Pritesh Ruparel – Put Yourself in a Position to Get Lucky

Update: 2024-09-11

Description

BIO: Pritesh Ruparel is the CEO of ALT21, a leading tech company in hedging and currency solutions.

STORY: Pritesh found a good trade and invested 100% in it. His manager later advised him to liquidate that position because it was too concentrated. A day after Pritesh liquidated, a natural disaster occurred, and the spread went from $10 to $250 in an hour.

LEARNING: Put yourself in a position to get lucky. Never decide against your gut. Stay grounded between the highs and the lows.

“The worst thing you can do is to trade on something or to make a decision that you don’t 100% agree with.”

Pritesh Ruparel

Guest profile

Pritesh Ruparel is the CEO of ALT21, a leading tech company in hedging and currency solutions. With two decades of expertise in financial derivatives and structured finance, he leverages technology to make financial products accessible and affordable, aiming to save small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) millions annually on international transactions.

Worst investment ever

Pritesh’s first trading role was as a market maker in commodity relatives. One summer, he put a ton of analysis into a particular commodity spread trade. Pritesh thought the risk-to-reward looked good, but the trade was not doing anything. Nobody was marking the trade. Pritesh thought this was insane, so he went all in. He had the biggest position possible in that trade and it was 100% of his portfolio.

A manager advised Pritesh to liquidate the position because it was too concentrated. A day after Pritesh liquidated, a natural disaster occurred. The position benefited from this disaster and went from $10 to $250 in an hour. Unfortunately, Pritesh could have earned so much if only he had not liquidated.

Lessons learned

Put yourself in a position to get lucky.
When you start any role, listen, learn as much as possible, and take advice.
Never decide against your gut.
Never make a decision that you don’t agree with 100%.

Actionable advice

Stay grounded between the highs and the lows. Ultimately, you’ll be fine if you make decisions that align with what you believe in. This can give you a sense of confidence and conviction in your decisions.

Pritesh’s recommendations

Pritesh recommends building systems, processes, or resources that suit your risk appetite, emotional intelligence, and patience. This can enhance your decision-making and risk management, as it aligns with your personal attributes.

No.1 goal for the next 12 months

Pritesh’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to have repeatable, scalable processes for his go-to-market and use that to make an impact globally.