Prioritize returns and educating investors. Have the ability to think and execute without distractions. Build rapport with current and prospective investors. Say what you have to say, not what you think others want to hear. Tell the truth no matter what.

I speak out about running a small and more importantly a lean operation in an industry where you’re not seen as “cool” unless you manage +$100M in assets and have a staff of PhD’s and MBA’s. I’m not opposed to managing a high level of assets, but only if it means I get to focus on trading, research and educating investors. If managing a lot of money means taking on the extra baggage of doing business with uninformed and unwilling-to-learn performance-chasing investors, having to tell people what they want to hear just to get and keep their accounts and spending more time with these people than my wife, family and friends then no thank you. Not interested.

I thought I’d address some of the reasons why I launched Melissinos Trading with the priority of generating solid returns and education instead of running a large and complex shop.

Blog post: http://www.michaelmelissinos.com/blog/why-i-choose-lean/