Philip Simon (Ep.28)

From the cave to the trading desk

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Philip Simon is the “Rad Genius.” His life and career have bucked convention and traditional narratives, yet are the consequence of a ravenous curiosity and thirst for knowledge. Philip’s story starts in the library, where as a kid he would read multiple books a day (an estimated 1,500 by the time he graduated). After graduating, he dabbled in the Marines, moved to a cave in Greece to pursue a life of asceticism (i.e. severe self-discipline and abstention from all forms of indulgence) and restored murals of art. He was exposed to financial markets by reading “every single word” of the Financial Times and Economist for four straight years, which led him into cold calling for stock brokers, an Internet startup (the Ladders) and the world of high frequency trading (GTS).

In part II with Philip’s corporate development role at a high frequency trading firm. We discuss “dual consciousness” or bringing two different versions of yourself to work and if it’s a luxury to break out of that paradigm; the “duty of the strong to protect the weak” and how that interacts with the concepts of self-reliance and privilege; and alternatives to the broken model of growth capital/capitalism, such as mutualization, B-corps, or mission-driven companies.

Show Notes

coming soon!