Money

"So, how old are you?" asked Spencer, the head of the prop trading firm.

"I'm 22," replied Neel.

"Just graduated, huh?"

"Yup."

"So, why do you want to be a prop trader?"

"Well, that's a good question. You see it all started when I got rejected from a job at Macy's. Boring corporate job. I made it to the final round, but then they rejected me. So that night I went on the internet and googled 'how to make a lot of money in your 20s' and I found prop trading. The site recommended this book called One Good Trade and I wound up reading it in one night. By the morning I knew what I wanted to do with my life, I wanted to be a prop trader."

"So we're your backup option?"

"Ehhh not really. I consider not getting that Macy's job the best break I could've had."

"Why?"

"Because I would have spent a lot of time doing something that wasn't really going to translate into me becoming a billionaire."

"And why is that?"

"Well, the CEO of Macy's makes $5 million a year."

"I see. So why do you want to be a billionaire?"

"I don't know, I come from pretty modest means, that probably has a lot to do with it."

"So you think you can make a billion dollars trading the stock market?"

"Yeah, I mean, doesn't everyone at this company?"

"Yeah." Spencer laughed. "But why do you think you would be good at it? I hope you know that most new traders fail."

"Yeah, I've read the stats. 90% of traders quit or get fired within the first three years. That won't be me."

"How do you know?"

"I guess I can't really know, I believe."

"Believe in what?"

"Myself, and my ability to be successful at anything I put my mind to."

"That's interesting, your grades don't seem to be that great."

"Well, yeah. I never cared much about school."

"Why not?"

"School is just time pass."

"What do you mean?"

"Once you know how to read and write, I think we'd be much better off doing stuff that actually....matters."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Plumbing? Woodwork? Something useful."

"It says here you majored in Finance and Economics, you don't think that's useful."

"I am 100% sure it's not."

"Then why'd you do it?"

"Lotta chicks at college, and you have to study something while you're there." Spencer laughed again.

"Yeah, but why trading? There are a lot of other ways to make money."

"True. But do you know what all the wealthiest people, at least in this country, have in common?"

"No, what?"

"They're all in stocks."

"Huh?"

"I realized this a little while ago. All the richest people in this country either made their money in stocks or run a publicly traded company. It all comes back to the stock market."

"Yeah, I guess it does."

"Yeah. So even if I fail, which I won't, I will have at least spent some time learning about something worthwhile."

"What are your thoughts on risk?"

"You have to take risks in life. If you don't take any risks, you'll never get anywhere. But if you take risks all the time, you'll probably end up dead. So you have to learn to manage risk. Learn what risks to take and what risks to not take."

"What's the biggest risk you've ever taken?"

"I believe I am taking it right now."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm going to be a prop trader, either for your company or another. You guys don't pay that well, most of the money I would be making would be off of a profit split. Which means I have to actually make money in the stock market. Which, I imagine, is quite difficult because everyone tries to do that at some point in their lives and most lose money. The way I see it I'm placing a pretty big bet on myself that I can figure out the stock market fairly quickly."

"And you're okay with that risk?"

"Yes."

"Why? Most people would advise against that."

"Oh, that's simple, because I am an idiot."

"Huh?"

"Look at my resume. Really high SAT scores, and mediocre grades. I'm not stupid, I'm just an idiot."

"What's the difference?"

"Well stupid people can't get good grades, idiots choose not to. There is a difference."

"So do you think we should be in the business of hiring idiots?"

"No offense but I think you already are."

"Huh?"

"Every trader out there has convinced themselves that they are special enough to beat the stock market. There are a lot of studies out there saying that it is borderline impossible to do. They are either delusional or downright insane. Idiots, all of them."

"And you want to work with them?"

"More than anything in the world!"

"Why?"

"They're my kind of people"

"And why is that?"

"They know the right types of risks to take."

"Why do you say that?"

"They're betting on themselves to defy the odds. Like I said, my kind of people."

"I see. Do you think trading is gambling?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because there is no salary involved."

"Explain."

"The way I see it if you collect a salary you are not gambling. You know exactly what you are going to make and you make it. If you don't have a salary then you are gambling. Either you are getting paid through commission or a profit-split or whatever, but there is no guaranteed money. You eat what you kill. Which could be nothing. So you starve. That's gambling."

"So you want to be a gambler?"

"Well, yes. I want to be a professional gambler."

"What's the difference between a professional gambler and a non-professional gambler?"

"Professional gamblers make money."

"What are your thoughts on luck?"

"It's better to be lucky than not lucky."

"So do you think you are lucky?"

"Yes, yes I do."

"Why is that?"

"Because I'm alive. Feel like all the unlucky people died."

"You have two options. You can either choose to flip a coin or not. If you choose to flip and its heads you get 22 grand. If it's tails you get nothing. Or you can choose to not flip and I give you 10 grand. Which would you choose?"

"I'll take the ten grand."

"Why?"

"I could really use ten grand."