The third annual CNBC Changemakers list will be revealed Wednesday, February 25th
Jenny Just has had a lot of success over the years, from profits booked trading options to founding a fintech company with just $1.5 million in seed money that has made her a billionaire. But she says one of the most important skills of her career she learned very late and at considerable cost.
“I think I could have saved 10 years of losses off my career if I had learned poker sooner,” Just said on the “CNBC Changemakers and Power Players” podcast.
Just has become well-known for her advocacy of poker as a discipline that far surpasses its association with gambling. She describes it as a training ground for decision-making under pressure and a critical skill for young people, in particular girls, to learn early in life.
It forces players to assess the risks around them without complete information. It requires repeated choices with real consequences. The conditions of a poker game mirror situations Just found herself in while trading and building companies earlier in a career, when mistakes were costly.
