3 ms·

Just curious, why sell your model if it's working so well for you?

pyrrhotech 5y ago
I've thought about this a lot, and to answer 100% honestly, I'm not sure I always will, but for now: 1. These are not HFT models. They trade once every 2-4 weeks on average. They scale to billions in capital, so selling them does not inhibit my own returns. 2. There's a lot of demand. Part of the reason I decided to launch is I had some friends IRL begging me to let them use my models as well. Seeking Alpha has over 15M MAU and hundreds of thousands of premium subscribers, and in my opinion this service provides more direct value and wastes less of your time with noise. 3. All the money I make from this goes back into my own bot and compounds. Sure the $1400/month doesn't add up to much right now, but 1000+ premium subscribers one day would make a huge difference to me financially. 4. I believe we are at a precipice with passive investing, and the next bear market which could be right around the corner will dishearten a lot of folks. The more money investing smartly in the market at a reasonable fee makes the markets and overall economy less fragile. More automated smart investing saves society the drag of lots of suits on wall street mostly playing a big marketing game without producing much alpha or liquidity or any other measurable benefit in contrast. Also, on a lighter note, running a business is just a lot of fun. I love seeing people use my product and get value from it.
- bmitc 5y ago
  Who would you describe as your target audience? For example, would someone with some software and mathematics skills but limited financial knowledge (but growing interest) be able to turn the signals into a trading system?
  - pyrrhotech 5y ago
    Definitely, that's why I have API access to signals as part of the Gold Plan. I think there are several ideal users: 1. Active investors who like to pick individual stocks and want to know when is a good time to hedge for beta for macro downturns. 2. Other algotraders who want to either set up their own fully automated system using my models (either in full or as part of the input to their own proprietary model). 3. Average folks who are mostly passive investors but want to be just active enough to avoid the biggest downturns that can take years or decades to recover from. They don't want their retirement savings to potentially stagnate for 13+ years like March 2000 to March 2013. Our models have low signal frequency compared to most competitor systems which make them easy to execute on almost passively by following our email notifications. 4. People who already have 6 figure+ investment accounts and want to grow it more aggressively than SPY or VTI, but don't want to 1. spend the time and energy managing their portfolio themselves and/or 2. pay very high hedge fund / PE / VC fund fees for dubious benefit
    - bmitc 5y ago
      Thanks for the information. I’m going to check it out. This is a unique thing I haven’t seen before. On another but related note, are you familiar with Robert Carver’s books? If so, any thoughts? I’ve been going through his Leveraged Trading book.
      - pyrrhotech 5y ago
        Thanks for checking it out :) I've heard good things about Carver's work but I haven't read them myself. However, I got started reading similar books by Ernest Chan

I've thought about this a lot, and to answer 100% honestly, I'm not sure I always will, but for now: 1. These are not HFT models. They trade once every 2-4 weeks on average. They scale to billions in capital, so selling them does not inhibit my own returns. 2. There's a lot of demand. Part of the reason I decided to launch is I had some friends IRL begging me to let them use my models as well. Seeking Alpha has over 15M MAU and hundreds of thousands of premium subscribers, and in my opinion this service provides more direct value and wastes less of your time with noise. 3. All the money I make from this goes back into my own bot and compounds. Sure the $1400/month doesn't add up to much right now, but 1000+ premium subscribers one day would make a huge difference to me financially. 4. I believe we are at a precipice with passive investing, and the next bear market which could be right around the corner will dishearten a lot of folks. The more money investing smartly in the market at a reasonable fee makes the markets and overall economy less fragile. More automated smart investing saves society the drag of lots of suits on wall street mostly playing a big marketing game without producing much alpha or liquidity or any other measurable benefit in contrast. Also, on a lighter note, running a business is just a lot of fun. I love seeing people use my product and get value from it.

bmitc 5y ago
Who would you describe as your target audience? For example, would someone with some software and mathematics skills but limited financial knowledge (but growing interest) be able to turn the signals into a trading system?
- pyrrhotech 5y ago
  Definitely, that's why I have API access to signals as part of the Gold Plan. I think there are several ideal users: 1. Active investors who like to pick individual stocks and want to know when is a good time to hedge for beta for macro downturns. 2. Other algotraders who want to either set up their own fully automated system using my models (either in full or as part of the input to their own proprietary model). 3. Average folks who are mostly passive investors but want to be just active enough to avoid the biggest downturns that can take years or decades to recover from. They don't want their retirement savings to potentially stagnate for 13+ years like March 2000 to March 2013. Our models have low signal frequency compared to most competitor systems which make them easy to execute on almost passively by following our email notifications. 4. People who already have 6 figure+ investment accounts and want to grow it more aggressively than SPY or VTI, but don't want to 1. spend the time and energy managing their portfolio themselves and/or 2. pay very high hedge fund / PE / VC fund fees for dubious benefit
  - bmitc 5y ago
    Thanks for the information. I’m going to check it out. This is a unique thing I haven’t seen before. On another but related note, are you familiar with Robert Carver’s books? If so, any thoughts? I’ve been going through his Leveraged Trading book.
    - pyrrhotech 5y ago
      Thanks for checking it out :) I've heard good things about Carver's work but I haven't read them myself. However, I got started reading similar books by Ernest Chan