The Future Is Now: Mark Kadison of ‘TradeUP Securities’ On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene
We’re opening the door for people to learn to enjoy trading in a straightforward and accessible interface. For serious investors, they now have advanced analytical tools at their disposal in the palm of their hand. Once you open an account on TradeUP, you’ll have access to an enormous amount of research at the palm of your hands and our platform offers low cost trades. There’s a plethora of resources on investing and securities available at your fingertips.
As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mark Kadison.
Mark Kadison co-founded Marsco in 1986 and is currently the CEO of TradeUP Securities (formerly Marsco). Mark has over 34 years of experience in the securities industry where he has managed a self-clearing DTC member firm and has served as a General Securities Principal and Financial & Operations Principal.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Shortly after graduating from college, I worked as an accountant. During this time, my brother, Scott, and I saw an opportunity in servicing retail traders in the early 80s. We wanted to start a broker-dealer to capture this market so we formed Marsco and in 1986 we commenced operations. Initially, we found it was extremely rewarding for us to grow with our clients as they grew their own businesses and careers. We focused on building relationships with our clients, as maintaining customer loyalty was key to us.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
About a year after we started, we faced the Black Monday market crash. It took many years for investors to regain confidence in the markets, and growing our customer base in the aftermath of the crash was quite difficult. We continued to provide the best service we could to our customers, and when fears of the ’87 crash began to subside, we found we were well-positioned to grow. Since then, we’ve been focused on providing the best service for investors in the self-directed space.
Can you tell us about the Cutting edge technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?
We’ve been involved in the latest developments in the investing and self-directed space. We have an incredible trading app called TradeUP. It features powerful trading tools, zero-commission trades, and has a clean & intuitive UI. We’ve recently launched a feature that gives retail traders access to up and coming IPOs from our affiliate. From the latest market news to real-time quotes, you have a comprehensive suite of tools for managing your portfolio on-the-go.
We understand that retail traders are always looking for new ways to trade which is why we have new updates every two weeks that adds new features, analytical tools, and promotions. This is possible since we have a high level of control over our operations with the cutting edge app and the back-end clearing house being all a part of TradeUP
How do you think this might change the world?
We’re opening the door for people to learn to enjoy trading in a straightforward and accessible interface. For serious investors, they now have advanced analytical tools at their disposal in the palm of their hand. Once you open an account on TradeUP, you’ll have access to an enormous amount of research at the palm of your hands and our platform offers low-cost trades. There are a plethora of resources on investing and securities available at your fingertips.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?
We specialize in clearing and execution in the back office of the operational side. The breakthrough was when we met with the senior executives at TradeUP. It was a combination of outstanding front-end technology and backend businesses. This union is a win-win for us and our clients. All of our systems operate in-house and keeps costs low, and for our clients, we’re able to integrate the latest features and technology onto our platform while keeping our fees competitive.
What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?
We believe the best advocates for TradeUP are its users. Our customers have been very enthusiastic about the TradeUP app with many sharing their glowing reviews and positive experiences with their friends and on social media platforms. We wanted to thank our customers and encourage them to share TradeUP so we continuously have promotions and have a referral program with very generous rewards.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
First and foremost, I am very fortunate to have had a wonderful Brother, Mother and Father and Grandmother. There are so many individuals in my life that I have been grateful for over the years. If had to choose someone, it would certainly be my brother Scott, followed by our loyal customers. For over 30 years, we have watched our customers grow, and they have helped me evolve in my career. Currently, after 30 years in this business, I’ve never been around such great and talented personnel as the ones on the TradeUP team. They’re the best I’ve ever worked with and am grateful for their hard work each and every day.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
I would love for more younger people to learn more about the world of finance. Getting into investing is easy now with apps like TradeUP and there are so many educational resources available that are just a few taps away. Not only would they have a deeper understanding of the world of finance, but they’ll also learn how to analyze and leverage tools for their own financial goals.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
President Calvin Coolidge once said, “Nothing in this world can take the place of Persistence”, and “Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” I found that this has struck me the most, and throughout our many years in the industry, my brother and I always found ourselves reflecting on it in difficult moments during our careers.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
You can find us on Twitter at @TradeUP_APP (Twitter) and Instagram: @tradeupapp (Instagram). Looking forward to seeing you there!
The Future Is Now: Mark Kadison of ‘TradeUP Securities’ On How Their Technological Innovation Will… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
