Eric Pharis left, Gust Kepler center, David McKay right
Today we’d like to introduce you to Eric Pharis.
Eric, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was introduced to our CEO and cofounder Gust Kepler through mutual friends in 2008. Four years later, while Gust was on a business trip to New York City we sketched out the framework of Blackboxstocks on the proverbial cocktail napkin as we enjoyed a few cocktails. I began my career as a prop trader right before the 90’s tech boom and subsequent collapse. I went out on my own and joined forces with David Kyle to develop high-frequency trading algorithms and together we launched our own high-frequency trading platform in 2005.
Gust grew up in Dallas and has founded several successful businesses including a consulting firm that specialized in going-public transactions. He saw a huge opportunity in the market for a product that brings high-grade market analytics to the retail trader. Gust raised the seed capital from mostly local Dallas residents and along with my former partner David Kyle, we launched Blackboxstocks, Inc. in late 2014. David McKay joined the team shortly thereafter to take on the role as Director of Marketing. As of today, Blackbox has a flourishing community of traders across the globe! Our commitment to providing users the best community, education, and proprietary analytics has grown our user base organically to this point, and we’re planning a major ramp-up in 2020!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As with most startups, the path has not been smooth. We are fortunate that we have a rock-solid and talented team and have managed to stay intact from inception and whether the startup storm. From Chinese copy cats to Russian bots, the tech world is fraught with dangers and we encountered them all. Probably the most frustrating thing we have encountered is consulting firms that have promised us capital and not followed through, leaving us scrambling in the 11th hour. The majority of the money raised has been raised internally. We do not have the luxury of a Private Equity partner or a VC funder. We chose to bootstrap the financing as opposed to suffering dilution or ceding control to Private Equity.
Blackboxstocks – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Our mission is to be distinctly different than any other trading tool on the market. Our fully automated trading system posts stock symbols alerting our users to potentially lucrative opportunities in the market in real-time. Long before the market opens, our servers drive our proprietary algorithms at near light speed, monitoring over 13,000 stocks and options, analyzing each tick multiple times per second. These algorithms, similar to those used in “high-frequency trading” (HFT), alert our users to stocks and options traded on the NYSE, NASDAQ, and OTC exchanges. Each alert has corresponding symbol specific news, charts, studies, social media sentiment, volatility readings, and other key market metrics.
We provide our users with a fully interactive chat and social media platform that is integrated into our dashboard. This allows our users to exchange information and ideas quickly and efficiently through a common network. We recently introduced a live audio/video feature that allows our members to broadcast on their own channels to share trade strategies and market insight within the Blackbox community. We have taken individuals who engaged in what was a once solitary activity and connected them in real-time, in an online global community. We have made trading a team sport!
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I am most proud of what we have created with Blackbox. The success I achieved as a high-frequency trader was quite gratifying, but sharing that recipe for success with the members of our user base, a.k.a. Team Blackbox, and being a part of their financial success is even better.
Pricing:
- $99.97/Month
Contact Info:
- Address: 5430 LBJ Freeway
Suite 1485
Dallas, TX 75240 - Website: www.blackboxstocks.com
- Phone: 972-726-9203
- Email: support@blackboxstocks.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackboxstocks/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blackboxstocks/
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