A Roadmap to Become a Quant
Courses, projects, and mentoring: the three pillars every quant beginner needs.
In my last newsletter, I shared the essential prerequisites for anyone who wants to enter quantitative finance: the math, programming, and market basics you can’t skip.
But here’s the truth: knowing the prerequisites is not enough. Many aspiring quants stop there, collecting knowledge but never making real progress. I made that mistake myself, thinking that if I just studied hard enough, I’d eventually “figure it out.” Instead, I lost months going in circles.
Breaking into quant trading requires more than theory. You need a roadmap built on three pillars:
Courses – learn directly from people who already know,
Projects – apply your knowledge on real problems,
Mentoring – get guidance from someone further ahead.
This newsletter is about how to put those three pillars into practice.
👉 If you want to go deeper into each step of the strategy building process, with real-life projects, ready-to-use templates, and 1:1 mentoring, that’s exactly what the Alpha Quant Program is for.
Pillar 1: Courses – Learn from Experts
When I first got into quant trading, I thought I could learn everything on my own. I spent countless hours reading blogs, downloading free PDFs, and watching random YouTube tutorials. It felt productive, but in reality, I was just scratching the surface.
The problem? Without structure, you don’t build real skills, you just collect scattered information. I knew concepts, but I didn’t know how to connect them or apply them properly. And that mistake cost me a lot of time.
Taking a course from someone who has already walked the path changes everything. A good course gives you:
A clear roadmap (what to learn and in what order),
Practical examples tied to real trading scenarios,
Shortcuts you’d never find by piecing things together alone.
Courses don’t replace practice or mentoring, but they give you a strong foundation to build on. Think of it as buying back months (if not years) of trial and error.
Pillar 2: Projects – Apply Your Knowledge
After taking my first courses, I thought I was ready. I could talk about moving averages, regressions, and backtests… but when it came to actually coding a strategy from scratch, I realized I couldn’t do much.
That’s the trap of theory: you feel like you know, but unless you build something real, the knowledge fades away. My first low-quality courses gave me terminology, but no ability to execute.
Everything changed when I started working on real projects:
Building my own data pipeline,
Coding backtests in Python,
Testing strategies on historical datasets,
Documenting results like a research notebook.
These projects turned abstract knowledge into skills I could actually use. And just as importantly, they became a portfolio I could show, proof that I wasn’t just reading about quant trading, but really doing it.
If courses give you the tools, projects are where you learn how to use them.
Pillar 3: Mentoring – Guidance & Accountability
There’s one thing that accelerated my journey more than any course or project: having a mentor.
At first, I underestimated it. I thought I just needed enough discipline and I could figure everything out on my own. But the reality is, when you’re starting out, you don’t know what you don’t know. That blind spot is what keeps many aspiring quants stuck.
A mentor does three things you can’t get from books or videos:
Corrects your mistakes before they become habits,
Reassures you when you hit inevitable setbacks,
Shows you the shortcuts, the practical wisdom only someone deeper in the field can give.
For me, this was the turning point. Having someone more experienced guiding me, keeping me accountable, and orienting me in the right direction, that’s what truly propelled me forward.
Courses give you knowledge, projects give you skills, but mentoring gives you clarity and acceleration.
Breaking into quant trading isn’t about talent or luck — it’s about following the right path.
Courses give you the roadmap,
Projects turn theory into real skills,
Mentoring accelerates everything.
Focus on these three pillars, and you’ll move from aspiring quant to practitioner much faster than trying to figure it out alone.
👉 If you want to go deeper into each step of the strategy building process, with real-life projects, ready-to-use templates, and 1:1 mentoring, that’s exactly what the Alpha Quant Program is for.