If you think you’re going to make a full-time living trading financial markets you’re completely delusional!... and that's a good thing.
It was 1997, and two friends—let’s call them Reed and Marc—thought it would be fun to have a movie night and rent Apollo 13 from their local Blockbuster store.
For those of you who might need some context, Blockbuster was a video rental store where you’d go to rent a movie you’d like to watch.
This was shortly after discovering fire and the wheel, and it was revolutionary. At its peak, Blockbuster was worth approximately $5 billion and had over 80,000 employees across 9000 stores worldwide.
Their business model was very simple, and although they generated revenue in various ways, their core revenue was generated through a combination of rental fees, video sales and late fees.
You see, it just so happened that our two friends who thought it would be fun to rent Apollo 13, chill at home, and eat popcorn would essentially have to pay the $40 late fee, and they were admittedly, not too happy about that.
As they sat in frustration, one of them came up with the idea to start a website and rent movies to people without charging a late fee.
Instead people would just pay a monthly subscription of around $19.95 per month and they could rent up to three movies of their choosing and keep it for as long as they wanted, no rental fee, no video sales, no late fees, just a monthly subscription of $19.95.
If people wanted to rent a new set of DVD’s then all they’d need to do is return the DVD’s they’d initially rented and the new set was mailed to them within a day or two.
Now it is important to mention that all this occurred toward the end of the third industrial revolution and the internet was not nearly as advanced as it is today. People would use a dial-up connection which only produced 56 kbps or slower.
Streaming was near impossible unless you enjoyed watching a movie in three-minute increments before it loaded the next three minutes. Downloading a movie could take an entire day or even longer.
It’s fair to say that our two friends Reed and Marc were throwing stones at giants, but they had very good aim.
I’m sure you heard the story where a boy aimed at a giant's head and threw him with a stone. Turns out the boy won that fight, and ultimately claimed victory for his people, but I digress.
You see Reed had a background in computer science and software development, and at the time he co-founded a software company called Pure Software. Marc had a background in marketing and product development.
It’s safe to say that they made a very good team, but they were still going up against giants, they were challenging a system that was working with a system that was not even established yet. Essentially, they either had to be very confident or extremely delusional. Turns out they were both.
They decided to brainstorm a few names for their little startup, everything from Kibble to TakeOne, and even DirectPix and none of it seemed to stick. Eventually, they decided to combine the words “internet” and “film” to make “Netflix”.
Today Netflix is the most popular streaming platform, with its annual revenue peaking at 33.7 Billion back in 2023.
I share this story with you because it really takes more than just experience, skill, and luck to take on giants, I would argue you need to have a healthy amount of delusion as well.
So, if you think you're going to make a full-time living trading financial markets, you're completely delusional—and that might be the best thing going for you.
Because the truth is, every breakthrough, every disruption, every world-changing idea begins with someone who dares to believe in something that doesn’t quite make sense to the rest of the world—yet.
Reed and Marc didn’t just challenge a system; they challenged what was possible at the time. They bet on a future that didn’t exist—on a slower internet, a skeptical audience, and an unproven model. What looked like delusion was a vision in disguise.
In trading, as in business and life, it’s not the most logical or the most experienced who wins—it’s often those who are bold enough to stay in the game when everyone else calls it crazy. You’ll need skill, yes.
Strategy, of course. But you’ll also need the unreasonable belief that you can beat the odds, learn the rules, and then rewrite them entirely. So go ahead—be delusional.
Just make sure you’ve got the grit, the patience, and the aim to back it up.
What “giant” are you bold enough to challenge next?
It was 1997, and two friends—let’s call them Reed and Marc—thought it would be fun to have a movie night and rent Apollo 13 from their local Blockbuster store.
For those of you who might need some context, Blockbuster was a video rental store where you’d go to rent a movie you’d like to watch.
This was shortly after discovering fire and the wheel, and it was revolutionary. At its peak, Blockbuster was worth approximately $5 billion and had over 80,000 employees across 9000 stores worldwide.
Their business model was very simple, and although they generated revenue in various ways, their core revenue was generated through a combination of rental fees, video sales and late fees.
You see, it just so happened that our two friends who thought it would be fun to rent Apollo 13, chill at home, and eat popcorn would essentially have to pay the $40 late fee, and they were admittedly, not too happy about that.
As they sat in frustration, one of them came up with the idea to start a website and rent movies to people without charging a late fee.
Instead people would just pay a monthly subscription of around $19.95 per month and they could rent up to three movies of their choosing and keep it for as long as they wanted, no rental fee, no video sales, no late fees, just a monthly subscription of $19.95.
If people wanted to rent a new set of DVD’s then all they’d need to do is return the DVD’s they’d initially rented and the new set was mailed to them within a day or two.
Now it is important to mention that all this occurred toward the end of the third industrial revolution and the internet was not nearly as advanced as it is today. People would use a dial-up connection which only produced 56 kbps or slower.
Streaming was near impossible unless you enjoyed watching a movie in three-minute increments before it loaded the next three minutes. Downloading a movie could take an entire day or even longer.
It’s fair to say that our two friends Reed and Marc were throwing stones at giants, but they had very good aim.
I’m sure you heard the story where a boy aimed at a giant's head and threw him with a stone. Turns out the boy won that fight, and ultimately claimed victory for his people, but I digress.
You see Reed had a background in computer science and software development, and at the time he co-founded a software company called Pure Software. Marc had a background in marketing and product development.
It’s safe to say that they made a very good team, but they were still going up against giants, they were challenging a system that was working with a system that was not even established yet. Essentially, they either had to be very confident or extremely delusional. Turns out they were both.
They decided to brainstorm a few names for their little startup, everything from Kibble to TakeOne, and even DirectPix and none of it seemed to stick. Eventually, they decided to combine the words “internet” and “film” to make “Netflix”.
Today Netflix is the most popular streaming platform, with its annual revenue peaking at 33.7 Billion back in 2023.
I share this story with you because it really takes more than just experience, skill, and luck to take on giants, I would argue you need to have a healthy amount of delusion as well.
So, if you think you're going to make a full-time living trading financial markets, you're completely delusional—and that might be the best thing going for you.
Because the truth is, every breakthrough, every disruption, every world-changing idea begins with someone who dares to believe in something that doesn’t quite make sense to the rest of the world—yet.
Reed and Marc didn’t just challenge a system; they challenged what was possible at the time. They bet on a future that didn’t exist—on a slower internet, a skeptical audience, and an unproven model. What looked like delusion was a vision in disguise.
In trading, as in business and life, it’s not the most logical or the most experienced who wins—it’s often those who are bold enough to stay in the game when everyone else calls it crazy. You’ll need skill, yes.
Strategy, of course. But you’ll also need the unreasonable belief that you can beat the odds, learn the rules, and then rewrite them entirely. So go ahead—be delusional.
Just make sure you’ve got the grit, the patience, and the aim to back it up.
What “giant” are you bold enough to challenge next?
Disclaimer
The information and publications are not meant to be, and do not constitute, financial, investment, trading, or other types of advice or recommendations supplied or endorsed by TradingView. Read more in the Terms of Use.
Disclaimer
The information and publications are not meant to be, and do not constitute, financial, investment, trading, or other types of advice or recommendations supplied or endorsed by TradingView. Read more in the Terms of Use.