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Would you ever go off on your own to trade solo or is that something that just does not work without a ton (like 9 figures) of capital and a pretty large team?

It's like any other business, there are factors of production that various actors will have varying access to, at varying costs.

A car designer still needs a car factory of some sort, and there's a negotiation there about how the winnings are divided.

In the trading world there are a variety of strategies. Something very infra dependent is not going to be easy to move to a new shop. But there are shops that will do a deal with you depending on what knowledge you are bringing, what infra they have, what your funding needs are, what data you need, and so on.

Going solo in trading is a very different beast compared to trading at a prop firm. Yes, capital is a significant factor. The more you have, the more you can diversify and absorb losses which are inevitable in trading. However, it's not just about the capital. The infrastructure, data access, and risk management systems at a prop firm are usually far superior to what you could afford or build on your own as an individual trader.

Moreover, the collaborative environment at a prop firm can't be understated. Ideas and strategies are continuously debated, tested, and refined. This collective brainpower often leads to more robust strategies than what you might come up with on your own.

That said, there are successful solo traders, but they often specialize in niche markets where they can leverage unique insights or strategies that aren't as capital intensive. It's definitely not for everyone and comes with its own set of challenges and risks.

> It's probably more about avoiding blunders than it is having some genius paradigm shifting idea.

I too believe this is key towards successful trading. Put in other words, even with an exceptionally successful algorithm, you still need a really good system for managing capital.

In this line of business, your capital is the raw material. You cannot operate without money. A highly leveraged setup can get completely wiped out during massive swings - triggering margin calls and automatic liquidation of positions at the worst possible price (maximizing your loss). Just ask ex-billionaire investor/trader Bill Hwang[1].

1. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-04-08/how-bill-...

Here is a simple way to think about it. The markets follow random walk and there is a 50/50 chance of being right or wrong. If you can make more when you are right, and lose less when you are wrong, you are on your way to being profitable.

>Saying it's all high school math is a bit of a loaded phrase. "High school math" incorporates basically all practical computer science and machine learning and statistics.

Im responding to the comment "do use llama3" not "breakdown your start"

> Very few people I've worked with have ever said they are doing cutting edge math - it's more like scientific research . The space of ideas is huge, and the ways to ruin yourself innumerable. It's more about people who have a scientific mindset who can make progress in a very high noise and adaptive environment.

This statement is largely true of any "edge research", as I watch the loss totals flow by on my 3rd monitor I can think of 30 different avenues of exploration (of which none are related to finance).

Trading is largely high school Math, on top of very complex code, infrastructure, and optimizations.

Do you work for rentech?