I found these in Control Panel > Programs and Features > 

Avira connect
Avira phantom VPN
Avira antivirus
Avira system speedup
 
I clicked on Avira Antivirus, and clicked on "Change".  ON the custom installer I un-selected
mail protection
It seemed like I needed the other ones
 
I uninstalled 
Avira phantom VPN  and
Avira system speedup
 
 
 
In the startup group I found these

Avira system speedup
Avira connect
Avira system tray app
Systray
 
I disabled Avira Connect and the Avira system tray application
 
After uninstalling I found that these are the only 2 in startup group
Avira connect
Avira system tray app
and they're both disabled
 
Did I do somethign wrong? Seems like I should have something in the startup group

gmp
I found these in Control Panel > Programs and Features > 

Avira connect
Avira phantom VPN
Avira antivirus
Avira system speedup
 
I clicked on Avira Antivirus, and clicked on "Change".  ON the custom installer I un-selected
mail protection
It seemed like I needed the other ones
 
I uninstalled 
Avira phantom VPN  and
Avira system speedup
 
 
 
In the startup group I found these

Avira system speedup
Avira connect
Avira system tray app
Systray
 
I disabled Avira Connect and the Avira system tray application
 
After uninstalling I found that these are the only 2 in startup group
Avira connect
Avira system tray app
and they're both disabled
 
Did I do somethign wrong? Seems like I should have something in the startup group

Nope, you're fine.  Avira still starts up.  If you wish, you can re-enable Avira Connect and Avira system tray if you want the quick launch for the Avira interface.
 
Otherwise, you will need to find the Avira shortcut in the Windows menu > All apps > Avira start, and drag it onto the Windows taskbar as a quick launch icon.
 
No need really to disable the startup items I only mentioned it just in case you were bugged by them.  They are a convenience and don't take up much memory or cpu cycles.