ABOUT
Why I built Trophik
I've always seen the world through biology. As a kid, I explored the river and forest near home: fishing, turning over rocks, stalking quail and other animals, and making rafts. I felt at home in the natural world and fascinated by it.
That direction led to a BS degree with substantial field ecology work and a master's degree in ecology and evolution. I felt an affinity toward evolution and ecology more strongly than toward any other idea in my life. It electrified my brain to see how the principles of ecology and the doctrine of evolution connected every living thing in this world.
My introduction to programming and algorithms came during my master's degree. In particular, a class in agent-based modeling was foundational in shaping how I thought about complex systems. In agent- and individual-based modeling, you simulate a system by representing individuals and their environments through algorithms. Complex features emerge from the interactions of those individuals.
A few years later, I worked for an evolutionary programming startup. We evolved algorithms against datasets to develop robust, high-performing algorithms for disease prediction, drug development, and other applications. At that time, I saw the potential for ecology and ecological principles to improve basic genetic programming.
All of this laid the foundation for Trophik. I have always thought that finance and investing, a space in which I have no formal training and only peripheral experience, has a high degree of overlap with ecology. In Trophik, investing strategies are imagined as species navigating an environment: the market. Successful strategies can mutate, reproduce, and grow, and ultimately succeed or die.
Beau Walker, founder