Removing the golden handcuffs

[fan27]

Release will likely be next weekend. I have one last problem to solve as the result of adding the concept of exchanges with regular and extended trading hours. I have to say, the task of getting two independent platforms (FasterQuant and AlgoTerminal) to generate identical results is no easy effort. That being said, I have uncovered numerous bugs in both platforms which have been addressed as a result of this process.

In other news, my live trading is crushing it with my account being up almost 21% this month so far. After taxes that equates to about three months of living expenses/project runway. This is great validation and his given me some financial breathing room.

 

[fan27]

I am code complete for the initial release. The only thing left is to create video tutorials which is not a trivial task. My approach is going to be to create one very short intro video for the home page of the site and then do a deep dive explanation for each part of the product with additional videos.

 

[They]

I am code complete for the initial release. The only thing left is to create video tutorials which is not a trivial task. My approach is going to be to create one very short intro video for the home page of the site and then do a deep dive explanation for each part of the product with additional videos.

Slow and steady, just like trading.

 

[nooby_mcnoob]

Since your live trading is going well so far, have you ever considered just being a trader? The con-slutting business is not fun unless you are very careful in the projects you take on. I am already regretting the most recent one and I am thinking of getting it done in one month instead of 3 so I can be done with it (and get the early completion bonus).

* Number of consultants who are billionaires: 0
* Number of non-consultants who are billionaires: all of them

Decent way to 7-8 figure net worth though. I can definitely relate to the comfort of having it as a backup.

So if I was where you are today, I would say:

* Get your costs down (sounds like you've got it down to ~$5K/month)
* Sort out, and prioritize your life goals: do you want to play golf, write code, swim, travel, make $$$, trade the markets (different from make $$$), spend time with your kid(s), etc
* Go all in on the trading.
* Begin creating a company around the trading. Hire people, look at Dalio's principles for a decent approach of what you may want to look for "Meaningful work, meaningful relationships". Work with people who you can be friends with. Make it fun.

* As a backup, start a blog where you post your company results weekly/monthly.
** Block all comments.
** Put an email address to contact you if they want to hire you for consulting.
** Add an autoresponder saying "Not currently accepting consulting projects, would you like to be notified if this changes? You will be put on a first-come, first-serve basis. If so, click here."
** Anyone who emails you gets put on your blog blast list
** This is million dollar consulting by the way. Create scarcity. I've used this pretty effectively to land million dollar projects.

This way you will always have a pipeline as a backup if trading fails. If you are making money using your own software, there is no marketing you need to do. Just post a couple of times on reddit/here/other quant/finance hangouts, and it'll eventually get to the right people.

Create a little bit of mystery too. One of the problems us nerds have is we live in truth, so we want everyone to see our logic. Don't do that. Be fan27 forever. Call your company fan27 trading. Don't post any pictures, don't say anything about yourself, just results. Be as autistic and private as possible.

Anyway, that's what I would advise myself if I were on the verge of a successful trading system, having been in conslutting for way too long now.

 

[nooby_mcnoob]

Also, the software sales business is not fun either. Here is an excerpt of an email I got recently:

So think very carefully if you want to be in software sales (you don't, unless you're making $100K sales every month with very little work).

Edit: FWIW, my hourly rate for the software related to the above email works out to ~$500/hour. So it's still worth my time, but slowly, very slowly, not becoming so.

 

[fan27]

Thanks for the posts @nooby_mcnoob...some good info there!

The reality is that I don't have enough trading capital to live on trading profits alone. For the product I am launching, I only have to sell 1.5 units per month to cover living and business expenses. I was considering getting a "day job" and just use the technology myself but by selling the product I am staying in the game and I suspect there will be some opportunities arising. I could see a scenario where I only have a few clients that would enable me to cover all of my costs and living expenses.

On another note, I have a call with a representative from a major hedge fund tomorrow to discuss a "partner program". Not sure what that is about, but I suspect more opportunities like that may arise when I launch my site and can demonstrate how I am using the technology to make money.

 

[nooby_mcnoob]

Thanks for the posts @nooby_mcnoob...some good info there!

The reality is that I don't have enough trading capital to live on trading profits alone. For the product I am launching, I only have to sell 1.5 units per month to cover living and business expenses. I was considering getting a "day job" and just use the technology myself but by selling the product I am staying in the game and I suspect there will be some opportunities arising. I could see a scenario where I only have a few clients that would enable me to cover all of my costs and living expenses.

On another note, I have a call with a representative from a major hedge fund tomorrow to discuss a "partner program". Not sure what that is about, but I suspect more opportunities like that may arise when I launch my site and can demonstrate how I am using the technology to make money.

You're welcome. I've already convinced my kids not to be in computers, so I need to pass it on to someone else.

You're going to do what feels comfortable and makes sense. I would say that the tradeoffs you should focus on are:

1. How much time will I spend on customers vs my own initiatives
2. How much money will I be compensated by spending time on customers vs my own initiatives

It sounds simple but many people don't make this tradeoff. I think if you are a private autist, you can mint money on these hedge fund type partnership deals. Make sure they are not exclusive, make sure you don't give them the source code or the code at all.

 

[fan27]

You're welcome. I've already convinced my kids not to be in computers, so I need to pass it on to someone else.

You're going to do what feels comfortable and makes sense. I would say that the tradeoffs you should focus on are:

1. How much time will I spend on customers vs my own initiatives
2. How much money will I be compensated by spending time on customers vs my own initiatives

It sounds simple but many people don't make this tradeoff. I think if you are a private autist, you can mint money on these hedge fund type partnership deals. Make sure they are not exclusive, make sure you don't give them the source code or the code at all.

Good points! Most of my product will ship with source code except for the main SDK component which requires licensing. The idea is to offer maximum flexibility so a hedge fund could take what I have built and create their own research pipelines (of course, I can help with that).

 

[nooby_mcnoob]

Good points! Most of my product will ship with source code except for the main SDK component which requires licensing. The idea is to offer maximum flexibility so a hedge fund could take what I have built and create their own research pipelines (of course, I can help with that).

Do you have any experience with pricing models? I know you said you saw how the previous company licensed their SDKs but that's old school. I also have worked with companies that licensed SDKs and all of them are moving to subscription models.

I'm not trying to second guess you or cause you to second guess yourself. But you may be replacing one set of golden handcuffs with another and I would hate for you to do that. Trust me, conslutting or software sales are also golden handcuffs. They're no better. You will grow to value your time way more than money at some point.

And lastly, make sure you make it rain love on your wife as well. Take her out and do stuff she likes. Your relationship shouldn't suffer. I'm sure you're doing this already, but it's common to forget. Don't forget it.

 

[nooby_mcnoob]

Here's how I would want you to make sales: "I'm providing you with a way to make money. Pay me monthly for that privilege and don't bother me. Pay me 800X for my time".