Crossing the threshold, 1967-1979

Entering the professional world forced a confrontation: opinions are cheap, and reality collects payment. I saw smart people lose because they were attached to being right.

I started to treat markets like puzzles with strict rules. Every bet had to survive stress, uncertainty, and other people’s incentives. The more I learned, the clearer it became that ego is the enemy of good decisions.

So I began building discipline. Write the view down, size risk conservatively, and assume you’re missing something. Seek disagreement as a test, not an insult.

This period also pushed me toward building my own platform, not just giving opinions inside someone else’s. The habit formed here: rely less on heat-of-the-moment instinct, and more on a system you trust when pressure rises.