EH Webb 1935 - 2009
Sad news, my father died at 17:38 last night after a year of deteriorating health. We were very fortunate that he had not suffered any major illnesses during his life, that he awoke recently to say goodbye and died peacefully.
It was my father that inadvertantly shaped by career. When I was young he gave me a football pools coupon to fill out. I quickly became driven to solve the problem of what makes a draw in a football match. Something odd to do for the son of a carpenter. I now have one of the most accurate forecasting models for that very same problem. The thing I didn't realise was how that simple process kicked off such a journey.
When my Dad gave me that coupon, I obvioulsy wanted to work out how to win the pools. With some effort and thought I acheived that and key pinnacle of winning a first dividend on Littlewoods. That lead me to look at the gambling markets. With such huge margin lost to the other side of the book I quickly realised it was a mugs game so I decided to move onto the biggest casino of the lot, the stock market.
Despite starting with the out and out trading and statistics end of the market, a chance encounter in Houston airport radically shaped my thinking. This led me on a path that resulted in me meeting some of the wealthist people in the world and the most succesfull investor of all time. These experiances significantly changed my perspective not only on wealth and wealth creation, but life itself. During this period betting exchanges also emerged. With margins on the sports books now close to zero, this opened up work I had done years prior to their birth and set me off on another journey.
I wouldn't have guessed when my Dad handed me that coupon where it would lead. While the passing of a loved one is a sad moment, I still have the rest of my life to look forward to. I can't wait to live it.
At moments like this you reflect on things you have learnt, so here a few words. Don't listen to people who are unfairly critical, it says more about them than you. Always use the word impossible with the greatest of caution. Trust your instinct more, pursue happiness and finally, carpe diem!
It was my father that inadvertantly shaped by career. When I was young he gave me a football pools coupon to fill out. I quickly became driven to solve the problem of what makes a draw in a football match. Something odd to do for the son of a carpenter. I now have one of the most accurate forecasting models for that very same problem. The thing I didn't realise was how that simple process kicked off such a journey.
When my Dad gave me that coupon, I obvioulsy wanted to work out how to win the pools. With some effort and thought I acheived that and key pinnacle of winning a first dividend on Littlewoods. That lead me to look at the gambling markets. With such huge margin lost to the other side of the book I quickly realised it was a mugs game so I decided to move onto the biggest casino of the lot, the stock market.
Despite starting with the out and out trading and statistics end of the market, a chance encounter in Houston airport radically shaped my thinking. This led me on a path that resulted in me meeting some of the wealthist people in the world and the most succesfull investor of all time. These experiances significantly changed my perspective not only on wealth and wealth creation, but life itself. During this period betting exchanges also emerged. With margins on the sports books now close to zero, this opened up work I had done years prior to their birth and set me off on another journey.
I wouldn't have guessed when my Dad handed me that coupon where it would lead. While the passing of a loved one is a sad moment, I still have the rest of my life to look forward to. I can't wait to live it.
At moments like this you reflect on things you have learnt, so here a few words. Don't listen to people who are unfairly critical, it says more about them than you. Always use the word impossible with the greatest of caution. Trust your instinct more, pursue happiness and finally, carpe diem!
posted by Peter Webb at
3:37 AM
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