World Series Of Trading LARS GOTTWIK Founder & CEO of TRADANTS
In an industry full of gimmicks, it was great to meet with Lars Gottwik to discuss his company’s new project, the World Series of Trading - an online platform that merges financial trading with esports and skill-gaming to create a global epic game. It allows everyone to earn real money without risking their own by participating in paper trading tournaments. Although the industry has been riddled with demo trading competitions as a way to harvest data, in many ways, the WSOT is drastically different...GC finds out why. Q How did the idea for WSOT come about? Since my early days as an entrepreneur, I have always been looking for the next big thing in the industry I had been working for or in other words - for that disruptive innovation that will change how things are done for good and the better. It was the case back then with JFD when we pioneered full post-trade transparency setting new standards in the retail trading services. So, it came up naturally that about a year ago, I started thinking about a new way to impact the capital markets sector positively. I had heard a lot about investment firms claiming to democratise the financial industry simply by reducing their commissions for retail investors, thus, allowing them to trade stocks or other assets for free or at a significantly lower cost. Although that sounds good and promising, the truth is that what these companies are doing by removing their commissions still affects the same number of people who have the initial (and sometimes quite significant) capital allowing them to trade successfully in the markets. Thus, there is no impact on the broader society and no democratisation, as those who do not have enough funds remain outside the financial world. That’s how the idea about WSOT came up. I thought it would be great to build a platform where everyone on the planet by having just a stable Internet connection can learn and trade in financial markets virtually, i.e. without risking any money, competing against others for the chance to win real cash prizes given out of an announced prize pool. Moreover, it is not only about earning money but also building a community of like-minded people around the topic of financial trading. Like in sports, where
GAME CHANGERS Issue #38
there is a strong network of clubs and scouts looking for the next big star, I want WSOT to become a playground for firms to find the top trading talent. So it’s not only for the best professional or part-time traders out there to get into the spotlight and become famous for their skills but also for those who live remotely, outside the largest financial hubs to get recognition and why not build a career in the financial sector. In other words, for many people, WSOT can make the slumdog millionaire story a reality. I think I found the next significant disruptive innovation that will create a new industry combining financial trading and gaming, in other words, by gamifying trading. Now everyone has a chance to earn their living from risk-free paper trading. Everyone can access the capital markets and become entrepreneurs on their terms and pace to reach financial independence, get public recognition and last but not least, have lots of fun doing so. How cool is that? Q Gamification has become a buzzword recently. So how does WSOT look to provide the gamification experience? We run complete gamification of trading within our holistic Compete-Learn-Watch approach to the extent that no one has done it before. We cover the main principles of gamification such as epic meaning, accomplishment, empowerment, ownership, social influence, scarcity and avoidance. It’s important to understand that we don’t simply operate contests but a platform covering education, a social experience, and a public arena where trading is redefined. Overall we see WSOT.com developing into an industry called “playtrading”, which creates a form of esport. Keeping in mind this ultimate goal, we are still in the early stage. You can now only see the tip of the iceberg. We are already running numerous active tournaments covering a wide variety of asset classes. A global ranking system classifies the so-called playtraders based on their earned money from the prize pool and shows multiple performance criteria. At the end of each year, we will announce the Global ranking winner, but also the winners of individual tournaments are qualified for an annual Main event to compete in a final battle for a share of a big prize pool.
