Co-authored by Wayne Miller.
Two-thousand and eight was one of the most challenging years in recent history to be a new college graduate. The financial crisis, the worst one since the Great Depression, affected economies around the globe, causing economic recession, savings losses, and a collapse of the housing market. The contraction of the job market made it difficult for recent graduates to find their footing, with many opting to wander outside their field of study to find meaningful work.
Today, Lumine Lin is a successful financial trader and founder of Highmoon Capital, a forward-thinking hedge fund. Back in 2008, however, he was fresh out of ArtCenter College of Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and a determination to find a way to pursue his artistic vision. The road he set out on would see him forge one of the more interesting backgrounds in the industry and inform his unique views on the future of trading and investment.
The first stop on his journey saw Lin dive into game development. He founded Luminati Interactive in 2010, using his artistic skills for game development and jumping on the opportunity to see firsthand what running a business is like. He learned about resource allocation, managing projects, and working with people. It was an invaluable learning experience for Lin, even though the studio didn’t release any projects it was working on.
The final years of Luminati Interactive saw Lin venture into trading. An autodidact, he relied heavily on some of the artistic skills he picked up during college and later honed through game development. He applied his pattern recognition, appreciation of intuition in design, and understanding of human behavior while he explored stock trading.
It wasn’t long until he picked up other skills and proficiencies. He began to understand market dynamics. He became more analytical. Before he knew it, the new skillset clicked with his artistic skillset and his understanding of psychological factors that influence investment decisions. He had all he needed to navigate the often treacherous waters of stock trading.
Lumine Lin started trading in 2014. He spent the next eight years trading relentlessly. He accumulated over three thousand trades to his name, a five-digit cumulative return percentage to his investment, and a couple of million dollars in earnings when he decided it was time for his next venture.
In 2022, Lin took on two new projects. One was the founding of Skyline Technologies and the development of the Skyline Trading App. The other was starting Highmoon Capital, his hedge fund.
Lin set out to create an innovative trading platform with the trading app and provide a novel trading experience. It was the perfect venue for Lin to use all of the principles he’s learned through his education, diverse business experiences, and personal interests. The app offered more than numbers and trends — it was informed by positive psychology and built with user-centric design. Through design choices, especially input from Sheena Young, Lin and his team recognized the toll the industry can take on its members and found ways to promote a more wellbeing-focused user flow.
Highmoon Capital is the perfect convergence of Lin’s many talents and experiences. It’s allowed him to apply further his trading philosophy that relies as much on behavioral investing principles and psychological insights as it does on pattern recognition and analysis. Thanks to that unique mix, Lin can take a holistic view of the goings on in the market, from the emotional impulse that instigates a trade to the movements it creates.
Already a veteran in the trading industry, Lumine Lin still has plenty to give to the industry. Through his leadership and the principles he imbues his work with, he’s at the forefront of making trading a more inclusive, less damaging space for people who engage in it. Lin’s unique background allowed him to see the writing on the wall and to lead the industry into a new era.
