Re: Trading platform customer base

["Lynn" <10cc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Not sure how you could find out.
But I would think that the number would be very small overall and overtime. 
Most get some software and never really learn or use it or they lose some 
money and just stop using it.
I personally know quite a few who trade or investment and none of those 
that I personaly know that have a brokerage account use any of those 
software packages.
Most just use what their brokerage has.
Take even on the net.  It seems I know of more who sell indicators, advice, 
chart info ect.  than have and use software for trading their own accounts.
The thing I have found over the years, is that most who invest or trade 
lots of money ain't programmers and don't want to be a programmer.   And 
that has been the main problem with many software packages.  They seem, to 
be taylored to the programmer and not the trader.
Probably best, if targeting software.  Target all of them.   Or do 
something that targets the trader-investor and not the software they use.
Can you say what type of stuff the start-up you are working on, may be 
looking at or doing?

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <alex@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <omega-list@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, February 28, 2010 9:56 PM
Subject: Trading platform customer base


> I'm looking for suggestions on how to determine the number of people who 
> use platforms such like TradeStation for their trading. How would I 
> determine what platforms have the biggest market share, and what is the 
> size of the userbase for each platform?
> I'm trying to develop a business plan for a start-up I'm working on. The 
> plan must contain a market analysis; that is (from large to small):
> 1. How large is the SERVICEABLE market? (Say, speculators and possibly 
> hedgers, but not fundamentals traders or passive investors who let an 
> account manager do their trading)
> 2. How large is the ADDRESSIBLE market? (e.g. technical traders)
>
> 3. How large is the PENETRABLE market? (This is the most important 
> question - this market would be, I think, the user base of traders who use 
> platforms that we can support, such as TradeStation, NinjaTrader, eSignal, 
> etc.)
> I thought I could find out the TradeStation user base from their annual 
> report, but I couldn't. They report $7.75 million in subscription fees in 
> 2008, which would imply anywhere from 25,800 to 77,500 customers depending 
> on the mix of brokerage ($100/month) vs subscription ($250-$300/month).
> Even so, the high end of that range doesn't seem big to me - if we gain 
> 0.1% of those customers to subscribe to our services, that's only 25 to 77 
> people. Maybe triple that for supporting other platforms like eSignal and 
> NinjaTrader. It's tough to run a business that earns a living with so few 
> customers.
> Suggestions? Market analysis is always the most difficult part of any 
> business plan. And not doing it is one reason why many new business fail 
> or never get off the ground.
> -Alex