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Look at the premise here: your life is a competition, a fight. People are coming for you and you'd better have a moat if you want to keep your position. Also, s

Look at the premise here: your life is a competition, a fight. People are coming for you and you'd better have a moat if you want to keep your position. Also, solve the ikigai which has 4 simultaneous variables to optimize. Protip: live simply, save at a decent rate, get financial freedom and you can solve the much simpler 3-dimensional ikigai.

atoav 6y ago
I definitely take life a little easier than most of my colleagues. The more they doubt their own skill the more they revert to scheming and try to make themselves irreplaceable — they do things purely because they think these things will fly, never because it is just the thing they'd like to do. I always wondered if — maybe — it is me that is too playful, too improvised, too spontaneous: what if they are right and I am wrong? I have always been intrinsically driven by a broad range of topics. This arguably served me more over the years than any moat plan of any of my colleagues. I could more or less pick what to do next, while they were in their most and more or less stuck there, often complaining about the size, shape and color of the moat. Moats are there to protect you from the outside, but they also stop you from being able to surf the waves and go with the flow.
- Consultant32452 6y ago
  There doesn't have to be a "right" that applies to everyone. If you are living a fulfilling life and making ends meet you are winning. Same for them.
- itronitron 6y ago
  My first real job/career out of college was a direct result of my taking a pure-interest-no-future-prospect-of-employment type class for three semesters.
- darkerside 6y ago
  This mindset is also the product of a privileged life. With some exceptions, you need an abundance mentality to be able to operate without dear of losing your daily source of income.
  - a-nikolaev 6y ago
    Not at all, I think, these two traits are orthogonal. I share this mindset without making much money at all (I'm a graduate student and an adjunct lecturer at a college). If you don't focus on your personal gain, but instead do something for the people around you, sharing your knowledge and skill, you also become valued and in some sense irreplaceable, without being protective about keeping your advantage. (Your moat is that you don't have a moat.)
    - darkerside 6y ago
      Did you grow up in a household where your basic necessities were provided for? Did you have caring parents who you trusted were looking out for your best interests? If you answered yes to either of those, you're not exactly who I'm talking about, even if you aren't affluent today. You've internalized that there is "enough" in this world for everybody to be happy, including yourself. It's a great mindset to have, and one that I share, but it's not one everybody is fortunate enough to inhabit.
mettamage 6y ago
> get financial freedom How? In The Netherlands, I don't know how to do this other than working in the HFT industry.
- dcl 6y ago
  How big is the HFT industry in the Netherlands? Is this just something you can chose to do?
  - jfk13 6y ago
    Of course not. Unless you have both the right CV and the right connections, I guess.
  - rocqua 6y ago
    Decently big because of the Amsterdam Internet Exchange I think. There are 2 pretty big players, Flowtraders and Optiver. From what I know getting in requires a decently impressive resume and passing some tough tests. I also expect it requires a masters or even PhD in a very mathematical field. That is the context where I saw them at the very least. I feel like I'd stand a decent chance at getting in if I could bring up the required enthusiasm in the interviews. But I do have a decently high opinion of myself.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
  - jv105 6y ago
    Ex Optiverian here. Amsterdam is one of the major HFT hubs. You can find more HFT opportunities in Chicago, New York, London, but after those, Amsterdam comes next (together with Sydney, Singapore). Optiver, IMC, and Flow Traders are bigger players. There's also Webb Traders and DaVinci Derivatives, and smaller offices of other players, e.g. Jump Trading, Mako, and there's always a rumor that DRW is planning to open an office in Amsterdam, etc. etc.. There are also some non-HFT shops but I'm not very knowledgeable about them. Speaking for software engineering (not quant or trader positions): They're quite selective but if you have a decent resume, you can get an interview and it's not extremely hard to get in. Although, you need to have strong interest in trading, and good CS fundamentals, and ability to think quickly on your feet.
christophilus 6y ago
Agreed. I try to solve problems, do my job well, tinker with things that interest me, and listen and be kind to everyone— especially those I disagree with. I don’t worry or fret or scheme. Been doing this for 20 years so far, and am satisfied with the result.

