Career
As a Gen X’r, I used to look at a career as that singular skill or profession that a person sticks with the majority of their working life. Indeed, I consider myself a trader- a person who weighs risk vs reward for an asymmetrical positive outcome.
However, just as the definition of a career has shifted with the times, so has my interpretation of what it means to be a trader. I no longer identify purely as a trader in the financial markets. As a founder and business leader I need to trade on other dimensions – from long term vs short term perspectives, betting on human vs machine, investing in growth mindsets for employees, crafting macro strategies for my business lines, vetting Capex investments in technology, etc.
The same principles that I used thirty years ago in a trading pit to determine whether to buy or sell, fundamentally still drive my thinking now. And like any good trader, I try to be especially sensitive to inflection points in a status quo or trend.
This is why the next decade excites me so much. We are at multiple and potentially cascading tipping points in our economics, governance structures, and environments. Our societal status quo will not serve us in the future, and we are in dire need of new innovative models to further humanity.
My current investments reflect this.
My investments
The start of my path
I started my career as a “dead man walking”. Let me explain.
It was 1990, I was a 20 year old college graduate with an engineering degree; but all I really wanted to be was an open-outcry trader.
Videos
Grasshopper Series: “No Ego”, and Fear
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Grasshopper Series: “No Ego”, and Fear
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Articles and websites
Grasshoper stays nimble
“To survive, the thresholds of speed went from ‘blink of an eye’ to sub-millionths of a second. In fact, my team did a lot more than survive. We thrived”
Patience, young grasshopper: crypto trading is here
“We just have to nurture the market among centralized exchanges until the industry scales to the point that decentralized exchanges become viable”
Interview with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio
“I introduced a trading culture: low ego, selfless, humble, yet, able to make a decision, have an opinion and get off the fence”
The Wild West days of crypto exchanges
“Everyone is scrambling for disruption, but not everyone has thought about the medium- to long-term consequences”
Tilde Trading
“We offer bespoke digital asset services to family offices and accredited investors. Our specialities include major spot cryptocurrency trades, negotiated block trades, and algorithmic execution”
Grasshopper Asia
Grasshopper is a leading Singaporean proprietary trading firm providing liquidity in global markets. We are technology-led, innovation-driven and heavily invested in developing the competencies of our people.
The art of a comeback
COMEBACKS are my favorite. I really liked this chart as it covers they keys to roaring back to life. The simple stuff, like “good product” and “alignment” is obvious. But pay special attention to those qualitative keys!
I saw this image when my company(s) were really flailing and in volatile disruption from the markets. For myself and my company, it was a great call to action of how difficult it was going to be. In the end, we checked the boxes of most of that rubric and we are still alive…
