Becoming Quoth The Raven
Submitted by QTR's Fringe Finance
Had a great chat with my friend Phil Bak yesterday about my ‘origin story’ and how I got to writing as QTR. Phil is someone I always read, is free to subscribe to, and I would recommend to every one of my subscribers.
We talked about how:
I didn’t come up through Wall Street. I bartended in Philly for about 15 years and spent that time learning the markets on my own — mostly by failing and losing money.
I studied only some business in grad school and took a hospitality management certification course because I thought I’d stay in the restaurant world forever.
Everything changed when I met a guy at the bar who worked for a startup. I became intrigued by his company — reading every filing, watching every presentation — and eventually called the CEO to try and get a job
I had no formal background, but I convinced him to hire me. It was a small, gritty operation in an industrial park and I learned everything from SEC filings and earnings releases to how a chemical plant actually runs
I took some of my pay in stock, worked like crazy, and eventually watched the company run out of money. I came home broke but with a real world education in public reporting and what short sellers look for when debunking a company
I started writing under the pseudonym Quoth the Raven, publishing on Seeking Alpha and eventually joining a company called GeoInvesting — one of the early short-selling research firms that exposed frauds in U.S.-listed Chinese companies
That job confirmed to me what actual due diligence looks like. Short sellers do the hardest and most honest work in finance — and the industry is worse off now that so many of them have shut down
Over time, I became more skeptical of how markets function. Passive investing, index inclusion, and options-driven flows have made prices meaningless. Nobody reads filings, auditors barely check anything, and exchanges will list almost anything that pays.
My philosophy now is simple: trust your instincts, verify everything, and don’t be afraid to ask dumb questions. Most people don’t do the work — that’s where your edge comes from.
Every big decision in my life — from leaving bartending to taking the Niagara job to writing full time — came from following conviction and taking a leap. You can’t look away from your destiny.
Today, through my Substack Fringe Finance and my podcast, I try to strip away the jargon and call out the nonsense. Finance is full of smoke and mirrors — my goal is to help people see through it.
(YOU CAN LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE).
QTR’s Disclaimer: Please read my full legal disclaimer on my About page here. This post represents my opinions only. In addition, please understand I am an idiot and often get things wrong and lose money. I may own or transact in any names mentioned in this piece at any time without warning. Contributor posts and aggregated posts have been hand selected by me, have not been fact checked and are the opinions of their authors. They are either submitted to QTR by their author, reprinted under a Creative Commons license with my best effort to uphold what the license asks, or with the permission of the author.
This is not a recommendation to buy or sell any stocks or securities, just my opinions. I often lose money on positions I trade/invest in. I may add any name mentioned in this article and sell any name mentioned in this piece at any time, without further warning. None of this is a solicitation to buy or sell securities. I may or may not own names I write about and are watching. Sometimes I’m bullish without owning things, sometimes I’m bearish and do own things. Just assume my positions could be exactly the opposite of what you think they are just in case. If I’m long I could quickly be short and vice versa. I won’t update my positions. All positions can change immediately as soon as I publish this, with or without notice and at any point I can be long, short or neutral on any position. You are on your own. Do not make decisions based on my blog. I exist on the fringe. If you see numbers and calculations of any sort, assume they are wrong and double check them. I failed Algebra in 8th grade and topped off my high school math accolades by getting a D- in remedial Calculus my senior year, before becoming an English major in college so I could bullshit my way through things easier.
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