New Home 21

Reinventing the Financial System

By Marc Rubinstein | June 15, 2021 | 4 Comments

If you’re like me, you’ve been put off from digging deeper into DeFi by the terrible signal-to-noise ratio of anything crypto-related on the interwebs. That’s why I found this DeFi primer (using Maker DAO as a specific example) by ET contributor and banking analyst Marc Rubinstein to be so fantastic.

ZG-item-cap-black

Grow Your Network: Jared Dillian Is A Wall Street Refugee Turned Creative Truth-Teller

Do you know Jared Dillian? He’s an investor, trader, author, musician, and still my favorite consumer of cat psychic services (plus now supporter of Northeastern PA based cat themed tattoo artists).

If not, allow me to introduce you. Jared is the author of six books including his latest “Rule 62: Don’t Take Yourself Too Damn Seriously,” writes the Daily Dirt Nap newsletter, manages money through his CTA, and somehow finds time to DJ and work on novels. I wanted to connect with him because he embodies something I value deeply: the courage to create authentically without waiting for permission or perfection.

Our conversation is LIVE now on the Just Press Record YouTube channel (and this Cultish Creative Playlist). Listen and you’ll hear us dive deep into anti-perfectionism, creative courage, and why authentic voice trumps technical polish every single time.


Read more at cultishcreative.com

Grow Your Network: Bryan Moore Is A Trading Floor Veteran Turned ETF Evangelist

Do you know Bryan Moore? Host of the Active Advisor podcast at Harbor Capital, former trading floor veteran who’s built ETF desks from scratch at major firms like Morgan Stanley, RBC, and WisdomTree, and one of the most thoughtful voices on how active ETFs are reshaping the investment landscape.

If not, allow me to introduce you. Bryan has spent over two decades in the trenches of financial markets – from trading futures in the Chicago pits to building international ETF operations to educating institutional clients about the evolution from passive indexing to smart beta to active management. I wanted to connect with him because he embodies something I value deeply: the ability to synthesize complex market knowledge with genuine curiosity about human behavior and psychology.

Our conversation is LIVE now on the Epsilon Theory YouTube Channel (and this Cultish Creative Playlist). Listen and you’ll hear how a colorblind kid from Virginia who joined the military became one of the most connected voices in ETF education, why he drives in silence to cultivate quiet thinking time, and his legendary Vatican trade story.’


Read more at cultishcreative.com

2 Things You Can’t Teach: Jared Dillian on JUST PRESS RECORD

Jared Dillian came on Just Press Record to discuss his excellent new book, Rule 62: Meditations on Success and Spirituality – and he surprised me with this statement:

“You can teach pretty much anything in writing, except for two things: voice and imagination. You either have it or you don’t.”

But what if you don’t realize if you have it or not yet?

I’m only asking because I’ve felt this way before. More than once. In more than one domain too (I remember feeling this with writing music and writing words, very distinctly!).

So what is voice?


Read more at cultishcreative.com

It Takes An Outside Act To Have An Outsized Impact

Somebody was talking about the power of thinking big the other day. It was all about impact.

Then I saw somebody else talking about the power of thinking small. It was all about little efforts compounding today into bigger results later.

They’re both right and they’re both missing the real point.

It’s not about the size in the first step (although the size is obvious in end result).

It’s all about the action, today.

It could be brilliant business idea nobody has thought of before.

Everybody might say its weird or dumb or whatever, but it could change the world.

It could also be a boring act that everybody has thought of before but executed in a way nobody will ever attempt.


Read more at cultishcreative.com

It’s All Art

My dog wanted to smell (re: eat) a baggie with a few stray gummy somethings left in it that clearly fell out of some kids hands and onto the street up the block from my house.

It’s been hot, so the gummy whatevers melted in the bag.

It’s a disgusting mix of too bright colors and sugar.

And, it’s art.

If you want it to be.

It’s also trash, and a dog snack, and a snack that should have been eaten.

The point is, it’s a choice, and today I’m choosing to say it was art.


Read more at cultishcreative.com

ZG-item-cap-black

Grow Your Network: Jared Dillian Is A Wall Street Refugee Turned Creative Truth-Teller

Do you know Jared Dillian? He’s an investor, trader, author, musician, and still my favorite consumer of cat psychic services (plus now supporter of Northeastern PA based cat themed tattoo artists).

If not, allow me to introduce you. Jared is the author of six books including his latest “Rule 62: Don’t Take Yourself Too Damn Seriously,” writes the Daily Dirt Nap newsletter, manages money through his CTA, and somehow finds time to DJ and work on novels. I wanted to connect with him because he embodies something I value deeply: the courage to create authentically without waiting for permission or perfection.

Our conversation is LIVE now on the Just Press Record YouTube channel (and this Cultish Creative Playlist). Listen and you’ll hear us dive deep into anti-perfectionism, creative courage, and why authentic voice trumps technical polish every single time.


Read more at cultishcreative.com

Grow Your Network: Bryan Moore Is A Trading Floor Veteran Turned ETF Evangelist

Do you know Bryan Moore? Host of the Active Advisor podcast at Harbor Capital, former trading floor veteran who’s built ETF desks from scratch at major firms like Morgan Stanley, RBC, and WisdomTree, and one of the most thoughtful voices on how active ETFs are reshaping the investment landscape.

