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Grow Your Network: Kris Abdelmessih Is A Free-Thinking Market Navigator
Here's HOW and WHY to connect with Kris Abdelmessih
Matt Zeigler
May 16, 2025
For years, I've been connecting with interesting people and documenting insights that might help my clients and myself. What was once private is now (mostly) public.
People often ask: "How do you know all these people?" and "How do you connect these (re: random) ideas?" The answer is simple: consistent relationship cultivation and thoughtful note taking. My north star is trusting my instincts, my maps are the constellations in these reflections.
Find my Personal Archive on CultishCreative.com, watch me build a better Personal Network on the Cultish Creative YouTube channel, and follow me on social media (LinkedIn and X).
This approach has helped dozens of clients strengthen their networks and unlock new opportunities. You can:
Steal these ideas directly
Create your own combination that works for you
I can't promise you'll learn from me, but you'll definitely learn something with me. Let's go. Count it off: 1-2-3-4…
Do you know Kris Abdelmessih?
Do you know Kris Abdelmessih? The market-making polymath who traded across every major exchange in New York, transitioned to writing, and builds his life on being genuinely curious rather than status-seeking?
If not, allow me to introduce you. Kris has navigated the high-pressure world of options trading, moved between multiple market pits and trading desks, and now shares his insights through thoughtful writing on his Moontower platform. I wanted to connect with him because he embodies something I value deeply: the courage to chart your own course regardless of external validation or status games. And, he’s got New Jersey energy. I could feel it as well as I could smell it from an internet away.
Our conversation is LIVE now on the Intentional Investor YouTube channel (and this Cultish Creative Playlist). Listen and you'll hear how Kris transitioned from Brooklyn baby to Jersey teen to trading floors, survived market crashes, and ultimately found a way to work that aligns with his Alice-in-authentic-Chains self.
THREE KEY LESSONS
In the meantime, I wanted to pull THREE KEY LESSONS from my time with Kris to share with you (and drop into my Personal Archive).
Read on and you'll find a quote with a lesson and a reflection you can Take to work with you, Bring home with you, and Leave behind with your legacy.
WORK: Human Capital Over Financial Capital When You're Young
"When you're 21 years old, you are all human capital and no financial capital. You want to compound your human capital? You go find the best people you can learn from, and you latch onto that, and you just - GO."
Key Concept: Early in your career, prioritize learning and development over immediate financial gain. Kris turned down higher-paying offers to work at SIG where the rigor and caliber of colleagues would maximize his growth. This decision set him up for long-term success by building a foundation of knowledge and skills that eventually led to greater opportunities. The lesson extends beyond finance: surround yourself with the best people in your field, even if it means taking a smaller amount of money, because the eventual payoff will be that much more meaningful.
Personal Archive Note-To-Self: I took a pretty big pay cut when I left my corporate job for a smaller firm. Every industry friend I talked to pretty much told me I was insane and pointed out the multiples of money I could accept if I just did it the way everybody else does it. But, I knew they were wrong. Not financially (oh no, they were VERY right financially), but they were very wrong in the decision I knew I was going to make and would have to live with.
I chose less money for the foreseeable future, with way more access to spend time writing and exploring my creativity. I chose less money to grow my network in all the categories I didn’t have time for in my prior path. I chose less money because - I never needed money beyond a certain level to be fine before, so why let that BS control me (then or now)?
Find the people you want to chase, get behind them, and the rest will (eventually) take care of itself.
Work question for you: What opportunities are you currently pursuing primarily for financial gain that might be sacrificing your long-term human capital development?
LIFE: Finding Your Own Path Beyond Status Games
"My wife, to this day, thinks that this is my superpower. She's like - the whole status game stuff, compared to most people, you're pretty immune to it. You are never thinking in those ways."
Key Concept: True freedom comes from releasing yourself from society's status games and expectations. Throughout his life, Kris had influences who modeled this independence - from his fearless divorced Egyptian mother who taught him not to care what others think, to his high school friend who confidently blasted Broadway musicals in his sports car while kicking butt on the field. These examples, of liberating yourself from any need for external validation, is what allowed Kris to make authentic choices in his own life, like moving between trading pits when new opportunities arose, or walking away from a lucrative career when it no longer served him, and creating a portfolio life based on his interests rather than prestige.
Personal Archive Note-To-Self: So this football team kid in my high school, who was a sheer mountain of a man, like 6’4’’ and 300lbs or so I bet, hated how I would dress. Now, to be fair, I was going throughs some silly teenage punk rock / art kid phase so maybe once and a while I was a little over the top, but, he loved calling me out on it.
The thing was, aside from a few times when he almost beat my a** (I am very lucky to be alive with my still crooked teeth, lets just say), the more annoyed he was, the more I knew I was onto something. Because I knew, in a few years, he wouldn’t be a football player anymore and would be figuring real stuff out, whereas I was on my way to figuring out real stuff already, without needing a football jacket as my entire identity.
Life Question For You: What decisions in your life are you making primarily to impress others or gain status, rather than following your genuine interests and values?
LEGACY: Creating Your Options By Taking Risks
"If I don't go see what's out there, that's a bigger risk than staying. That's actually how it felt to me. I'll probably regret wondering if I could build a life in another way versus just feeling like I was sentenced to this one for another 10 years."
Key Concept: Sometimes the riskiest choice is staying where you are. After 21 years in trading, Kris realized he faced a decision - continue for another decade in a career that was financially rewarding but increasingly unfulfilling, or step into the unknown to build something new. By experimenting with writing while still employed, he tested his ability to create value in other ways before making the leap. The courage to redefine himself has allowed him to build a more integrated life that combines his market insights with personal freedom.
Personal Archive Note-To-Self: I already hinted at it above, but let’s go there - my corporate job demanded I wasn’t online in any type of authentic way and had to watch how I talked to other people even when I knew, by my standards, what I was saying was fine. The risk of me being miserable by continuing to do that far outweighed the risk to me trusting my gut and putting myself out and into the public eye, even if it meant fleeing the comfort of a big firm.
Lots of people told me not to do it. Lots of people had opinions and advice and good, solid logic. But - the risk. Had I not, you definitely wouldn’t be hearing me and Kris talking like this. It was worth it.
Legacy question for you: What experiment could you run today that might open a door to a different future, without requiring you to completely abandon your current path?
BEFORE YOU GO: Be sure to…
You have a Personal Network and a Personal Archive just waiting for you to build them up stronger. Look at your work, look at your life, and look at your legacy - and then, start small in each category. Today it's one person and one reflection. Tomorrow? Who knows what connections you'll create.
Last thing: Don't forget to click reply/click here and tell me who you're adding to your network and why! Plus, if you already have your own Personal Archive too, let me know, I'm creating a database.