Jacob Martinez was born and raised in Orlando, Florida. After completing his education at Rollins College and a mini-MBA Crummer Certification, Jacob joined the U.S. Army. Over his four-and-a-half-year career, he held multiple leadership positions, including sergeant, as he served two tours in Afghanistan.
After finishing his time in the army, Jacob Martinez joined Market Traders Institute, the company founded by his father, Jared, as the Vice President of Managed Accounts in 2004. His experience in leadership from the military proved invaluable, as it helped him climb within the company and eventually reach his current position as CEO and President of Market Traders Institute.
Today, Jacob continues to work hard to grow the company and uphold his father’s legacy. The company has now been named one of the nation’s 5000 fastest growing companies for the last four years running.
What does a typical day consist of for you?
My typical workday involves a lot of time working with my employees to find out what I can do to help make their lives easier. I like to be very hands-on as a CEO. I believe that it helps me remain connected to the pulse of the company and helps to prevent any issues from arising. Because of this, my workday consists of analyzing the previous day’s performance and finding anything we can improve on, hosting meetings, and keeping my door open so that anyone can bring new ideas or issues to me so that they can be addressed immediately.
How has your company grown from its early days to now?
The company has grown leaps and bounds from when my father first started in the 1990s. While there was steady growth until the recession hit, since 2011, the company has been growing rapidly.
While the company started as a result of my father seeing the impact of Forex, it has since grown to include education products and charting software, in addition to our trading services.
Who has been a role model to you and why?
My father has always been a role model to me throughout my life. He taught me important life lessons and has helped to ensure that I had the tools I needed to succeed in the business world. By continuing to run and grow Market Traders Institute, I have the ability to honor his legacy every day.
What has been the hardest obstacle you’ve overcome?
The hardest obstacle that I have had to overcome is that I had to overhaul much of the company’s leadership structure. Although we had worked together for ten years, for the company to continue to grow we had to make the difficult decision to move in a new direction. While it wasn’t easy to let go of these people I had worked with for so long, it was the correct decision for the long-term success of Market Traders Institute.
What is your biggest accomplishment?
My biggest accomplishment is growing the company to be a 4-time member of the Inc. 5000 fastest growing companies in the nation. While the recession in 2008 was painful, I worked to ensure that the company could bounce back and be better than ever.
What is the biggest life lesson you have learned?
The biggest life lesson that I have learned is that if you do not monitor what is going on in your company, problems will arise. Although it is important to trust your team, you have to still have a monitoring system in place to ensure that you are not just blindly putting faith in people and hoping things work out.
What trends in your industry excite you?
One trend in the industry that excites me is that the world is growing more interconnected every year. I believe that anyone can be successful with the right access to the education and mentorship that is now available for anyone who was looking for it. No matter what someone chooses to excel at now, they are connected to a worldwide network of others within their industry.
Where do you see you and your company in 5 years?
I see the company continuing to both grow and be successful over the next 5 years. I believe that our continuous growth shows that the future is bright for the company and I can only hope that we can continue to be a leading company within the industry.