From message boards to money management: How 2 traders turned their Discord chat into an investment fund
If the early days of the pandemic-era retail trader phenomenon were characterized by a David vs. Goliath mentality, the current era might be more akin to David becoming Goliath.
No longer content to try to stick it to the man and plaster WallStreetBets with dank memes, many retail traders are striving for the kind of professionalism and well-honed approach to investing that seems much more institutional.
The scene has also moved beyond Reddit. Platforms like StockTwits, X, and, increasingly, Discord, are drawing throngs of traders looking to swap ideas and ride the three-year-old bull market higher.
For two traders who met on the platform, Discord actually helped them launch their very own investment fund.
From "Ender's Game" to Enders Capital
Discord can be a chaotic place.
"Servers," which are essentially chat rooms with dedicated members, are live chats rather than static message boards like Reddit. If you're unfamiliar with how to navigate it, it can be overwhelming. But if you know what to look for, Discord is a fertile ground for finding like-minded people to bounce ideas off of.
This is essentially the founding narrative of Enders Capital. CEO Moody Nashawaty and COO and Head of Research Risley Mabile fondly recall connecting in a Discord channel for retail traders in 2022.
In the years before they launched their fund, named after Orson Scott Card's sci-fi classic "Ender's Game," in 2025, the two spent a lot of time simply swapping ideas and talking market trends on Discord.
"I think we were on the same page pretty much from the beginning," Mabile recalled of his partner. "I remember him floating the idea to me just in passing in one of our conversations one day, and then followed up two weeks later. I had thought about it, and I was like, you know, I really think maybe this could work."
Nashawaty recalled how organic the process felt as the two transitioned from Discord message boards to lengthy offline conversations about market movements.
"Hey, what do you think of this? What do you think of that turns into longer conversations until you're really close," he noted. "I had some interest from outside parties to join in on what I was already doing, so it just made a lot of sense to roll it into a fund."
Both Mabile, the firm's CEO, and Nashawaty, COO and head of research, spent years studying trading before they met, and Nashawaty found himself drawn to Discord's investing servers after exiting a long career in digital marketing.
Mabile, meanwhile, had been learning about derivatives trading while an undergraduate, a pursuit he would continue through medical school. While he works as a radiology resident, he still finds time to help Nashawaty manage the fund.
Registered under the Securities and Exchange Commission's Rule 506(c), Enders Capital operates as an alternative investment fund and currently has $5 million under management. It began with a few outside investors, though Nashawaty says he provided the bulk of their initial capital.
"I'm actually looking to reduce assets that I have to put more into the fund, because I've become more and more of a believer of what our fund can do," he said.
The pair's approach to investing is quant-based. The pair sees data and automation as an effective way to reduce volatility and improve stability. Their automated trading is conducted on Composer, a platform that specializes in enabling retail traders to build strategies similar to those employed by hedge funds.
Much of what they do centers on building resilient financial models on as many markets as possible. Nashawaty noted that many of the fund's recent gains have come from areas such as tech, gold, and emerging markets.
The fund employs a few others, both developers and quantitative builders, many of whom the founders also found in social media circles.
Nashawaty thinks that while certain retail investing forums can get a bad reputation, many are frequented by highly qualified people, some of whom spend a lot of time studying markets.
The next generation of hedge funds
"I think that the next generation of hedge funds won't be from Wall Street, and I think that's a good thing, since the talent is no longer centralized," Nashawaty said.
Mabile echoed the sentiment, highlighting the importance of cutting through noise in social media to find people with a solid understanding of complex market dynamics.
"We spend a lot of time in those communities, and there is a lot of noise, but some of the most impressively professional people that I have ever met are those I have met through those platforms," he added.
Composer co-founder and CEO Benjamin Rollert thinks that other new funds will follow Enders' example, as the barrier to entry is lowered by new technology.
"Much of the fixed overhead that is required to operate a huge fund will be delegated to AI as models advance," he told Business Insider. "In turn, we will see a much more meritocratic environment, where upstart funds will be evaluated on their skill rather than their credentials - opening the door for smart retail investors to get in the game."
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