atoav 6y ago

I definitely take life a little easier than most of my colleagues. The more they doubt their own skill the more they revert to scheming and try to make themselves irreplaceable — they do things purely because they think these things will fly, never because it is just the thing they'd like to do. I always wondered if — maybe — it is me that is too playful, too improvised, too spontaneous: what if they are right and I am wrong? I have always been intrinsically driven by a broad range of topics. This arguably served me more over the years than any moat plan of any of my colleagues. I could more or less pick what to do next, while they were in their most and more or less stuck there, often complaining about the size, shape and color of the moat. Moats are there to protect you from the outside, but they also stop you from being able to surf the waves and go with the flow.

Consultant32452 6y ago
There doesn't have to be a "right" that applies to everyone. If you are living a fulfilling life and making ends meet you are winning. Same for them.
itronitron 6y ago
My first real job/career out of college was a direct result of my taking a pure-interest-no-future-prospect-of-employment type class for three semesters.
darkerside 6y ago
This mindset is also the product of a privileged life. With some exceptions, you need an abundance mentality to be able to operate without dear of losing your daily source of income.
- a-nikolaev 6y ago
  Not at all, I think, these two traits are orthogonal. I share this mindset without making much money at all (I'm a graduate student and an adjunct lecturer at a college). If you don't focus on your personal gain, but instead do something for the people around you, sharing your knowledge and skill, you also become valued and in some sense irreplaceable, without being protective about keeping your advantage. (Your moat is that you don't have a moat.)
  - darkerside 6y ago
    Did you grow up in a household where your basic necessities were provided for? Did you have caring parents who you trusted were looking out for your best interests? If you answered yes to either of those, you're not exactly who I'm talking about, even if you aren't affluent today. You've internalized that there is "enough" in this world for everybody to be happy, including yourself. It's a great mindset to have, and one that I share, but it's not one everybody is fortunate enough to inhabit.

mettamage 6y ago

> get financial freedom How? In The Netherlands, I don't know how to do this other than working in the HFT industry.

dcl 6y ago
How big is the HFT industry in the Netherlands? Is this just something you can chose to do?
- jfk13 6y ago
  Of course not. Unless you have both the right CV and the right connections, I guess.
- rocqua 6y ago
  Decently big because of the Amsterdam Internet Exchange I think. There are 2 pretty big players, Flowtraders and Optiver. From what I know getting in requires a decently impressive resume and passing some tough tests. I also expect it requires a masters or even PhD in a very mathematical field. That is the context where I saw them at the very least. I feel like I'd stand a decent chance at getting in if I could bring up the required enthusiasm in the interviews. But I do have a decently high opinion of myself.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- jv105 6y ago
  Ex Optiverian here. Amsterdam is one of the major HFT hubs. You can find more HFT opportunities in Chicago, New York, London, but after those, Amsterdam comes next (together with Sydney, Singapore). Optiver, IMC, and Flow Traders are bigger players. There's also Webb Traders and DaVinci Derivatives, and smaller offices of other players, e.g. Jump Trading, Mako, and there's always a rumor that DRW is planning to open an office in Amsterdam, etc. etc.. There are also some non-HFT shops but I'm not very knowledgeable about them. Speaking for software engineering (not quant or trader positions): They're quite selective but if you have a decent resume, you can get an interview and it's not extremely hard to get in. Although, you need to have strong interest in trading, and good CS fundamentals, and ability to think quickly on your feet.

christophilus 6y ago

Agreed. I try to solve problems, do my job well, tinker with things that interest me, and listen and be kind to everyone— especially those I disagree with. I don’t worry or fret or scheme. Been doing this for 20 years so far, and am satisfied with the result.