The mark of a successful businessman and investor is the ability to both identify opportunities for development, growth, and success, and act upon them. The most successful businesses and investors are the ones that were able to identify an underserved market demand or investment opportunity, and take the initiative to build upon it—few truly successful, impactful, or disruptive entrepreneurs or investors found success with safe, guaranteed choices. With a strong foundation grounded in best principles, and a data-driven approach to business, even unstable and fluctuating markets are ripe opportunities to turn unique situations into success.
For young serial entrepreneur, investor, and data strategist Felix Römer, building value out of unique opportunities has been both a career and a hobby for many years. Inspired by his experiences studying and experiencing virtual economies, Römer’s personal study of market dynamics, pricing strategies, and large scale trading evolved into a successful investment and trading career. Primarily focusing on sports, finance, fintech, and financial instruments—including mutual funds and restructuring companies—Römer works inside companies to optimize operations and maximize value creation.
The secret to Felix Römer’s success is his data-driven approach to business, where robust data analysis and strategy is king. From interpreting complex data sets, to applying mathematical models to market trends, a firm grasp on data strategy has allowed him to scale businesses and execute deals effectively. With such a data-focused and technology-driven background, it’s no surprise that Felix Römer has consistently been able to turn distressed assets into profitable opportunities.
Inspired and Trained By Virtual Economies
Felix Römer’s first steps into market analysis, economics, investments, and trading weren’t in the usual places like college, an internship, or so on. Instead, his first exposure to the field he’d come to call his own came in the virtual worlds of online gaming—specifically the Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) RuneScape.
Games like these feature robust, expansive, sweeping persistent game worlds with a number of interconnected systems both social and mechanical, and player-driven economies are a common feature across many of them. In fact, these games have been useful test beds and case studies for researchers in fields from sociology, to epidemiology, to economics, for how well player behavior tracks to real-world applications and events. RuneScape and its fantasy setting are no exception to this rule, and indeed is uniquely relevant amongst its peers for its premier, player-driven trade hub: the Grand Exchange.
“The game had a micro-economy where players could trade, buy, and sell goods—sometimes even for real money,” Römer explains. “I spent a lot of time flipping items, hoarding discontinued goods until their value increased, and trading rare resources to manipulate supply and demand.”
Through trade, adventure, or crafting, players in RuneScape can engage in the economy in a number of ways—which meant there were myriad strategies for tracking and plying the market. Felix Römer would rapidly become one of the best, in part due to his willingness to dive deep into the systems and build tools, spreadsheets, and calculators to optimize his trading. From tracking market price fluctuations, to conducting extensive data analytics to execute profitable trades, Römer was able to learn a great deal about investments, trading, and market analytics from an early age. These experiences would become the foundation upon which his real world education and career would flourish.
Starting Up and Investing In Sports
Felix Römer wouldn’t wait long to start his real world investing career, and entrepreneurship wasn’t far behind. Working with peers and friends to develop notification scripts, assemble data points and spreadsheets, and conduct market analysis helped him gain a deeper understanding of data-driven decision making than he’d had before. His first real focused set of investments were sports, specifically soccer, for the way the game could be approached analytically without emotion clouding his judgement.
“Looking back, I realized that my early experiences with gaming and trading were essentially my form of schooling,” Römer says. “I had unknowingly developed valuable skills that later shaped my career.”
He’s had his share of missteps and failures, like any other professional, but Römer has consistently turned those failures into learning opportunities and successes, setting himself up for long-term growth. He was able to turn a low point in 2019, where his savings were at risk due to a new tax bill, into a learning opportunity with some help from a friend and mentor. Persistence, discipline, and effort have turned early passion into a stable career.
“I realized that most people and investors tend to show up when someone is already successful, but very few are willing to stand by those who are struggling to make it work,” he says. “Since then, I’ve made it a personal mission to invest in struggling founders, providing them with the support I once needed, because I know firsthand how much of a difference it can make.”
Felix Römer took his expertise to Short Circuit Science, a technology company that leverages artificial intelligence and computer vision toward improved sports performance, recovery, and longevity. Focused particularly on soccer, it was a good fit for Römer, and in his time with the company he shaped their approach to structuring data, single-handedly improving the insights the company’s AI provided to athletes and coaches.
Keeping Sharp and Keeping Healthy
As a young entrepreneur, Felix Römer is pushing industry boundaries and eagerly investigating new opportunities—but to maintain his long-term success he needs to stay on top of his game, and avoid burnout. In his work, Römer takes care to manage stress and maintain a healthy work-life balance by delegating tasks effectively and making sure he doesn’t take on more work than he can handle. Through peer networking, online publications, and various workshops and events, Römer is able to keep up with new developments in his chosen markets, including new technology advancements and investment trends.
That self-preservation extends to mental health as well. The modern world is high-octane and stressful for anyone, but it’s especially so for those in finance and technology. To keep balanced, confident, and secure, Römer has been learning various meditation practices for relaxation and focus, while keeping a balanced schedule that enables productivity without risking burnout. By investing in his own wellbeing proactively, Felix Römer intends to reap the rewards of consistent performance, growth, and success.
