The guy who climbed Taipei 101 yesterday without equipment is a market software spokesperson.

Article: Curry, Deep Tide TechFlow

Yesterday, hundreds of millions around the world watched a live broadcast: a man free solo climbed Taipei 101.

No ropes, no protection, 508 meters, 101 floors. Netflix streamed the entire event, lasting 1 hour and 31 minutes, and he successfully reached the rooftop.

The man’s name is Alex Honnold, 40 years old, a professional climber.

In 2017, he free soloed El Capitan in Yosemite, a 900-meter-high granite wall, entirely without protective gear. The documentary “Free Solo” recorded this feat and even won an Oscar.

The New York Times at the time described it as one of the greatest athletic achievements in human history.

But what I want to talk about today isn’t that.

Perhaps you’ve noticed a detail: Alex Honnold is actually the spokesperson for TradingView, a well-known software essential for crypto trading, stock trading, and investing.

TradingView provides chart analysis for markets; traders in stocks, cryptocurrencies, and forex all use it. In 2021, during a brand upgrade, TradingView signed Alex as a spokesperson, with the slogan “Look first / Then leap.”

Look first, then leap.

It seems odd to choose a free solo climber as the endorser for a market analysis software.

You might wonder what he demonstrates—do you just watch the candlestick charts and then jump down? But think carefully, and you’ll realize that such cross-industry endorsement choices are actually quite spot-on.

Alex has spoken in interviews about his understanding of “risk.” He said:

“Risk to me means uncertainty, like rolling dice to see the result. That’s exactly what I try to avoid in climbing.”

The free solo climbing Alex does is technically called “Free Solo”; it looks like extreme sports, risking life.

But if you’ve watched the documentary of him climbing the 900-meter granite wall, you’ll find that Alex’s methodology is actually extremely conservative.

He spent nearly ten years planning this feat and a year and a half preparing physically. He climbed each route dozens of times with ropes, until he knew exactly where his next handhold was and which stone to step on, even with his eyes closed.

He carries a notebook to record details of every critical move.

He has a saying that applies not only to climbing but also to trading:

“If thinking about a certain move makes me feel sick, then the risk is still too high, and I’m not ready.”

Fear is a signal, not an obstacle to overcome.

The same applies to his climb of Taipei 101 without protection. Before the live broadcast, he rehearsed with ropes, testing each grip point on every floor. The scheduled broadcast on the 23rd was postponed to the 24th due to weather, and then again to the 25th.

Waiting for the wind to die down, waiting for the right conditions, then act.

What Alex Honnold did looks like one of the most dangerous things in the world—no protection, falling means death; but his underlying methodology is extreme risk control:

Ten years of preparation, repeated practice, waiting for the right conditions, rejecting uncertainty.

Many people’s actions seem routine—dog fighting, opening contracts, or buying a coin. But their underlying methodology might be much more aggressive than Alex’s: reacting to social media signals impulsively, copying trades just because the front-end bought in.

In the era of rampant gambling dogs and meme or contract trading where a second’s delay can mean missing out on gains, waiting seems to be the enemy of profit. Not to mention, sometimes we don’t even know our liquidation price.

Alex says he tries to avoid rolling the dice.

But if you open any contract trading platform, you’ll find most people are actually just rolling the dice—only we think we’re analyzing.

Come to think of it, TradingView choosing Alex as a spokesperson might not be because he represents bravery or “extremes.”

It’s because he represents “living.”

In an industry with an extremely high liquidation rate, simply surviving is the best advertisement. The ultimate goal of “Free Solo” isn’t reaching the summit; it’s climbing to the top and coming down alive, and being able to climb again tomorrow.

Trading is the same.

Alex Honnold was able to free solo El Capitan not because he’s brave, but because he knows exactly where each step lands better than anyone else.

He prepared for ten years.

What about you?

Note: Alex’s endorsement relationship with TradingView began in 2021. “Look first / Then leap” is TradingView’s brand slogan. Alex’s quotes on risk come from an official TV interview.