The RoboStox Origin Story

The Beginning

I first started investing in stocks and ETFs (exchange traded funds) when I got my first job as a software developer in 2015. I was always intrigued by the stock market but this was the first time I had the extra disposable income to really get involved.

Since I had recently learnt to code and was now employed in the tech sector, my strategy was was very simple: invest small lump sums every month in technology-themed ETFs, trust in the principle of dollar-cost-averaging, and simply “learn-by-doing”.

Tesla

But then I read Ashley Vance’s biography on Elon Musk and everything changed.

I didn’t know it then, but I was gradually changing from a passive ETF investor to an active stock picker. As soon as I finished the book I immediately started buying Tesla stock. This was soon after the company started receiving Model 3 pre-orders and the first major Tesla hype cycle was just beginning.

Of course Tesla has had many ups and downs since then. I’ve bought and sold along the way, but still hold a meaningful position today. I’ve tried to replicate the modest success I’ve had with Tesla to other tech stocks, but with mixed results. In the years since friends have asked me variations on the same question countless times: “What should I invest in?”, “Is it too late to invest in xyz?”. Usually I haven’t had a good answer to this. This is because I’ve always approached investing in companies from more of a product-focused angle and have made plenty of mistakes myself along the way.

Why RoboStox?

This is why I decided to start the RoboStox newsletter. I want to take a more systematic approach to analysing stocks and crypto-assets based on real data. Sure the quality of the product and the leadership team is important, but I also want to add to this by educating others (and myself) on the key metrics which support a valuation.

The wonderful, wild world of Crypto

I also think that what we can learn from placing valuations on tech stocks can help us when evaluating the new breed of crypto assets. In the grand scheme of things, crypto is still incredibly new. Because these assets don’t generate conventional revenue like a company, no-one can agree on how to value this asset-class. This creates volatility and causes prices to be driven by short-term sentiment, narratives and memes.

I hope to get the conversation on crypto back to fundamentals so that we can avoid emotional-based decisions like panic-selling when things (inevitably) go sour. The aim here is to build-up stronger convictions in our decisions and to remove emotions from the equation.

I’m not a financial advisor and none of these reports are meant to be financial advice. But I hope that by providing a summary of the key facts on interesting assets each week in an accessible, fun and clear way, we can make better and more informed decisions together.