Jim Simons Book Notes

Jim Simons is one of the most brilliant living humans. He used his intelligence in mathematics to prove that you could beat the market and is the most successful hedge fund manager of all time in terms of ROI. He has been reclusive with the press and has never published any public material regarding his fund and for good cause to ensure it’s continued success.

At a recent dinner in Atlanta, Georgia I answered with Jim as being the person alive that I would like to have dinner with most while he is still here. A book written by the Wall Street Journals Gregory Zuckerman called The Man who solved the market had a few notes that I took and are putting here to remember.

Even Simons the worlds most successful trader wasn’t successful at first but with hard work and determination to keep on going and prove his theories right ensured his success. Let this be a reminder amongst the other notes below that you won’t always succeed at first but having conviction and the will to work hard to find a solution is one of the keys to success in this world. This is different than what I remember reading in Market Wizards about Steve Cohen who had a natural ability to trade right from the very beginning.

Matty Simons told his son Jim that “He wished he hadn’t forgone a promising and exciting career to do what was expected of him.”

“The lesson was: Do what you like in life, not what you feel you ‘should’ do. That’s something Jim never forgets and we’re thankful he got that advice and shared it.

At Age 14 Jim’s Boss Made Fun of Him For Wanting to Go to MIT

This may be the most important part of the book. A young 14 year old Jimmy worked at a gardening store in Massachusetts and when the owners asked him what he wanted to do with his life he said: “I want to study mathematics at MIT”

They burst out laughing, saying that the young lad who couldnt even keep track of gardening supplies would even have a chance to be a math major none the less be lucky enough to attend MIT.

The big lesson here is at a young age you should NEVER EVER let anybody discourage you from your goals or tell you that you can’t do something. People are cruel and will laugh at you and attack you but as Jim Simons proved it’s okay let that fuel you to succeed even further. Do not let any naysayers stand in the way of your goals.

Today he and his fund are as secretive as ever when it comes to publicity.

He has a great quote to boot:
“God gave me a tail to keep off the flies, but I’d rather have had no tail and no flies.”

Hire people for their brainpower, creativity, and ambition rather than a specific expertise or background. Researchers will find problems to work on and solve. As I said at SXSW Bad ideas is good, good ideas is terrific, no ideas is terrible.

While trying to keep the respect of Simons privacy the last note to share from the book are some pieces of advice he gave recently to a school audience in New York:

“Work with the smartest people you can, hopefully smarter than you…be persistent, and don’t give up easily.” Had Simons given up early on he woudl’ve went back to academia and not amassed the great wealth that he has today that will be plowed back into Math and Science grants that will further improve the world.

“Be guided by beauty..there’s a sense of beauty when something is working well, almost an aesthetic to it.”