making informed decisions early in life.
What sets Euphoria apart is our focus on bridging the gap between theory and real-world application. Many financial resources assume prior knowledge or oversimplify concepts. We take the opposite approach: we break down complex ideas into clear, actionable steps while also emphasizing long-term strategy and understanding. From budgeting to investing, our goal is to equip users with the tools to make their money work for them, rather than working endlessly for money.
We are most proud of the vision behind our brand. Euphoria is not just about learning finance, it’s about fostering financial confidence and independence in a generation that has historically been underserved in this area. The platform is currently being developed by me and my cofounders, Siddarth Kodithyala and Sriyan Bodla, and it represents the result of our dedication, creativity, and perseverance.
We want readers to know that Euphoria is more than a learning tool, it’s a movement toward financial empowerment. Our offerings are designed to be intuitive, actionable, and motivating, giving young people the knowledge and confidence to turn financial awareness into meaningful opportunity.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
I still remember staring at the email draft, hesitating, wondering if I should even hit send. It was intimidating, reaching out to someone I didn’t know, someone whose experience I admired, but I took the leap. That first step led my cofounders and me to the financial wealth management firm we are now partnered with for Euphoria. That connection has been invaluable, giving us guidance, insight, and perspective we couldn’t have gained any other way. My advice is simple: don’t wait for permission or the perfect moment. Start the conversation, ask your questions, and show genuine curiosity. Often, the single act of reaching out is the spark that creates opportunities.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://euphoriainv.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deon_yj/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deon-yesudas-49105138a/
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/euphoria.inv/
