5 ms·

since this story is a bust, while we're here, has Simons every said anything interesting somebody could point me to? I've listened to various interviews but he

since this story is a bust, while we're here, has Simons every said anything interesting somebody could point me to? I've listened to various interviews but he doesn't really say much or spark my imagination. With Musk, you can like him or not, but he talks about a lot of interesting stuff, let's you know what he thinks. What Simon's accomplished is phenomenal, but it's just a black box really.

winddude 4y ago
Maybe comes from all his time working in coding breaking and top secret shit for DOD. Yea, I've looked and read, but not a lot. lol. Also very little turn over or public info from people who worked at Renaissance
bmitc 4y ago
It's because James Simons is a serious and actually intelligent person with depth of knowledge, and thus, he is one that doesn't need to opine on random things. He also makes a lot of money in a very secretive way. I'm not sure why anyone expects him to expound in detail on how Renaissance Technologies does it. Simons also spends more money than some governments on very serious and advanced scientific research. I suppose he's rather busy with all his investments and philanthropy. Musk is busy selling himself and filling his unfillable ego. You can see in Simons' TED interview with Chris Anderson how he gets rather annoyed with Chris at times, particularly when Chris mentions Simons' "amazing mind" at around 8:30. Simons seems, to me, to be a rather pragmatic and humble person who doesn't particularly enjoy flattery. Chris even throws out a quote by Musk at the very end of the interview, fishing for some similar platitude from Simons, but Simons deftly avoids giving out such an empty quote. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5kIdtMJGc8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5kIdtMJGc8 Most interestingly, you can tell Simons' like of science and mathematics and alludes to his interest when he mentions his investment into the origins of life towards the end. There are two interesting talks or interviews I know of with Simons: * Full-length Numberphile interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNznD9hMEh0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNznD9hMEh0 * His lecture on his life given at MIT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVdTF4_QrTM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVdTF4_QrTM Simons actually attributes a lot of his success to luck.
- knewter 4y ago
  Ah yes, the man whose businesses revolutionized rocketry and electric vehicles doesn't do serious and advanced scientific research
  - ahoya 4y ago
    He bought those companies, he didn’t found Them. Anybody can buy a car company or a rocket company if they are rich enough. The only thing he invented was PayPal, and that was not original. And it wasn’t even his idea alone.
    - TheAlchemist 4y ago
      Ideas are useless. Execution is everything. And we can like Elon or not (I'm definitely in the latter camp lately) but if it was as easy as you say, there would be tons of other companies making such breakthroughs.
      - user_named 4y ago
        Execution isn't theoretical research.
      - Firmwarrior 4y ago
        Yeah, people forget that during the 90s and 00s it was a well-known meme that we had the tech for electric cars, and oil companies had buried it Love him or hate him, Elon didn't let his memes be dreams
        ahoya 4y ago
        Most cars were electric in the late 1800s
  - bee_rider 4y ago
    He hires serious researchers fairly well. It’s a skill. One that doesn’t give much room to play Tony Stark, though.
robswc 4y ago
Well, not sure how else to say it but there's 0 benefit in Simons saying _anything_ that might give insight into how Rentec operates. He's been secretive about it his entire life. Imo, there is no "secret." There is just a bunch of smart people in a room, constantly turning out and testing ideas. They were some of the first to apply linear regression and what we know as "machine learning" to equities. Edward Thorpe is another dude to look into. Their trading really took off after hiring some IBM engineers (accounting for their ramp up time). Those engineers were working on speech detection. I think it really is just a matter of having an insanely smart set of people, working on a problem in a room together... with the capital to back it up. IMO, Jim Simons alone couldn't do it _but_ he is/was arguably one of the best mathematicians of our time. That certainly had to have helped. I got a bit off track, but regarding your comment here: >has Simons every said anything interesting What are you looking for? Do you mean in regard to rentec or just in general? I've done a lot of research on them. I could take a stab at answering them. (for reference, I operate a small algotrading shop but have always been interested in the history of algo trading)
- fsckboy 4y ago
  I meant in general. I'm a smart educated person and I like listening to smart educated people, doesn't matter what they're interested in, doesn't matter if I like them or agree with them. I find Bill Gates a huge disappointment, not claiming he's dumb, but he just doesn't say interesting things. His philanthropic work is a bore: it's all just too big and obvious, I might as well just look at a list of things the United Nations is up to. Not saying there's anything wrong with it, but him talking about it doesn't interest me. Same with Simons. He's gotta be smart, but I guess he just doesn't talk.
  - epgui 4y ago
    I don’t know if we’re listening to the same people, but both Bill Gates and Jim Simons say very insightful things. You do need to know what they’re talking about or hinting at. What I’d do to chat with either of them.
    - 4y ago
c_o_n_v_e_x 4y ago
The markets guys jealousy guard their edge in the market. The less you say the better, less chance of slipping and letting everyone know the recipe to the secret sauce. Musk seeks attention to help market his businesses.
ilrwbwrkhv 4y ago
lol you are comparing Musk to one of the greatest living minds of our generation?
lextuto 4y ago
I collected some info on Rentec in my blog[0] because I wanted to find out more after reading Zuckerman's "The Man Who Solved the Market." I hope you find it useful. [0]: https://sileret.com/blog/renaissance-technologies/ https://sileret.com/blog/renaissance-technologies/

