Jacob Steinberg

I got into investing with my bar mitzvah money. I opened an account and started learning by doing. Last year I ran one portfolio and finished up 31%. This year I'm running two, and so far one is up 27% and the other 33.5%. The investor I look up to most is Stan Druckenmiller. I think he's the best ever, and the way he reads the big picture and then picks the right way to bet on it is what I'm trying to learn. What's changed more than the returns is how I work. I use AI as a research tool. I tell it what kind of company I'm looking for and it gives me names, then I use it to build DCFs and test if my idea actually holds up. It cuts out the boring work so I can focus on the actual decision. The trade I'm most proud of was noticing the memory chip shortage in semis and playing it through EWY, since Korea was the cleanest way to own the idea. Read the setup, pick the right way in. That's the loop I want to get better at.

I also think markets aren't as efficient as people say. AI is going to fix some of that and open up new gaps at the same time. Active trading shrinks but doesn't go away. What I find more interesting are the markets nobody has really touched yet, like sports cards and Pokémon, where prices are still all over the place. If there's a market, there's an edge in it somewhere. That's the kind of edge I want to keep hunting, and getting around analysts who do this for a living is how I get better at the part no AI is going to teach me on its own.

• Varsity Wresling
• Portfolio manager
• Volenteer (every now and then)
• Student activies council
• Finance club
• Coder/Web developer
  -Lite
  20:35
  Here's your professional resume paragraph:
  Architected and deployed Aurelius, a full-stack TypeScript web application combining philosophical reasoning with institutional-grade financial research. The project began as a conceptual bridge between Stoic principles and modern investing, evolving into a comprehensive platform serving two distinct user bases: philosophy enthusiasts and professional traders. Engineered a dual-interface system using React + Vite frontend with real-time market data integration via Polygon.io API (50+ endpoints), implementing a custom theme system supporting four distinct visual modes (Cherry Blossom, Dark Stoic, Ocean, and Bloomberg Terminal-inspired Steinberg Ultimate). Designed and implemented 30+ advanced features spanning both domains: on the philosophy side, built a Socratic Dialogue engine that uses AI to ask probing questions rather than provide answers, historical "what-if" scenario simulators, and a gamified virtue progression system; on the markets side, developed institutional-grade tools including Whale & Insider Alert tracking (Form 4 and 13F filings), Options Flow Heatmap for smart money positioning, Portfolio Stress Testing against historical crises (1929 Crash, 2008 Financial Crisis, 2020 COVID), and a Global Macro War Room for geopolitical risk monitoring. Created a novel "bridge" layer connecting philosophy to finance: the Stoic Investor Score (analyzing trading behavior for emotional discipline), Ethical Alignment Audit (checking if portfolio holdings align with user values), and Philosophical Portfolio templates based on different schools of thought (Stoicism, Epicureanism, Aristotelianism, Cynicism). Implemented full keyboard navigation with Bloomberg-style hotkeys (Cmd+K command palette, Cmd+M for markets, Cmd+P for portfolio), multi-window support for multi-monitor setups, and a floating theme switcher for seamless UI customization. Optimized performance through React Query for data caching, implemented responsive design across all 12+ pages, and deployed to Render with automated CI/CD via GitHub. The platform demonstrates full-stack mastery: frontend architecture with component composition, state management, real-time data handling, backend API integration, database design considerations, and deployment automation—all while maintaining clean, maintainable code and a cohesive user experience that feels both premium and purposeful.
  

• 3.6 gpa current