Paco Ahlgren - Finance, Economics, and Technology

Finance, Economics, and Technology

In the early 1990s, Ahlgren began his career as a financial analyst and economist. His first taste came in the form of futures contracts, and Ahlgren enjoyed the fast-paced world of commodities, but his employers recognized another talent emerging from his day-to-day analysis of markets: he seemed to have an insatiable passion for computers and technology. In 1993, Ahlgren was given the task of automating a trading system one of his colleagues had invented – a job which quickly evolved into networking first the office in which he and his co-workers resided, and then eventually the entire company. It was also during this time that Ahlgren got his first taste of Unix (and then Linux), as well as relational databases. He used various programming languages and database platforms to create more efficient trading systems, and eventually took his knowledge online, using HTML, CSS – and later PHP, SQL, and other scripting and programming languages to create complex interfaces between clients and their trading accounts. Eventually, Ahlgren became something of a pioneer in the world of online security, using encryption and hashing algorithms to create secure environments for clients and their accounts.

In 1996, Ahlgren's life changed dramatically, and after years of alcohol abuse, he stopped drinking and joined the program of Alcoholics Anonymous. He considers himself to be an active member of the group. That same year, he decided to take the knowledge he had accumulated and started his own investment company, The Popperian Group – named after Sir Karl Popper, whose influence over Ahlgren had been so immense. Although Ahlgren continued to use his technical skills to more efficiently analyze markets and interface with clients through systems integration and administration, he largely abandoned the speculative world of commodities trading – choosing instead a more conservative, and lucrative methodology he had been increasingly exposed to: the long-term philosophy of Warren Buffett, Ben Graham, David Dodd, Charlie Munger, and Philip Fisher – known as value investing.

In late 1998, Ahlgren started a side development company called Design Originate, which he used as a vehicle for much of his systems administration and web design, development, and programming work. While Design Originate never consumed anything approaching Ahlgren's entire focus, it has provided a medium through which he has developed his own technological projects – including his book's web presence, and the functionality surrounding the security and interfaces of his financial clients through the years. Ahlgren has also used Design Originate as a tool for serving a relatively small list of exclusive outsourced relationships he has developed with clients requiring specialized networking, systems, or development needs.