Shane Monks O'Byrne - Living and Investing Better with a Rules-Based Approach
Shane Monks O’Byrne is the Founder and CEO of Irish FintechStartup Aikido Finance. His goal is to democratize quantitative investing. He runs his company as a digital nomad – living in his self-built campervan, traveling, and working from amazing places throughout the world. He loves adventure and is an avid skier, runner, and alpine climber.
While sharing some Guinness, we chop it up on many topics, from rules-based investing and living to building a second brain, to the power of meditation. Shane shares his daily schedule, tips to manage a hectic schedule, and more. Our conversation is bursting with tips to live and invest better.
[01:25] Introducing Fintech Founder Shane Monks O’Byrne
[03:10]The Nomad – Shane’s journey to the Arctic Circle
[05:15] Quant Investing “sometimes I think that I’m this giant walking juxtaposition of a human being, living a pretty hippy lifestyle in a campervan and somehow finding myself in one of the most complex domains of investing, which is quantitative finance.”
[10:30] Shane’s Investing Journey from FOREX to Deep Value to Quantitative: “you want to fail fast and learn quickly.”
[18:42] The rules-based approach: “it goes to literally every aspect of life. It goes to investing, but also other areas of life…it takes the decision making out of the process.”
[21:25] Shane’s typical day: “while it’s a very fun existence, you have to have structure in your life and keep up some sort of routine.”
[27:30] On meditation: “the goal of it I suppose, though we should probably disassociate ourselves with goals in terms of meditation, is just to experience more from life and be very grateful.”
[33:50] Simplicity: “when you remove as many things as you can from your life… it’s just less things for your brain to think about.”
[45:50] Using Notion to Build a Second-Brain: “the human brain is an amazing computer…it takes about 12 watts of energy to run our brains, and we still haven’t built a computer that can do anywhere near what the human brain can do…but it’s not very good at holding a lot of information into the future and reminding you of it just when you need it.”
[48:45] The Getting Things Done (GTD system) of Productivity
[54:40] Wealth to me is everything in your life that money can’t buy…good friends, happiness, a good body in which to use, a lifestyle that ultimately is one you very purposefully have chosen and are living.”
[59:12] Age of Abundance – “so much of our life is a choice.”
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