Monday, November 22, 2010

Salventrex Marketing Plan

We have a clear understanding of the features needed for a successful product offering. The goal is to have a solid product in early Q1 2012.

Why publish our marketing plan? Our success depends on partnerships.
1) Actively seeking product sales affiliates who receive a 34% commission for each license for one year.
2) Need to support hundreds of data feeds located around the world. We will make a .NET API interface available soon.
3) Plug in modules are needed to support required features such as portfolio management, risk management, automated trade execution, etc.

We plan to offer the base product license for $500 per month for professional and $100 per month for retail. The goal is to create global mass market appeal with the price being affordable for all trading levels. Plug in modules will be available at additional cost and supported through third party development. An enterprise version will be available for institutional trading houses.

I have established contact with over 5,200 trading industry professionals using LinkedIn and organized them into the following categories:

PARTNERS
1) data feeds
2) news feeds
3) infrastructure
4) software companies
5) recruiters

CLIENTS
6) brokerages
7) banks
8) traders
9) researchers
10) students

Phase 1 - Retail Traders
Partner with retail data feed providers to have direct access to their existing clients through news letters, emails, websites, and press releases.
1) DTN
2) Barchart.com
3) OptionsXpress
4) Morningstar
5) ...

This list will continue to grow as we offer an API interface for data feed providers to plug into our framework. Our goal is to enable the data feed providers to write the interface module required to support their data stream. There could be hundreds of data feeds we need to eventually support - with no industry standard. Some of these data feeds also service institutional traders who typically need an internal champion to introduce a new product.

Phase 2 - Institutional Traders
We need to directly access the Institutions through a sales force on the ground. A sales affiliate must register with Salventrex before our Beta release. The sales affiliate will receive a 34% commission on all licenses through the first year. This has created a highly motivated and powerful sales force in all reaches of the world. We should have license agreements with all major institutional trading houses within the first month of Beta launch.

Phase 3 - Partnerships
We have also contacted various software development, news websites, and news feeds. Many opportunities for partnership are available. We will list various trading industry vendors on our partner webpage. The partner’s module should easily plug into our framework (URLs, HTML, Flash, Silverlight, etc) and therefore make our product much more powerful. We will also do a joint press release for the Beta launch. The result is good publicity and opportunities for both companies.

Phase 4 - Media
I have received requests for an interview from various media sources. We plan to offer an online demo to members of the media a few days prior to Beta launch. This will be done under the condition that the story is not published until after the Beta launch. I want them to get excited about our product and have some time to prepare the story and review.

Stay posted for more updates.

Best regards,
Dean

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

DOT Tweet Followers Optimization

This is an update to my original blog titled Expand Twitter Presence and Search Engine Optimization (SEO). At latest count, our Twitter following base is over 120,000. Our new proprietary algorithms are successfully calculating a follow back probability for each user.

Initial testing indicates a follow back success rate greater than 90%. In less than a week, I have identified over 104,000 users who are statistically likely to follow back. Below are a couple of nice Twitter tracking charts for the Salventrex screen name.

My Real Twitter Score Chart


Twitter Counter Chart


To stay within the Twitter rules, the our high-level follower growth algorithm is executed manually on a daily basis.
1) Collect detailed data on various twitter screen names.
2) Calculate probability of follow back from proprietary algorithms.
3) Add screen names based on specific criteria, such as strong following base, keywords, number tweets, etc.
3) Wait a few days to see if they follow back (increased to 6 days).
4) Free up following space by removing screen names based on specific criteria, such as not following back, limited tweets, keywords, etc.
5) Since we are now able to target screen names with a high probability of follow back, removing users becomes less critical.

Below is an updated screenshot of our prototype DOT Tweet application. Keep in mind, the objective of a prototype application is proof of concept. We plan to offer this product as a Silverlight web application.


More Information
Salventrex Web Site
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn

Other Blogs
Quest for the Holy Grail in Securities Trading
Strategic Alliance with Brokerage Houses
Selecting Application Icons
Expand Twitter Search Engine Visibility (SEO)

Best Regards,
Dean DiSalvo.
dean@salventrex.com

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Expand Twitter Presence and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

In three weeks, we have increased our Twitter following base from 2k to 10k with a customized application called "DOT Tweet". The Twitter growth chart below illustrates the number of followers and the number of following for the screen name Salventrex across time. At last last count, our following base over 27,000. I have updated our search algorithms and now have a follow back rate over 90%.




This Blog discusses high-level algorithms and basic Twitter rules. If this is a product you can use (i.e. willing to pay small monthly fee), please let us know and we can focus efforts to build upon the prototype.


While our developers have been busy working on our inaugural product, DOT Trader, my focus has been building partnerships (Strategic Alliance with Brokerage Houses) and our search engine visibility (or Search Engine Marketing).

Search engines rank material based on frequency of updates and the perceived value to users. The value is partially based on the number of external links directed towards to your web site, such as through Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and other Web sites. We embraced all methods to expand our Internet visibility and quickly realized Twitter is the most powerful means to spread our message and build a strong Internet presence.

