Expert Interview: How AWALL and Veteran Debt Assistance Are Redefining Accessibility in Their Industries

Today we're speaking with Steven Shulman, co-founder and CEO of AWALL, the #1-rated affordable, high-quality MicroLED TV recognized by both CEDIA and InfoComm as Best of Show in 2025. AWALL delivers Chip-on-Board MicroLED display systems starting at $12,500, bringing technology that once carried six-figure price tags within reach of homeowners, integrators, and commercial buyers alike.

At Veteran Debt Assistance, we provide 100% free financial education and debt-relief tools designed exclusively for U.S. veterans and their families; no fees, no upsells, no credit checks required, because financial independence should not depend on the ability to pay for expert help. We've guided thousands of veterans through complex debt situations, and we know firsthand how gatekeeping, whether through fees, dealer networks, or deliberately opaque pricing, keeps the people who need access most from getting it. When we learned how AWALL dismantled that same structure in the display industry, publishing transparent pricing online when every competitor still requires a multi-day quote process, we wanted to understand how they did it and what it took to make a $33,000 135-inch MicroLED display a credible alternative to products priced at $165,000 or more. The parallel to our work at VDA is direct: both industries have historically used complexity and opacity to protect incumbents, not the people they claim to serve.

Q: AWALL entered the market by offering transparent, direct-to-consumer pricing, making access easier for buyers. Veteran Debt Assistance operates similarly by refusing to gatekeep elite financial advocacy behind a paywall. What led to the decision to challenge this entrenched structure, and what did the initial market pushback tell you about why those gatekeepers existed?

Steven: The MicroLED market was built on opacity. You could not get a price without a multi day quote process through a dealer. That structure protected margins, not buyers. Our thesis was simple: if you build a display that outperforms the competition and publish the price online, you remove the friction that keeps quality technology inaccessible. The initial reaction was defensive; dealers claimed transparency would cannibalize the market. But we found a large audience of potential buyers who felt they were not getting honest value from legacy brands. By putting real numbers as low as $33,000 for a 135 inch display next to a competitor’s $165,000+ price tag, we exposed that the gatekeepers were focused on protecting an outdated sales cycle rather than the customer.

Q: Most organizations choose between high margins or broad access. VDA chose access by providing free services to those who served. What was the defining moment for AWALL in choosing to democratize MicroLED, and how did you navigate the perceived tradeoff between profit and accessibility?

Steven: For us, it was not a tradeoff between margin and access, but a choice of business models. The legacy market had massive margins because there was zero direct to consumer competition. We calculated that a transparent, higher volume model was more durable than a low volume model dependent on middlemen. The defining moment was the commitment to no gated specs. Every downstream decision, from product design to support, aligned around that transparency. The goal shifted from how do we protect our margin to how do we make the value so obvious that the product sells itself. Winning Best of Show awards at CEDIA and InfoComm in 2025 confirmed that prioritizing accessibility does not mean sacrificing the quality of the tech.

Q: Consumers are often skeptical when a product or service is priced significantly below the market average, fearing a catch. VDA faces this when convincing veterans that free advocacy is legitimate. How does AWALL overcome this skepticism, and which proof points have been most effective in building trust?

Steven: Skepticism is a rational response to a disruptor, so we answer it with data. We rely on peer evaluations from the professional integrator community, the people who install these systems for a living. When they rank us #1, it carries more weight than any ad. We also publish side by side spec comparisons. If our I Series reaches 2,500 nits and 30,000:1 native contrast while using 64% less power than traditional displays, we put those numbers out for verification. We show the ADC 12 Aluminum Alloy cabinets and the two hour installation process. When a buyer can verify the hardware specs and see independent industry awards, the too good to be true barrier disappears.

Q: How does AWALL scale production for screens up to 300 inches without losing quality, and what can VDA learn from that as we scale our financial services for thousands of veterans?

Steven: Quality control has to be baked into the architecture, not added at the end. We use Flip Chip Chip on Board (COB) technology, which mounts the LED chips directly to the board. This removes the wire bonding failure points found in older displays and naturally provides an IP65 rating against water and dust. We also manage scale by qualifying our projects carefully. We do not try to be everything to everyone; we focus on native 16:9 and 21:9 configurations where our tech excels. By standardizing the engine of the display, we can scale volume while maintaining the precision required for a 300 inch screen.

Q: Looking at 2026 and beyond, what is the single biggest structural barrier still standing between high-end MicroLED technology and true mainstream adoption, and is it a pricing problem, an awareness problem, or something the industry has not named yet? Veteran Debt Assistance would argue that for veterans, the barrier to elite financial help is almost entirely awareness. Do you see a parallel in your market?

Steven: Beyond just an awareness gap, we’re seeing the effects of long-standing industry complexities. When specifications vary wildly and pricing doesn't always align with performance. Our goal is to move past that legacy by prioritizing transparency and proven results. Even when a veteran or a consumer sees a better alternative like VDA or AWALL, their instinct is to look for the catch because they have been trained to expect one. Our job is not just to spread information; it is to build an infrastructure of trust. That requires published pricing, verified awards, and removing the intermediaries who profit from keeping the customer in the dark. The barrier is not just that people do not know these options exist, it is that they need proof that the door is finally open.