How to Write a Post for “I Am A Terrible Investor”

We’ve had a lot of interest from great people of all kinds about writing their story for us. And I’ve gotten just as many questions about how this works and what they should write.

So, to make this approachable and easy, I created this simple guide. It covers the types of stories that work best, what to write about, and the format.

What to write about

Tell us the story of an investment gone wrong. The messier the better.

The more certain you were that it was a good idea before you found out it was a bad idea, the more there is to learn from it. The more things went wrong, the more there is to learn from it.

And the more it hurt, the more cathartic it will be to write about.

We appreciate stories of investments of all types — stocks, private companies, real estate, shorts, or pork bellies.

This is about errors of commission, not errors of omission. (Don’t tell us about missed opportunities, tell us about bets you made that did not work out.)

How to write about it

Super simple — answer these 10 questions. You can be as thorough or brief as you would like. If you answer these questions, it should be thorough enough for us to get the idea and lessons.

1. Who are you, what is your story?
2. Where did you get the idea?
3. What was the idea?
4. What did you do to research, understand, de-risk, and diligence the plan?
5. What did you think would happen?
6. What happened?
7. Why did that happen?
8. How did this all end?
9. What did you learn?
10. What should we learn from you?

Your tone should be casual and conversational. These are not formal write-ups. Part of the goal here is to create an approachable, easily-understood resource for learning about investing.

We want to feel like we’re at dinner asking you these questions and you’re telling the story to friends in your own words.

And there will be bonus points awarded for honesty, and humorous self-deprecation. Without that kind of openness and willingness to tell these stories, it’s a dangerous world of misperception out there.

Send it in

When you’ve written it up, send it to me at Eric@iamaterribleinvestor.com.

I’m happy to make edits, suggestions, and add some links on resources.

Please include any specific terms you have about us publishing your story. Should we include your full name? Link to your company or twitter? Do you prefer to be anonymous?

Thank you

I really appreciate you being a part of this. This is an underdog of a little project, and I think it is one that serves and important need and can create quite an impact on those who find it valuable.

If you have a story of losing money and getting your ass kicked — share it! I’ll publish stories of all kinds contributed from readers as posts.(Anon if you want)

You are welcome to write it yourself. If you prefer, I’m happy to hear the story over the phone and turn it into a post for you.

Email me about your stories: Eric@iamaterribleinvestor.com

I look forward to learning with you.