- Cultish Creative
- Posts
- Corey Hoffstein Is An Intentional Investor
Corey Hoffstein Is An Intentional Investor
programming video games, launching a quant shop while still in college, surviving SEC investigations, and more - all on Epsilon Theory YouTube!
I’m starting to believe this formula:
Parents/family/friends/a community who care + time to be bored/explore + a genuine risk of complete failure (without being dead) = some modicum of success.
Corey Hoffstein may have founded a high-profile ETF company, built over a decade on highly and publicly discussed research findings, and communicated for years via media showcasing…
But NOW is not THE STORY.
The kid using pinecones as grenades with his friends in the woods is a part of it.
So is the rural upbringing with a build-your-own-PC industry Dad who left enough spare parts around so Corey could turn his “30 minutes per day of video game time” rule into multiple hours of “Programming my own games doesn’t count as playing my own games” bit.
And then there’s the internship with his dad’s advisor, which turns into a licensing agreement, and a business - successful beyond his dreams.
Until the fraud claims. Until the countless lawsuits. Until the accusations from the multi-billion dollar asset manager came raining down on everything they built.
Even if they were all lies.
He and his business partner fought their way out. They published new research. They showed where the marketing and leadership people of the firms licensing their research went awry.
The courts and the SEC eventually agreed.
Can you even imagine the lessons learned along the way?
You can’t, or at least I couldn’t, until I heard it out of Corey’s mouth.
The sheer serendipity and goodwill of everyone from the college sweetheart who would later become his wife, to the business partner with a corporate law background who helped him fight his way out.
You don’t want to miss this one.
Corey Hoffstein is truly an Intentional Investor, out now on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts!