Brad Trent/Bloomberg News
VICTOR NIEDERHOFFER
The one-time George Soros protege struck out on his own in the early '90s with a hugely successful hedge fund. In 1997 he drew raves for his book about trading, but later that year, his fund blew up. Niederhoffer is running money again, and is doing quite well.
The beautiful thing about competition, or what I like to think of as fighting for your own interests in a fair game, is that it leads to great personal rewards while at the same time making the world a much better place.
My early training in competition was in sports and games. I was raised in Brighton Beach Baths [in Brooklyn, New York], the largest country club in the world, with about 10,000 members paying $10 a year to play every kind of racquet, water, ball sport and board and table game. One highlight of this training was the constant money games that were played on the handball courts with hundreds of hustlers trying to figure out a game or con. At the age of 11, I won a pair of sneakers by beating the best adult paddleball player.
I played in more than 10,000 refereed matches in squash, tennis, racquetball, and paddleball. I won some 20 National Tournaments in singles and doubles in squash, once won the North American Open, won three National Paddleball singles and doubles tournaments, and once was ranked in the top 10 in racquetball.
I've competed at all times in my investment activities with my own hedge fund and as one of many managers for such harsh taskmasters as George Soros.
Here is my advice for competitors:
1. Always maintain a calm demeanor. Winning requires all the physical and mental energy that you have at your disposal. Dissipating that energy gives your opponent more resources to beat you.
2. Survival is key. Chance plays a large part in the outcome of every game, and you must leave a large enough margin so that the normal fluctuation in conditions don't do you in.
3. Losing should be a lesson. Everyone loses and all great competitors use their losses to improve their games. When you lose, consider it a normal part of the competitive arena and strive to bounce back through attention to detail, hard work, and practice.
4. Start your competitive efforts early and teach your kids to compete. That provides a platform for greatness.
5. Be a good winner and loser. Your competitors are necessary to bring out the abilities within you. The better they are, the better you will get, and the better will be the game that the spectators or customers receive.
6. Practice every day. It's too easy to lose your edge if you let a day go by, and the key to greatness in any competitive activity is never having to worry about your fundamentals. They require repetition and sharpening at all times.
7. Keep records.