winddude 4y ago

Maybe comes from all his time working in coding breaking and top secret shit for DOD. Yea, I've looked and read, but not a lot. lol. Also very little turn over or public info from people who worked at Renaissance

bmitc 4y ago

It's because James Simons is a serious and actually intelligent person with depth of knowledge, and thus, he is one that doesn't need to opine on random things. He also makes a lot of money in a very secretive way. I'm not sure why anyone expects him to expound in detail on how Renaissance Technologies does it. Simons also spends more money than some governments on very serious and advanced scientific research. I suppose he's rather busy with all his investments and philanthropy. Musk is busy selling himself and filling his unfillable ego. You can see in Simons' TED interview with Chris Anderson how he gets rather annoyed with Chris at times, particularly when Chris mentions Simons' "amazing mind" at around 8:30. Simons seems, to me, to be a rather pragmatic and humble person who doesn't particularly enjoy flattery. Chris even throws out a quote by Musk at the very end of the interview, fishing for some similar platitude from Simons, but Simons deftly avoids giving out such an empty quote. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5kIdtMJGc8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5kIdtMJGc8 Most interestingly, you can tell Simons' like of science and mathematics and alludes to his interest when he mentions his investment into the origins of life towards the end. There are two interesting talks or interviews I know of with Simons: * Full-length Numberphile interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNznD9hMEh0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNznD9hMEh0 * His lecture on his life given at MIT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVdTF4_QrTM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVdTF4_QrTM Simons actually attributes a lot of his success to luck.

knewter 4y ago
Ah yes, the man whose businesses revolutionized rocketry and electric vehicles doesn't do serious and advanced scientific research
- ahoya 4y ago
  He bought those companies, he didn’t found Them. Anybody can buy a car company or a rocket company if they are rich enough. The only thing he invented was PayPal, and that was not original. And it wasn’t even his idea alone.
  - TheAlchemist 4y ago
    Ideas are useless. Execution is everything. And we can like Elon or not (I'm definitely in the latter camp lately) but if it was as easy as you say, there would be tons of other companies making such breakthroughs.
    - user_named 4y ago
      Execution isn't theoretical research.
    - Firmwarrior 4y ago
      Yeah, people forget that during the 90s and 00s it was a well-known meme that we had the tech for electric cars, and oil companies had buried it Love him or hate him, Elon didn't let his memes be dreams
      - ahoya 4y ago
        Most cars were electric in the late 1800s
- bee_rider 4y ago
  He hires serious researchers fairly well. It’s a skill. One that doesn’t give much room to play Tony Stark, though.

robswc 4y ago

Well, not sure how else to say it but there's 0 benefit in Simons saying _anything_ that might give insight into how Rentec operates. He's been secretive about it his entire life. Imo, there is no "secret." There is just a bunch of smart people in a room, constantly turning out and testing ideas. They were some of the first to apply linear regression and what we know as "machine learning" to equities. Edward Thorpe is another dude to look into. Their trading really took off after hiring some IBM engineers (accounting for their ramp up time). Those engineers were working on speech detection. I think it really is just a matter of having an insanely smart set of people, working on a problem in a room together... with the capital to back it up. IMO, Jim Simons alone couldn't do it _but_ he is/was arguably one of the best mathematicians of our time. That certainly had to have helped. I got a bit off track, but regarding your comment here: >has Simons every said anything interesting What are you looking for? Do you mean in regard to rentec or just in general? I've done a lot of research on them. I could take a stab at answering them. (for reference, I operate a small algotrading shop but have always been interested in the history of algo trading)

fsckboy 4y ago
I meant in general. I'm a smart educated person and I like listening to smart educated people, doesn't matter what they're interested in, doesn't matter if I like them or agree with them. I find Bill Gates a huge disappointment, not claiming he's dumb, but he just doesn't say interesting things. His philanthropic work is a bore: it's all just too big and obvious, I might as well just look at a list of things the United Nations is up to. Not saying there's anything wrong with it, but him talking about it doesn't interest me. Same with Simons. He's gotta be smart, but I guess he just doesn't talk.
- epgui 4y ago
  I don’t know if we’re listening to the same people, but both Bill Gates and Jim Simons say very insightful things. You do need to know what they’re talking about or hinting at. What I’d do to chat with either of them.
  - 4y ago

c_o_n_v_e_x 4y ago

The markets guys jealousy guard their edge in the market. The less you say the better, less chance of slipping and letting everyone know the recipe to the secret sauce. Musk seeks attention to help market his businesses.

ilrwbwrkhv 4y ago

lol you are comparing Musk to one of the greatest living minds of our generation?

lextuto 4y ago

I collected some info on Rentec in my blog[0] because I wanted to find out more after reading Zuckerman's "The Man Who Solved the Market." I hope you find it useful. [0]: https://sileret.com/blog/renaissance-technologies/ https://sileret.com/blog/renaissance-technologies/