Well, talk about a Web 2.0 kick-in-the-pants: a few months back we learned (via Google news alert) that TK had been mentioned in a blog connected to an undergraduate business course at Boston College called IT for Financial Services, taught by Prof. Paul Tallon. Here’s my original blog post on the topic, and here’s the students’ more recent post on my visit. So glad you enjoyed the talk, folks! If you had half as good of a time as I did, then this was really a bang-up success.It’s always interesting to explain your business and career stories from scratch; somehow I always find a fresh angle in otherwise pretty familiar tales. Looking out on a crowd of young soon-to-be-execs, I found myself talking a good bit more about my own career path than I’d expected, but I think it was a useful detour for two reasons. First, my personal career story – which BC student Cameron Reid summarized pretty nicely - is so bound up in the evolution of online trading generally, it all seemed like relevant backstory to the developments we’re pioneering in the industry currently.
It’s also interesting to reflect on how much of your career choices can come from lucky accident, or from simply “following your bliss”, as Joseph Campbell used to say – I really wish that more people had impressed that idea on me back in school. Of course, I guess it’s great to know exactly what you want and jump into that, whatever it is, with both feet…but sometimes you’re surprised at how much fun you’re really having in that job or path. In my case, I had to admit that being a lawyer wasn’t looking to be as much fun for me as I’d expected – a switch that resulted in my discovering my true love, online brokerage. It’s perfectly okay to re-calibrate, learn from the mis-step, and keep your eyes and ears open for something else that really excites you. It’s that combination of keeping your eye on the ball, but also knowing when to chase a new ball, that’s really helped me lead a career that I’ve really enjoyed and, I think, has been pretty successful thus far.
I just wanted to address a few points mentioned in the students’ blog post on our visit:
Cameron Reid ran through how TK is addressing the 3 buckets of differentiation they’ve been discussing in the class: operational excellence, product innovation and client intimacy. On the latter point, I should mention that we’re not the only brokerage incorporating community into our overall offering anymore – although we were, in fact, the first mover in this arena, and amazingly, to our knowledge I continue to be the only financial services CEO who blogs.
In the product innovation category I’d put community as a top item but would also mention options education and tools as key differentiators for us. Our Options Playbook is a prime example: we printed a paper version that you can buy on Amazon; our clients can access an online version on our secure website under Education > Options Playbook. I can’t tell you how many folks – from TK clients to analysts to options experts to USA Today – who’ve told us the Playbook sets a new standard for approachable, easy-to-follow and just plain fun options education, leaving all those dry, pedantically worded old options textbooks in the dust. We’ve also pumped out quite a few new, innovative tools since our launch, from our Profit + Loss Calculator, to our Technical Analysis suite, to the Fixed Income Center and, more recently, Auto Trade and Maxit Tax Manager. Whether we launch a tool on our own steam or partner with an industry innovator, we make sure the resulting product is world-class and, where possible, game-changing to the competition.
BC student D Russ’ points about the value of a strong network were 100% right-on. Not much to add there except to give the TK crew one more shout-out. This is a truly stellar team we’ve assembled, and a great team will always take you further than any individual, however smart, can.
Alas, every experience, no matter how fun or engaging, has its humbling moments, and this was no different. Thinking myself clever when there were no questions at one juncture in my chat, I cheekily quoted from the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, with the good ole Ben Stein-ish, “Anyone, …Anyone? Bueller?” (turn up your sound) My “big joke” bombed, proving only that I am indeed older than I like to think I am (and that I definitely shouldn’t quit my day job)!
Thanks again to Prof. Tallon and the BC class for having me – here’s to your future success and ours!
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GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ND IRISH