If not, allow me to introduce you. Bryan has spent over two decades in the trenches of financial markets – from trading futures in the Chicago pits to building international ETF operations to educating institutional clients about the evolution from passive indexing to smart beta to active management. I wanted to connect with him because he embodies something I value deeply: the ability to synthesize complex market knowledge with genuine curiosity about human behavior and psychology.

Our conversation is LIVE now on the Epsilon Theory YouTube Channel (and this Cultish Creative Playlist). Listen and you’ll hear how a colorblind kid from Virginia who joined the military became one of the most connected voices in ETF education, why he drives in silence to cultivate quiet thinking time, and his legendary Vatican trade story.’


Read more at cultishcreative.com

Recent Notes

Who’s Being Naïve, Kay?

By Ben Hunt | May 24, 2016

The Mysterious Stranger is a liar, to be sure, but he’s a proper villain, as the Brits would say, and he’s quite upfront about his goals and his use of clever words to accomplish those goals.

Your goal? Survive the encounter.

Optical Illusion / Optical Truth

By Ben Hunt | May 4, 2016

Portion of original dot map by Dr. John Snow, the founding father of epidemiology, showing the clusters of cholera cases in the London epidemic of…

The Placebo Effect

By Ben Hunt | April 20, 2016

BOTOX® is the only FDA-approved, preventive treatment that is injected by a doctor every 12 weeks for adults with Chronic Migraine (15 or more headache…

My Passion is Puppetry

By Ben Hunt | April 6, 2016

Campaign Company Launch Date “Flo” Progressive Insurance 2008 “Rhetorical Question” “Happier Than A … ” “Did You Know?” “It’s What You Do” GEICO 2009 2012…

There for the Right Reasons

By Ben Hunt | March 29, 2016

A quick follow-up to “Hobson’s Choice”, the most widely-read note in the Epsilon Theory canon to date (thank you!). First, I’ll be hosting a one…

Hobson’s Choice

By Ben Hunt | March 16, 2016

I’d like an omelet, plain, and a chicken salad sandwich on wheat toast, no mayonnaise, no butter, no lettuce, and a cup of coffee. Now all you have to do is hold the chicken, bring me the toast, give me a check for the chicken salad sandwich, and you haven’t broken any rules.

The Narrative Fix Is In

By Ben Hunt | March 11, 2016

A quick email to Epsilon Theory readers on what’s happening in Europe, because we’ve seen this movie before. On August 2, 2012 Mario Draghi gave…

Welcome to the Jungle

By Ben Hunt | March 1, 2016

Zero-sum, Elliot. You’re playing a game you already lost. You know I’m right. – “Mr. Robot” (2015) You can have anything you want  But you…

The Silver Age of the Central Banker

By Ben Hunt | February 19, 2016

We all sing along But the notes are wrong – Matt & Kim, “Get It” (2015) The strong do what they will, and the weak…

Snikt

By Ben Hunt | February 9, 2016

As longtime Epsilon Theory readers know, I’m a big comic book fan. One of the joys of a comic done well is the effective representation…

Rewardless Risk

By Ben Hunt | February 1, 2016

Faramir: Then farewell! But if I should return, think better of me. Denethor: That depends on the manner of your return. – J.R.R. Tolkien “The…

You Can Either Surf, or You Can Fight

By Ben Hunt | January 14, 2016

Kilgore: Smell that? You smell that? Lance: What? Kilgore: Napalm, son.  Nothing else in the world smells like that. – Apocalypse Now (1979) Hello, hello, hello,…

The China Narrative That Really Matters

By Ben Hunt | January 7, 2016

I’m a China bull, let’s get that out of the way first. But like anything connected with the global industrial and commodity complex today, from…

Epsilon Theory State of the Union

By Ben Hunt | December 30, 2015

For the last six months I’ve been trying to figure out how to incorporate reader correspondence into Epsilon Theory. We’ve reached a point of both…

Storm Warning

By Ben Hunt | December 14, 2015

Unfortunately for mariners, the total amount of wave energy in a storm does not rise linearly with wind speed, but to its fourth power. The…

I Know It Was You, Fredo

By Ben Hunt | December 8, 2015

Sen. Geary: Hey, Freddie, where did you find this place? Fredo Corleone: Johnny Ola told me about this place. He brought me here. I didn’t…

Two Discoveries

By Ben Hunt | November 19, 2015

The world made two discoveries last week. Everyone is aware of the first discovery – that ISIS is not “a junior varsity team” but an…

The Andromeda Strain

By Ben Hunt | November 12, 2015

Briefly stated, the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect is as follows. You open the newspaper to an article on some subject you know well. In Murray’s case,…

Funny How?

By Ben Hunt | October 28, 2015

Henry Hill: You’re a pistol, you’re really funny. You’re really funny. Tommy DeVito: What do you mean I’m funny? Henry Hill: It’s funny, you know.…

Rounders

By Ben Hunt | September 30, 2015

Mike McDermott: In “Confessions of a Winning Poker Player,” Jack King said, “Few players recall big pots they have won, strange as it seems, but…