As I sat down to write this month’s newsletter the news crossed the wire about NinjaTrader’s 1.5 billion dollar acquisition by Kraken[1].
A heartfelt congratulations to Marty and his team for creating a product and platform so good that Kraken is using it as a cornerstone for building up their tradfi business.
I don’t have the energy (more on that later) to speculate on their long-term motives, but with one purchase Kraken has moved into the ranks of competing with Robinhood & Tastytrade for customer assets and is only the purchase of a broker-dealer away from fully competing across all asset classes. This begs the question; will traditional asset managers begin to purchase crypto assets to round out their own offerings?
I would love to devote more time to evaluating what the inclusion of Kraken means for the industry, but one of the joys of running a startup is that you don’t have time to devote to items that don’t directly relate to your business.
On that note, buried in the fifth paragraph and strategically placed to see who actually reads this newsletter, I’m announcing that we are (finally) going live on April 1st. No, this isn’t an April Fools joke and we are not throwing a party (at least not yet, maybe on our 1st anniversary?), but I do encourage you to check out our website on or after April 1st and see what we are about and what we have been working on – www.metrotrade.com.
Given the pending launch, while on my way home from Boca50 last week harboring a nasty flu bug (hence the lack of energy) I got to thinking about the journey from inception to go-live, the decisions we have made along the way, the mistakes and the milestones. So, seeing as this is our last ‘pre-launch’ newsletter I thought it would be a good time to reflect and share our experiences on the process so far.
Mistakes & Milestones
I’m sure this list will be much longer by this time next year, but for now I will say my biggest mistake was underestimating how long everything took to accomplish. Alternatively, you can also look at this list as our milestone markers.
The one that surprised me the most (probably because I have zero previous experience with it), was the process required to get an app listed with Apple and Google. Just the process of setting up a DUNs number was fraught and time-consuming (partly because I refused to pay for it to be expedited).
With regard to the actual listings, I think we’ve all seen some pretty dodgy apps over the years, so working through the vetting necessary to actually get an app listed came as quite a surprise.
First and foremost, Google and Apple can tell when you don’t use their platforms for the requisite app screenshots, although it took some back and forth for them to impart this via email. For my part, I still don’t think I can tell the difference between an iOS and Android app interface when an app is opened.
Both firms also really wanted to make sure we weren’t hawking crypto scams. It took an equal number of back-and-forth emails to satisfy them that we were registered with the requisite authorities, and that we weren’t offering mining or staking, unlocking content, or rewarding activities with crypto tokens.
I also underestimated how long it would take to complete production testing. While the production software was released to us just before Christmas, it took until recently to iron out all the particulars and complete the requisite testing. It never ceases to amaze me how much the business world shuts down for pretty much a month around the holidays, whether you want it to or not.
The Joys and Small Victories
While we are a long way from any sort of victory lap or celebration, I’m not above taking a breath, looking around, and occasionally enjoying the scenery.
In hindsight, I have found the process of setting up an entity that can potentially outlast me to be immensely satisfying. It was sort of like that feeling of going back to school after a long hiatus and realizing 1) it is not that hard and 2) everyone around you is (or once was) in the same boat.
And much like going back to school, you come to realize and accept that certain things will never be fully understood and are best left to be delegated and managed (GitHub comes to mind here), while others need to be tackled and wrestled into submission (non-USD wire transfers, for example).
One of the key things I recognized early was the need to quickly identify and address blind spots. Another useful (but difficult) skill I am working on is the ability to objectively review what is working and what is not. While many founders may view their businesses as extensions of themselves, they are still their own entities and need to be evaluated as such. In this respect, I find the feedback I receive from trusted peers and our ability to process and quickly adjust to be immensely valuable.
Thank Yous
Lastly, I would like to take a moment to sincerely thank all of our partners, counterparties, vendors, and contractors who have helped us this far along the way. The journey of establishing a retail, fintech-focused futures brokerage is complex and multifaceted, requiring expertise across numerous domains.
You have been there through the planning sessions, the technical challenges, the regulatory hurdles, and the implementation calls. Your belief in our mission and your willingness to collaborate closely with us have turned ambitious ideas into tangible solutions. As we move forward, we look forward to deepening these partnerships and creating mutual success in the futures industry. The Ninja acquisition has only reaffirmed the continuing need for futures-focused brokers, and the value the industry places on our focused business.
And that’s why we did that—because great ventures are never built alone.