SPY +1.24%QQQ +1.87%NVDA +3.41%AAPL -0.53%VIX -4.12USO +0.88%IWM +0.67%XSP +1.12%GLD +0.22%TLT -0.31% SPY +1.24%QQQ +1.87%NVDA +3.41%AAPL -0.53%VIX -4.12USO +0.88%IWM +0.67%XSP +1.12%GLD +0.22%TLT -0.31%
Proprietary Quant Trading — Est. January 2026

THE THIRD
DOOR
FUND

There's the front door. There's the VIP line. And then there's the door nobody tells you about.

Third Door Fund is a proprietary quantitative trading firm. One model. One trader. No excuses. Built from $15,000 and a conviction that the edge belongs to whoever finds it first.
Current AUM
$24,000
+$9,000  +60.0% YTD
Live — Jan 2026 — Apr 2026 Active
AUM
$24K
Proprietary Capital
YTD Return
+60.0%
Jan – Apr 2026
Total Gain
+$9K
Since Inception
Max Drawdown
-5.0%
Feb 2026
Sharpe Ratio
~2.3
Estimated

Equity Curve

+60.0% Jan 2026 — Apr 2026
-5.0% +60%
Jan 2026 — $15KStrong JanFeb DipMar RecoveryApr 2026 — $24K
Return since inception
+60.0%
$15,000 → $24,000 in under 4 months. Annualized, that's north of 180%.
Max drawdown
-5.0%
Worst peak-to-trough: -$1,000 in February. Recovered fully within weeks. Risk controlled.
Sharpe ratio
~2.3
Estimated from return-to-drawdown profile. Exceptional risk-adjusted performance for a sub-4-month track record.
Track Record
Monthly Performance
MonthReturnP&LAUM (End)vs SPY
January 2026+33.33%+$5,000$20,000
February 2026-5.00%-$1,000$19,000
March 2026+26.32%+$5,000$24,000
April 2026In progressLive
Total+60.00%+$9,000$24,000
Benchmark
vs The Market
Third Door Fund+60.0%
SPY (Same Period)+5.2%
QQQ (Same Period)+6.1%

Over the same Jan–Apr 2026 window, the S&P 500 returned approximately +5.2% and the Nasdaq +6.1%. Third Door Fund outperformed by 54.8 percentage points.

Under 4 months in. The model is finding edge the index can't touch.

Activity
Recent Trades
Apr 2026Equity PositionLarge-cap tech, momentum signalLong
Mar 2026Options PlaySPY calls — geopolitical macro thesisLong Call
Mar 2026Options PlayVolatility expansion — USO callsVol Play
Feb 2026HedgeDrawdown protection — put spreadPut Spread
Jan 2026Equity PositionSentiment signal — sector rotationLong
Live
Currently Trading
Asset Class
US Equities — Large & Mid Cap
Derivatives
Equity Options — Calls, Puts, Spreads
Model Type
Sentiment + Price Action — Systematic
Sizing Method
Kelly Criterion — Risk-Adjusted
Holding Period
Short to Medium Term — Days to Weeks
Risk Limit
Max 15% Drawdown — Hard Stop
The Story
Why This Exists

This fund exists because of a $5 tip. Not as a metaphor. As a literal starting point — the moment it became clear that the conventional path was never going to be the path. Finance wasn't going to open its front door. So the third door had to be found, built, and kicked open. Third Door Fund is the result of that decision. One model. One trader. $15,000. And the absolute certainty that the edge belongs to whoever works hardest to find it.

Journey
The Timeline
2022

The Foundation

Years in operations, hospitality, and poker — building the instincts for risk, pattern recognition, and staying calm under pressure.

2023

First Model Built

Sentiment-based stock prediction model. NVDA. XGBoost. 73.91% accuracy. The technical layer begins.

2024

Quant Pipeline + Certifications

Full quant engineering rebuild. AWS, SnowPro, FINRA SIE, Bloomberg BMC, Options 101 at Akuna Capital. CFA Level 1 in progress.

2025

Final Preparation

Model refinement, live paper trading, backtesting across market regimes. Building infrastructure before deploying real capital.

2026

Third Door Fund — Live

$15,000 deployed January 2026. Proprietary model running. +60% in the first 3 months. This is just the beginning.

THE
CONCEPT

Alex Banayan wrote about it. Most people only see two doors. The main entrance everyone lines up for. The VIP line for those who were born into it.

The third door is the one you find yourself. The side entrance. The kitchen. The route nobody teaches you — because the people who used it aren't talking.

That's this fund.

01

The Front Door

The target school, the internship pipeline, the family connection. Most people wait here their whole lives.

02

The VIP Line

The elite network, the inherited capital, the last name that opens rooms. Not available to most.

03

The Third Door

Built a model. Staked $15K. Showed up. This is the door you find when you stop waiting for someone to open the other two.

How We Trade

The Strategy

01 — Alpha Engine

Quant Model

Proprietary systematic model built on sentiment signals, price action, and macro data. Trained on real market conditions. No discretionary guessing.

02 — Instruments

Equities + Options

Long equity positions with an options overlay. Asymmetric payoff structures. Volatility traded as an asset. Every position sized by Kelly Criterion.

03 — Risk Protocol

Drawdown Control

Hard stop rules. Correlation-aware construction. Daily risk limits. Capital preservation comes first. The model only works if you're still in the game.

Founder

BUILT ON
REAL GROUND

Not a trust fund. Not a trading desk pedigree. Started as a waiter, then a poker dealer, an operations manager. Every job taught the same thing — how to read a room, manage risk, and stay calm when the stakes are real.

Then came the data science, the quant models, the CFA, the certifications. The technical layer on top of the street layer. That combination is the edge.

CFA L1 CandidateAWS CertifiedSnowProFINRA SIEBloomberg BMCOptions 101 — Akuna Capital
FoundedJanuary 2026
DomicileJersey City, NJ
Capital TypeProprietary
Starting AUM$15,000
Current AUM$24,000
Asset ClassesEquities + Options
ModelProprietary / Systematic
GoalInstitutional AUM
Disclosures
Risk Disclosures

Third Door Fund is a proprietary trading operation managing personal capital only. It is not a registered investment adviser and does not manage funds on behalf of third parties. All performance data reflects actual trading results from a personal brokerage account and has not been audited by a third party. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Trading in equities and options involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. The Sharpe ratio displayed is an estimate based on available data and may not reflect actual risk-adjusted performance over longer time horizons. All figures are approximate. Nothing on this page constitutes investment advice, a solicitation of funds, or an offer of any security.