There aren’t many times in life when people truly stand out from the crowd and when we heard of Jim Simons passing it sparked our interest in highlighting his legacy while also learning from what made him so successful in the past to the point where he will live on forever. 

One of the first things to point out is how Simons didn’t come from a classic financial background (e.g. degree from Wharton) but instead used science and mathematics to understand what’s happening in the world and make sense of everything as it applies to the financial sector. 

And going down that path, Jim Simons took a scientific approach to everything in his life and one quote always stands out to us: “In this business it’s easy to confuse luck with brains.” 

Essentially, people/investors will be lucky at times however the true success is rooted in brains and having the mental fortitude/foresight to see what’s happening around the next turn and proactively make decisions in the moment that equate to big $ in the end. Simons will be forever known for that. 

Then, when you reach that pinnacle of success, like Simons and others did (Gates, Jobs, Musk, Zuckerberg, etc.) you start to think about giving back – the philanthropic side of the equation – and aside from guiding hedge funds, family offices and other financial institutions we’re all about giving back too. 

The Practical Contrarian is all about honoring legends from the past like Jim Simons while also continuing to push solutions/tech forward, and excited for what the future holds.