
Ask HN: Where did you learn about stock market/startup economics? - zuck9
In the startup world, you come across terms like equity, shares or vesting very frequently, like when you&#x27;re reading how Steve Ballmer got rich.<p>I&#x27;ve got a vague sense of what those terms mean and I feel like I don&#x27;t understand a lot of what everyone knows, like I have no idea how to talk about equity&#x2F;stock options if I get a job, or how do they relate to other things, or how the whole stock market works. Let&#x27;s just say I have zero knowledge of economics.<p>So where did you learn about it? I&#x27;m looking for resources which teaches you only the essential stuff. In depth resources on are also welcome.
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cdnsteve
In terms of startups, I can't really comment but what I would advise everyone
to do is open your own direct trading account. I've learnt more in the past
couple years trading my own stocks (and made better returns) than by sitting
on the sidelines like most in a bank managed mutual fund.

This will give you a direct line into the transactional world of finance. I
learn best by getting my hands dirty.

Start simple, start with a little bit of money. It's crazy exciting to see
when you're making money but terrifying when you're seeing it go down. The
best thing about having your own trading account is that you're in control.
Buy and sell, whenever and whatever you want. Major banks can open one up for
you, or there might be other services that offer this as a service (more so in
the US than Canada).

Basically, it costs money to put in an order (to buy or sell stuff). The cost
for an order generally gets lower with the higher amount of money in your
account and varies by companies offering trading accounts. It's usually around
$10 a trade. So $10 to put in an order to buy stuff... then $10 to sell stuff.

My 2 cents, buy what you understand. If it's tech, go with tech. If it's
farming, go farming. The biggest burns I've personally had was getting into
things I don't fully understand.

Do your research on companies, learn what they're doing, read the news. When
are their quarter reports released? Are they making money or not? This is the
biggest key to make it work. You have to invest time researching what you
think can be profitable.

~~~
tabeth
Is this really true? A significant amount of actively managed funds are beaten
by index funds. [1] Unless you're an industry expert on a certain field, I
feel that this advice will make a lot of people lose a lot of money.

[1] [http://www.marketwatch.com/story/whack-a-mole-fund-
managers-...](http://www.marketwatch.com/story/whack-a-mole-fund-managers-
cant-beat-index-funds-2014-05-14)

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poof131
venture hacks is a good resource [1]. Check the employees section for some of
the stuff you are talking about.

[http://venturehacks.com/archives](http://venturehacks.com/archives)

