BOOTSTRAPPING 51 upvotes 2011

Bootstrapping an Ultra Low Latency Trading Firm, Part 3.1

51 pts
Hacker News Signal
2011 · Shared by @veyron
Bootstrapping an Ultra Low Latency Trading Firm, Part 3.1 by @veyron

Retrospective Overview & Key Insights

Distilled reflections, business mechanics, and tactical takeaways:

Published in 2011, this chronicle by @veyron details the mechanics of building a profitable, self-funded business without venture backing.

Core Principles for Independent Builders:
1
Charging customers from day one acts as the ultimate filter for building software that solves genuine, high-urgency problems.
2
Keeping fixed overhead low and leveraging lean infrastructure allows founders to stay alive until market tailwinds kick in.
3
Small, repetitive improvements in customer retention and conversion rates yield massive returns over multi-year horizons.
Community Debate Themes:

The community focused on B2B customer acquisition channels, cold email vs SEO distribution, and balancing full-time employment with side-project development.

Founder's Discussion Replies (@veyron)

Direct clarifications and follow-up comments shared by the author during the live discussion:

OP @veyron Original Author

Kickstarter request for setting up platform to allow me to redistribute the market data: http://www.kickstarter.com/profile/proposals/83047 ↗

Community Discussions & Critical Reviews

Key perspectives, counter-arguments, and peer founder insights debated on Hacker News (13 total discussions):

AP @apaprocki Peer Contributor
JO @JoeAltmaier Peer Contributor

I'm an ultra low Frequency trader. Bought some index funds 5 years ago. Talk to my broker once a year. Recently got out of one fund, into another. Whoo hoo!

I need a product that notifies me if there's something I need to do, like deal with a bankruptcy or a fund is being discontinued and I need to reinvest. As it is, the process is a) receive half a dozen mailing each month about funds and b) throw them all away (too much information).

I know, my broker can deal with all that. So, can he be replaced? Yes, surely. Anybody got ideas?

SN @snikolic Peer Contributor

Veyron, I wish you a fine recovery from the last few days. :-)

First off, I'd pay. Second, I'll donate as soon as the kickstarter page is up. Last, can you clarify what the granularity of the data would be? Are we just talking about closing prices, periodic price updates during the day (e.g. every 5 minutes), real-time, etc.?

HISTORICAL ERA Web 2.0 Genesis (2007–2013)
COMMUNITY SCORE 51 points
TOTAL DISCUSSIONS 13 comments
TOPICS & TECH STACK:
More Retrospectives by @veyron