“Your true enemy is not the market. It’s not your competitors. It’s not your colleagues. It’s yourself”, shared Tommaso Migliore, CEO and Founder of MDOTM, as he began the sit-down interview to talk about the birth story of his brainchild project and how it was shaped in the form it has today.

At the age of 24, Tommaso, together with his best friend Federico Mazzorin, developed the first quantitative model of MDOTM, while attending his master’s degree in Finance at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore. As he nurtured his algorithm-based model in its early stage, Tommaso tried to seek validation on his project. Tommaso said “hello” to his first real feedback when an asset manager handed two options to him: follow the academic route and publish the findings as a research, or dismiss the former and get 10 to 15 million euros from the same research.

The feedback pushed Tommaso to build a strong foundation for MDOTM. Together with his co-founder they shaped their firm’s future where they would lead the global financial markets through its research and technology. “Until that moment, we only focused on the product itself”, said Tommaso. “We didn’t have any idea about the markets. That feedback gave us a clear view about the path to take— a vision in which we saw the product come to life.”

From a start-up reaching out to financial investment audience, MDOTM today has grown to a fully regulated investment advisory company, offering its AI-driven investment strategies to banks, asset managers, insurance and family offices worldwide. It has become a go-to artificial intelligence partner for institutional investors to help them in their investment decision process.

Together with his team, Tommaso welcomed their winning prize as the only European Fintech startup to join the 20th edition of the Blackbox Connect program in collaboration with Google for Entrepreneurs. “Participating at Blackbox has deeply transformed the way in which I envision my business growth and scope in the next few years,” said Tommaso. “I realized how important it is to always have an ambitious vision and to think big on a global scale.”

Tommaso traced the fruitful unfolding of his character to his years of playing professional ice hockey. “My experience as a professional hockey player taught me to take the matters at hand with human values: it is essential to listen, motivate and encourage your teammates, guiding them towards achieving their goals. Individually we might be good but only the team can win” he said. Gradually, these human values shaped MDOTM and they are now part of the company’s mission and vision.

Throughout his success, one word lingers on Migliore’s mind: Innovation. “To innovate means you are willing to question the status quo and that the result does not always equate with an invention, but rather with an evolution,” he said. He sees himself as an innovator and an ‘heir’ at the same time as he revolutionizes the contributions of the past renowned personalities in the finance field.

Tommaso shares two tips to remember for those who want to enter the job market: stand out in the best way possible and have a set of crystal-clear objectives in what you do, but adapt to the necessary means to achieve them.
“Today we live in an extremely competitive world,” said Tommaso. “We have to work on ourselves and develop the skills that will distinguish us from the rest. We have to be flexible and tactical enough to reach our goals and to always keep an eye on the target.”

As a relentless innovator, Tommaso treats skills as the lifeline of his work. Without his decision-making and inquisitive skills, he wouldn’t retain the free flow of his work ethics. In the finance game, those who have a ground knowledge in mathematics, statistics and information technology can keep innovating valued ideas and not be left behind on anything. “The job market is changing by the minute and there’s a great need for people who can improve his or her necessary work skills such as problem solving, data gathering and presentation, and ability to take constructive criticisms.” he said.

Tommaso Migliore locked his hands together as he reflected on the feedbacks he had received since the beginning of his adventure. “We receive hundreds of ‘no’ in our lives and careers, but just a few ‘yes’ episodes can really drive us forward. Those ‘yes’, especially the ones that give you the chance to explore new adventures—to accelerate your speed—are those that should always be remembered”, he added.

 

ABOUT MDOTM

MDOTM develops AI-driven investment strategies for the financial markets. They apply Artificial Intelligence and advanced statistical techniques to vast amounts of financial data to develop investment strategies that exploit market inefficiencies. MDOTM works closely with its clients, which are exclusively institutional investors, to support them with high-level technology in their investment decision process.

www.mdotm.eu

   

Article featured on Worldbound, edition n.1-2019.