Is creating professional investment software a good business idea?

kevpries

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So...i am a software developer and thinking on some catching software idea that will sell well. I am considering to create a software that can for instance: Calculate SABR volatility, calculate black-scholes, calculate fx options kholagen model, predict prices based on neural networks, calculate var, sortino ratio, sharpe ratio, follows progress of your portfolio. Anyway...the idea is this to be like a swiss knife for the professional investor. Do you think it will sell? Like...in that economy and given that most mentioned things can already be found free in google. Also, i have about $60k put aside to invest in such venture and planning a price about $500 per one year license. 10x!
 
I see. Have you considered setting up a company to train prospective traders? You don't need to know anything about trading, just pretend you are a stock Market veteran of 20 years and you know the secrets the pros use.
 
I see. Have you considered setting up a company to train prospective traders? You don't need to know anything about trading, just pretend you are a stock Market veteran of 20 years and you know the secrets the pros use.

Ok, sign me up already.
 
I see. Have you considered setting up a company to train prospective traders? You don't need to know anything about trading, just pretend you are a stock Market veteran of 20 years and you know the secrets the pros use.

Heh good point... :).
I can even write a book "how I made $2,000,000 trading frozen orange juice futures...and then lost all" - speaking of which the last part of the sentence is never mentioned in this type of books.
Seriously though, I don't think too many people buy into this type of thing - there are obviously newbies out there but competition is fierce and most people are sceptical. I will be called a ponzi 9 out of 10 times and if I sell the "system" it will be for about $50 i guess. Let alone that it will be totally immoral..well.
On a side note, personal finance software is the best selling type of software on amazon - i guess the pro equivallent isn't so popular, but one can specuate with the price then...given that you target hedge fund managers, quants, investors with experience, etc.
 
Have you considered trading? I heard that it can be quite rewarding.

Seriously though - you appear to be working backwards from the amount you have to invest and the amount you want to charge per year.

I picked out 'predict prices based on neural networks' because that alone, even if possible, would suck your $60k out of you. Not only that but the idea that you'd lease such a thing for $500/year is a tad bizarre.

You need an idea in my opinion. There are a lot of niche software companies in NY doing software for funds etc. I have spoken to guys at one of them, the range of stuff they do is vast. I designed a simple application for a hedge fund for them to write - just bringing information together in a unique way based on how they operate. This application is unique but the amount of people I have spoken to that would be able to make use of it is... errr... just the guys at this fund.

You need to find an area of pain, where there is an unfulfilled requirement and enough customers to achieve the financial goals you set. Bundling together a bunch of algorithms PLUS a neural net is a shotgun approach.

Do some research - find a niche and implememt it. Don't post the idea up on a pubic forum if you do have a good one or someone with more money and resources will have it released before you've finished saying 'rent a coder'.
 
Have you considered trading? I heard that it can be quite rewarding.

Seriously though - you appear to be working backwards from the amount you have to invest and the amount you want to charge per year.

I picked out 'predict prices based on neural networks' because that alone, even if possible, would suck your $60k out of you. Not only that but the idea that you'd lease such a thing for $500/year is a tad bizarre.

You need an idea in my opinion. There are a lot of niche software companies in NY doing software for funds etc. I have spoken to guys at one of them, the range of stuff they do is vast. I designed a simple application for a hedge fund for them to write - just bringing information together in a unique way based on how they operate. This application is unique but the amount of people I have spoken to that would be able to make use of it is... errr... just the guys at this fund.

You need to find an area of pain, where there is an unfulfilled requirement and enough customers to achieve the financial goals you set. Bundling together a bunch of algorithms PLUS a neural net is a shotgun approach.

Do some research - find a niche and implememt it. Don't post the idea up on a pubic forum if you do have a good one or someone with more money and resources will have it released before you've finished saying 'rent a coder'.

10x for the words...seriously it's always...joyfull to see some constructive criticism online. Though I agree and as well...disagree on some things.
See, ideas are cheap really, that's the reason you don't see sites for selling/buying literally ideas and thats why VC don't invest in ideas but proven and working models. I guess the idea for a hedge(fence...) related software isn't a shocker - but thats why I ask about it - becuase it's just my opinion and not the 'crowd's opinion' - for instance I can't stand lady gaga and don't have an iphone - but see how much money there is into such products. Since it's business we're talking about, I value others opinion 5x times my own. On a side note, some of my ideas that I am puzzling about imo:

Green energy: Selling solar panels online.
Software: the one mentioned here...
Offshore brokerage: mentioned again...
Forex brokerage that charges 0.1 pips on usd (dealing desk).
Gambling website for pool betting on football.

among others...
 
Yes the gambling idea is good, if you get yourself into the position of the house.

well...you bet, though I am mostly leaning towards the green energy thing...there are about 500 webbookies and pool betting isnt popular at all in sports like football, basketball, etc. I will also need huge liquidity in the very beginning. However...truth be told, as much as i am trying to put forward the green energy idea and sell solar panels online most people don't seem so enthusiastic about my...visions. I blame the relatively high prices for solar energy to the end customer. That is, you need $10k+ to fully power a household - an amount most people will not take of their checking account...let alone how many simply don't have it and as a bonus you get that damn sluggish economy...commonly known as "the crisis".
 
I don't know why solar panels are called green. If you block out the sun, nothing will grow, and the earth will turn black. Excessive use of solar panels will likely to cool the earth and bring on an ice age. Then we will all freeze to death. The crisis is the least of our troubles.
 
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