Why I built Floodlines

Anna Wu, Founder, Floodlines

The essence of Floodlines is to see the first small streaks of water before the flood arrives to change the landscape. In markets, a streak can be a left-out data print, a few cargos, a conference, some 17-year-old's summer project that few have noticed yet.

That is why I built Floodlines: to show you the small streaks of water. The odd smell in the air. Something small that may only look obvious later. That is what I want to bring to your attention.

What I bring

I may not always be right. In fact, most of the time I could be wrong. What I bring to the table is always different, opening a different channel to seeing it for yourself.

If I'm right, you'll see it. If I'm wrong, you'll see that too.

The name

The name comes from the I Ching, the ancient Chinese Book of Changes. I have spent years trying to understand it. It is a thin booklet. However, what it tells the world is thick and rich.

There is a concept in it called 几 (jī): the smallest unit of change, also meaning small streaks of water. The I Ching says: 「几者，动之微，吉之先见者也」, jī is the subtlest beginning of movement, the first sign of good fortune to be seen.

I see my job as making the streak of water visible to those that are curious, before the flood arrives.

About me

I am Anna Wu, a strategist. A few things I'm proud of.

I have spent a third of my life watching and thinking about markets, the slow way.

I got frowned upon by a lot of conservative high collars back in my corporate life, for being the early, unpopular view in the room. Some of those calls aged well, some did not. Either way, I show my working.

I built my first business when I was 19, and it paid for my college.

I made the right choice to study economics at university, and spent enough time on the basics, from Adam Smith to game theory.

My mum is a maths teacher, so I got to learn beautiful philosophical concepts about this world since I was a child.

I have spent time building models from scratch, then building AI agents so I don't have to build models from scratch.

See the streaks before the flood.

Start with the latest issue, then read back.