QuantumFormalism.Academy: Your Trusted e-Learning Hub for Advanced Mathematics with Applications in mind.
I am Bambordé, the Programme Lead at Quantum Formalism (QF) Academy, a division of the Zaiku Group dedicated to making abstract mathematics more accessible, especially for those without a background in pure mathematics.
Our primary goal is to introduce advanced mathematical topics that are directly relevant to emerging technologies such as AI/ML, Post-Quantum Cryptography, and Quantum Computing.
We’re thrilled to share an inspiring success story from a recent QF Academy graduate. Although he prefers anonymity for now, he plans to publicly share his remarkable journey after fully settling into his new role at a leading hedge fund. Stay tuned! In the meantime, here's an exclusive look at his incredible career transformation, based on a recent interview with our team.
Background and Early Career
Sachin (a pseudonym) began his journey by earning a degree in Biochemical Engineering in the UK, where he developed some foundation in mathematics, including Ordinary Differential Equations, Linear Algebra, Statistics, and Partial Differential Equations.
Despite his biochemical background, Sachin was deeply passionate about software engineering. Through self-guided learning via online bootcamps and extensive portfolio projects, he secured a software engineering internship at the UK branch of the Japanese bank, Nomura. His internship turned into a full-time role, where he spent three successful years honing his software engineering skills.
Journey to Big Tech in the US
While active in London's vibrant tech meetup community, Sachin was recruited as a founding engineer for a startup relocating to the US. Seizing the opportunity, he moved to America, where his startup was eventually acquired by another company. Following the acquisition, he transitioned into a software engineering role making roughly $500k/year at a Big Tech company, spending over three productive years there.
During his tenure in Big Tech, Sachin became increasingly fascinated by trading, particularly in crypto assets. His enthusiasm led him to explore deep learning techniques to enhance his trading strategies. He completed multiple online courses, including Andrew Ng’s renowned "Deep Learning Specialization".
Pivoting Towards Quantitative Finance
In 2024, Sachin decided it was time for a career shift, driven by personal interests and organisational cultural shifts at his workplace. Initially considering launching his own fintech startup, he eventually opted against it to maintain stability for his young family.
Equipped with substantial savings from his Big Tech role, he aimed to transition into quantitative trading. However, despite securing several interviews thanks to his impressive big-tech engineering pedigree, he struggled to land a senior quantitative role that he wanted due to perceived gaps in mathematical sophistication and a compelling quantitative portfolio.
The QF Academy Journey
Sachin discovered QF Academy through a colleague subscribed to our newsletter. Curious yet uncertain about our courses' suitability, he scheduled an introductory call with us. During the conversation with our team, his enthusiasm for integrating advanced mathematical tools into innovative trading strategies was inspiring.
He expressed keen interest in topics such as Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Spaces for portfolio evaluation and implementation of Complex-Valued Neural Networks, referencing a preprint research paper from Université Paris-Saclay. Recognising his potential but seeing gaps in his theoretical understanding, we developed a tailored pathway:
Sachin eagerly embraced our structured approach, beginning his intensive learning journey in October 2024. Within six months, he successfully completed an impressive proof-of-concept trading project, created entirely by himself in just four weeks, which demonstrated excellent backtesting results.
Landing a Top Quantitative Hedge Fund Role
Recently, Sachin reconnected with a top hedge fund that previously rejected him. In a bold move during a follow-up interview, he showcased his innovative trading model by executing live trades in real-time using his own capital. The remarkable performance and compelling live demonstration secured him an immediate job offer by day's end.
Sachin's journey from earning $500k annually at Big Tech to securing a senior role with an annual earning potential of $10m at a top quantitative hedge fund highlights the transformative power of dedicated mathematical learning, mentorship, and strategic skill-building.
We’re incredibly proud of Sachin’s achievements and excited to see what comes next!
Our Mission to Help Ambitious Professionals Succeed
Although we didn't (and still don't) offer a dedicated course on Complex Analysis, which Sachin needed, we created a customised learning pathway using our existing courses. Additionally, we went the extra mile by providing him personalised mentorship from a mathematician specialising in Complex Analysis. This commitment highlights our dedication to doing whatever it takes to help our learners succeed. This is not something that is available on other elearning platforms such as Coursera, Udemy and DeepLearning.AI!
If Sachin’s inspiring journey resonates with you and you're ready to achieve your own career breakthrough, schedule an intro call with QF Academy today, or simply subscribe to our Professional Plus Plan. We’ll create a personalised roadmap tailored specifically to your career goals!
Free Sample Resources
Feel free to explore the samples below to get a sense of our style and approach.
Special Spring Deal
As a thank you for being part of our maths newsletter community, we would like to offer you an exclusive 50 percent discount with access to all our courses. Simply use the promo code DEEP-MATHS-EASTER when signing up for any of the following plans:
🕒 The offer above is valid until Sunday, April 20 @23:59 BST.
Best wishes,
Bambordé Baldé
Programme Lead
Quantum Formalism (QF) Academy Team
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