After researching several Twitter applications and identifying various limitations, we decided to move forward with a customized application. Since our professional developers are focused on our official product line, I took on the task of building a prototype Twitter application with the following basic objectives:

1) Build our followers base (reach mass audience).
2) Perform automated tweets (always have fresh material).

Since we are not famous movie stars, rock stars, or teen heart-throbs, building our followers base takes more effort than just signing up for a new Twitter account. Understanding the Twitter rules is critical to avoid being suspended or banned. A few nice links are below.


1) Best Practices
2) Automation Rules and Best Practices
3) The Twitter Rules
4) Twitter Streaming API

These rules are in place to enable even loading on Twitter servers and to help everyone have a good experience with fresh content. Summarizing a few of the more important rules:

1) Avoid Churn – Do not continuously add and remove followers, particularily in an automated fashion.
2) Back Off – If the Twitter servers are preventing your requests, wait a reasonable amount of time before making your next request.
3) Parallel Accounts - If you have multiple Twitter accounts, use them of independent purposes.

Some empirical Twitter numbers are presented below. These are subject to change at any time and vary based on Twitter server loading.

1) A user can initially follow 2,000 screen names, then ratios are used.
2) The number of screen names you can follow is 110% of those following you. (i.e. if followers is 2,000, then following can be 2,200).
3) You can technically follow up to 1,000 screen names in a single a day, however "excessive" adding is not allowed.
4) There does not appear to be a limit on the number of screen names that can be removed on a specific day. I had a software bug and accidently removed 2,200 followers one day.

To stay within the Twitter rules, the our high-level follower growth algorithm is executed manually on a daily basis.
1) Collect detailed data on various twitter screen names.
2) Add screen names based on specific criteria, such as strong following base, keywords, number tweets, etc.
3) Wait a few days to see if they follow back.
4) Free up following space by removing screen names based on specific criteria, such as not following back, limited tweets, or keywords, etc.

Below is a screenshot of our prototype DOT Tweet application. Keep in mind, the objective of a prototype application is proof of concept. We can make it pretty later for commercial release.


More Information
Salventrex Web Site
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn

Other Blogs
Quest for the Holy Grail in Securities Trading
Strategic Alliance with Brokerage Houses
Selecting Application Icons

Best Regards,
Dean DiSalvo.
dean@salventrex.com

Monday, May 17, 2010

Selecting Application Icons

One would think selecting icons for a new application is a fairly simple process. Well, our recent icon organization and selection efforts have been fairly challenging.

We started by defining some high-level requirements:
• Vector graphics – images can be scaled to different sizes with quality.
• Source files – we can edit the images if needed.
• Multiple styles – provide the user with flexibility to customize based on style.

Then we researched various icon design companies and performed a price cost analysis of their offered icon packages. Since we desired an extensive selection with multiple styles, iconshock was selected to best fit our needs. Some sample icons from iconshock are illustrated below.



A summary of the iconshock package includes:
• 341,422 vector icons
• 901,896 stock icons in 246 icon collections
• 25 different icon design styles

After purchasing the entire icon product line with a six month subscription, we began the download process. It took over two days to download 190 GB of compressed files, which included both the vector and raster images. A program named Free Download Manager was used to optimize the download process.

Extracting the compressed ZIP files was the next major phase of this operation. Many of the compressed files had to be extracted multiple times to gain access the raw image files. It took three days for two quad-core computers to extract all of the vector files. The extracted vector files totaled approximately 100 GB in size. The raw vector files were available in two basic formats:

• AI (Adobe Illustrator)
• FLA (Adobe Flash)

Organizing the 340,000 vector files was the most difficult part of this exercise. Our goal was simple; find similar icons across the multiple styles. A customized application was developed that takes inventory of specified directories and file names based on a key word file. File names with the most common key words were automatically copied to a working directory. A screenshot of the Icon Manager application is presented below.


The vector files were then converted into raster files for visual comparison using application level automated scripts developed in AutoHotKey. To be consistent across the different styles, the vector files were manually renamed when necessary.

The process of taking inventory, converting to raster, visual comparison, and renaming files was repeated several times. A simple process of selecting icons took over two weeks of data processing, programming, and script development. In the end, we now have over 150 icons available in seven unique styles totaling 20MB in size. Some sample selected icons are illustrated below.

For some specific icon types, such as area chart, the minimum of seven styles was not available. Therefore, some redundancy was necessary to fill out the entire collection of styles and icon types.





More Information
Salventrex Web Site
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn

Other Blogs
Quest for the Holy Grail in Securities Trading
Strategic Alliance with Brokerage Houses
Expanding Internet Presence and Search Engine Visibility with DOT Tweet

Best Regards,
Dean DiSalvo.
dean@salventrex.com

Friday, April 16, 2010

Strategic Alliance with Brokerage Houses

The securities trading and optimization software product DOT Trader introduces several unique features that can be integrated into established online and standalone trading platforms. Most stock trading software products are developed and maintained by brokerage houses as a service to their clients, such as E-Trade, Fidelity, Charles Schwab, Scottrade, Ameritrade, and Trade Station.

