September 15, 2012

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You don’t see many startups in the stock-trading industry, probably because us traders have too little time and energy leftover after our daily grind.

As a result, my niche suffers from a severe lack of innovation, despite the rapid growth of the Internet and social media — tools that have the potential to revolutionize trading.

During my wild ride — turning $12,415 in Bar Mitzvah gift money into $2 million in four years of college, losing a third of my net worth while running a hedge fund, and landing a starring role in the hit TV show Wall Street Warriors – I’ve founded multiple companies aimed at educating traders on how to utilize these new technologies.

Education – even for speculators – is so important.

Here are three essential pieces of advice I’ve received over the years:

1. Failure is a prerequisite for investment.

While trying to fundraise for my hedge fund, I met one veteran investor who said, “Tim, I love you — I love your strategy, I love your determination, but I’m not gonna give you any money because you haven’t been scarred yet.”

I walked out of the meeting thinking he was a crazy old man.

I had some success at first, but three years later, after I tried investing rather than trading and losing a third of my fund and credibility, that crazy old man couldn’t have been more right.

My success at such a young age had made me far too cocky. Now that I’ve experienced great financial and professional loss, I’m an infinitely better trader, businessman, teacher and person, for that matter. And I don’t invest in or hire anyone who hasn’t failed in the past, as their education isn’t complete.

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