"If 'success' doesn’t lead to a satisfying life outcome, then maybe you are trying to solve the wrong problem"
Who: David Magerman, managing partner at Differential Ventures and former quantitative manager at Renaissance Technologies — a $75 billion hedge fund.
What: After earning his PhD in computer science from Stanford University, David spent two decades at one of the world’s most secretive, powerful, and successful hedge funds, Renaissance Technologies. During that time, he developed optimization algorithms for trading financial instruments, assisted in the development of statistical models for predicting the movements of stock and commodity prices, and was a member of the company’s management committee, essentially helping Renaissance earn its stellar reputation. And since his departure in 2017, he’s joined Differential Ventures (an early-stage VC fund) as their managing partner and CTO, and he remains active in various philanthropic efforts within the greater Jewish community.
Where: David was born in Brooklyn, spent most of his childhood in South Miami, and then moved to Philadelphia to attend the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his BA in mathematics and BS in computer science. David remained in Philadelphia, where he now lives with his wife Debra and their four children.
Why: David’s story inspires me. He grew up in a Conservative home and was “bar-mitzvahed,” but by the time he went to university he’d lost all connection to Judaism. After getting married, though, he discovered that his wife wanted to keep a kosher home, an idea he went along with. Then, when he visited Israel for a cousin’s bar mitzvah and couldn’t understand any of the Torah his religious cousins were talking about, he felt like “a kindergartener in a room full of college students.” A researcher and truth-seeker at heart, he yearned to fill that void, so when someone suggested he get a chavrusa through Partners in Torah, he jumped at the opportunity. That was 15 years ago, and David and his family have continued their quest for spiritual growth ever since, shifting tracks to lead a true Torah lifestyle and committing to generously support Jewish day schools and educational programs. The same character traits that drove David to lead a super-successful career also drove him to be a “super-successful” Torah Jew.
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