Strategic Alliance
The brokerage houses continuously improve their product in an effort to retain and build upon existing clients. While the brokerage houses are in direct competition with each other, Salventrex is positioned to create strategic alliances through customized product integration. Our mission is to enable all traders utilize our unique features presented in DOT Trader while remaining loyal to their brokerage house.

Soon brokerage houses, hedge fund managers, and day traders will have the ability to visualize the market from personalized charts and windows. Imagine seeing the market depth for Charles Schwab for Microsoft across an entire week.

Unique Process
The Data Optimization Tool (DOT) is a unique engineering process designed for visualization and optimization of real-time streaming data.














Collect: Real-time and historical data
Save: Lightning fast database
Chart: Financial and engineering displays
Analyze: Interactive analysis tools
Simulate: Back test customized patterns
Optimize: Artificial intelligence optimization
Automate: Receive alerts or submit orders
Report: Summarize trades and analysis
Script: Control application with scripts
Social: Share and download templates

Unique Features
A high-level list of features is presented below.

Data
- Real-time Data
- Historical Data
- Raw and Grouped Data

Workspace
- Interactive Windows
- Personalized Workspace Templates
- Workspace Wizard

Charts
- Customized Chart Templates
- Financial and Statistical Charts

Analysis
- Multiple Simultaneous Market Views
- Automatic Pattern Capture
- Market Depth Filter
- Stacked Market Depth
- Trader Level Filter
- Radio Mode

Trading
- Simulated Trading
- Automated Trading
- Simulator uses Available Shares
- Artificial Intelligence Optimization

More Information
Salventrex Web Site
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn

Other Blogs
Quest for the Holy Grail in Securities Trading
Selecting Application Icons
Expanding Internet Presence and Search Engine Visibility with DOT Tweet

Best Regards,
Dean DiSalvo.
dean@salventrex.com

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Quest for the Holy Grail in Securities Trading

Over the past seven years, I have been searching for the holy grail of securities trading - a system proven to make money. Even defining the issue has been difficult. At Salventrex, we understand there is no one solution to investing and trading in the stock market. Therefore, no one holy grail has been realized or even exists ...until now. DOT Trader provides the flexibility to support all trading styles.












Trading Styles
Some investors study a security from all perspectives, knowing fundamentals and daily trends. Others may trade short-term swings and be happy making a few cents per trade. Each trading style adds liquidity to the market, helping to ensure a cumulative balance on the open market auction.

Since high-frequency trading isn't for everyone, the holy grail solution needs to be a tool that can organize and display the information supporting EVERY trading style.

An investor may want to display fundamentals, sector reports, videos, and web pages. Before placing a trade, the investor quickly changes views to visualize the market depth on various simultaneous customized charts.

The Solution
This power, to easily visualize the market in multiple, simultaneous, customized views will soon be available to every trader and investor. Our Beta release of DOT Trader is on schedule for Q4, 2010.

DOT Trader is patent-pending and introduces a fresh view of the market for all trading styles. Imagine watching Any market data in user-defined Customized charts and windows organized in a Flexible workspace. All this with easy controls and setup.

Any Market Data
When we say any market data, we mean anything that is available on the Internet. Alright, that may be impossible for now, but we do support Level 1, Level 2, Times and Sales, News, Fundamentals, Video, RSS, and URLs. We are also taking requests. In theory, with a custom designed interface, any Internet data source could loaded into the DOT Trader workspace.

Customized Charts
You may be thinking that creating charts aren't fun anymore. We have solved this complex problem of “making it simple” by providing a series of chart templates, with each chart providing a unique view into the market. You can visualize the entire market and a specific trader all in one screen. The chart templates can be modified and customized, controlling everything from colors, to data sources, to time frames for a chart. These controls are all within your fingertips, not wasting time with set up.

Flexible Workspace
DOT Trader provides a flexible workspace through the latest Visual Studios C# development environment, providing features such as tabbed windows, ribbon bar, drag and drop, floating windows, etc.

Workspace templates enable quick setup, allowing selection of layout and theme. Customizing the theme, you may choose one window frame to show the Bloomberg.com web site. A second window frame may have CNBC streaming. A third window frame shows the market depth for Charles Schwab, trading Microsoft stock, across the past hour. Each of these window frames are selected with a single mouse click!

We intend to market DOT Trader to brokerage houses, setup strategic alliances with online charting companies, and make this technology affordable for everyone.


More Information
Salventrex Web Site
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn

Other Blogs
Strategic Alliance with Brokerage Houses
Selecting Application Icons
Expanding Internet Presence and Search Engine Visibility with DOT Tweet

Best Regards,
Dean DiSalvo.
dean@salventrex.com