Emmet trained in Applied Physics. John in Electronic and Computer Engineering. From the first day, MyWallSt has been built by people who test an idea before they trust it, and who would rather follow evidence than headlines.
Every one of us invests our own money. We know what it feels like to hold a stock through a bad month, and we write for people who want to own great companies for the long term.
Returns, risk and probability are maths problems before they are opinions. We measure every idea against the data and publish the numbers, including the uncomfortable ones.
We build systems that do the same thing, the same way, every time. If a process can be written down as rules, it can be tested, improved and trusted.
Physics teaches you to look for the underlying laws behind noisy results. We look for the patterns that have held across decades of markets, not just the last few weeks.
The first seeds of MyWallSt were sown when Emmet Savage hired John Tyrrell for a large international telecoms company based in Dublin, Ireland. A shared enthusiasm for technology and the stock market meant that they soon became great friends.
Emmet and John wanted to share the lessons they had learned throughout their investing life with others, so they began conducting regular seminars under the brand name ‘BullSense’. However, they quickly realized that old-fashioned presentations weren’t the best way to teach people how to start investing. They knew that there had to be a more user-friendly way.
Emmet is the Chief Investor and co-founder of MyWallSt. He has been investing in the stock market for more than two decades, with an independently proven annual return in excess of 24% for the last decade—over triple what the S&P 500 returned. Emmet has previously written for ‘The Motley Fool’ and has been included in the Irish America magazine’s ‘Top 50 on Wall Street’ list… twice!
Read more from our chief investorJohn is the CEO and co-founder of MyWallSt. After completing a degree in Electronic and Computer Engineering, he began working as a head of network engineering in the telecoms industry. His mission in life is to achieve simplicity through technology. This, coupled with a love of investing, was one of the driving forces behind the founding of MyWallSt. John has also appeared on the Irish America magazine’s ‘Top 50 on Wall Street’ list.
After months of reflection (and many late-night discussions), Emmet and John decided to leave their jobs and pursue the goal of bringing investing to everyone. Huddled together in a small attic room in Dublin City at the end of the holiday season (note the modest Christmas tree!), MyWallSt was officially founded in January 2014. At that time it was called Rubicoin - but more on that later.
The very first hire made by the fledgling company was Alejandro Lopez, a freelance tech developer from Spain. With Alejandro, we set about designing and building the company’s inaugural app. This app would incorporate lessons on the stock market and the very first version of our 1% showroom of handpicked stocks. The app was released in September 2014 and Emmet had the proud distinction of being the first investor to buy a stock through the app. This was the very first investment he had been able to make through any mobile app… ever!
Shortly after the launch of the Rubicoin app, one of the first major decisions was made: the splitting of the ‘Rubicoin’ app into ‘Learn by Rubicoin’ and ‘Invest by Rubicoin’. After much deliberation, we decided that future investors would benefit more from two apps that are geared specifically towards different stages of the investing journey.
In two short years we had quickly grown to a team of twelve (and one fantastic Intern - who was the tallest of all of us), meaning we had outgrown our humble office space, and were soon on the hunt for a larger office. 5 Merrion Row, a Georgian building with swinging chairs and sloping floors, became our headquarters. Soon after we moved in, we launched the Invest Plus subscription service, and by February 2017, we had hit 500,000 users across both apps.
We reached the huge milestone of 1 million downloads just before the end of 2017. Which means over a million of you have started your investing life with us in countries all over the world.
We opened January 2018 with a look back on the success of our stock picks for the first year that we had provided a subscription service. It was a turbulent year for the stock market but we were delighted with the success of our Showroom of stocks that offered our users the best opportunity to become successful investors.
*2017 returns stats as of Jan 2nd 2018. **figures are an average for the first 12 SOTMs, with the first one added 22.12.2016.
As we neared the end of 2018, we watched excitedly as our download numbers were about to hit the 2 million mark, and we welcomed new members into our investing community. We had quickly grown to a diverse team of 19, aligned by strong company values and a consistent focus on you, our customer.
Remember we mentioned “Rubicoin” at the start? Well, in January 2019, we made the decision to rename our business and flagship app to MyWallSt. Our new name puts you at the centre of everything we do, and the importance of personally owning your investing life.
By using our apps and services, you are saying that this is My way of creating generational wealth, this is My mechanism to improve My future. You are saying that this is My Wall St.
MyWallSt on the web went from strength to strength, with complimentary products such as our Invest2020 Toolkit. Learn on desktop helped thousands more people start their investing journey, and we launched Horizon, a premium service that gives members an on-camera inside view of Emmet’s live personal portfolio.
Over the years that followed, MyWallSt grew from a pair of apps into a research house. Horizon became our invitation-only investing club. Nexus set out to find the next international giants before the rest of the market. Every Thursday, the Stock Club podcast brings our analysts’ thinking to listeners around the world.
We also started meeting our members in person. Investicon brings investors together in Dublin to hear directly from the people behind the research.
Prophet is where our mathematicians, engineers and physicists come together. It is a rules-based investing system: no hunches, no headlines, and the same process applied the same way every month.
Tested across 18 years of market data, it takes about five minutes a month to follow. For us, it is the clearest expression of what MyWallSt has always believed: a disciplined, evidence-led approach beats guesswork over the long term.
Twelve years after that attic room, we have a new look to match who we have become. Estate Green and Heritage Gold, the Circlets at the centre, and two words that have always defined us: Own It.
The name still puts you at the centre of everything we do. What has changed is the depth behind it. MyWallSt today is The Home of Successful Investing, run by people who invest their own money in the ideas they publish.
