Florence, 15th Century
With the first crow of the rooster, Lorenzo di Rossi wakes up. There is no time to lose: the market opens with the first light and the most important deals are closed early. He washes his face with cold water and dresses in his linen garments, adorned with discreet embroidery that reflects his position as a merchant.
His day begins at the port, where he checks the arrival of merchant ships carrying silks from the East, spices from India, and English wools. Lorenzo must negotiate with the captains and ensure that the costs are competitive. Then, he heads to his warehouse, where workers unpack the goods and categorize them.
The next task is even more delicate: finding buyers. Lorenzo walks the streets of the city, visiting the guilds of weavers and dyers who may be interested in his wool. In the market square, he meets with other merchants, negotiating fervently, always careful not to be deceived. To close a deal, he often has to offer credits, trust the word of clients, and maintain good relationships with bankers like the Medici, who facilitate his operations with loans and letters of credit.
In the afternoon, he dedicates time to reviewing the accounts in his office, ensuring that each purchase and sale is recorded accurately. If a storm delays a ship or a noble refuses to pay his debt, all his effort could crumble. Uncertainty is constant and his only defense is experience and cunning.
Finally, Lorenzo returns home as night falls. He sits at the table with his family, but his mind continues to calculate the opportunities of the next day.
21st Century: The Digital Merchant
Mateo wakes up when his alarm goes off at six in the morning. Unlike Lorenzo, he does not need to leave his house to start his day. While he prepares his coffee, he checks his phone: the cryptocurrency market never sleeps, and important movements have already occurred in Asia during the night.
His office is a laptop and two additional screens. There are no warehouses, no ships, nor guilds to negotiate with. Just real-time charts and analysis tools. Mateo reviews the trends: the RSI indicates oversold conditions, the Bollinger bands show contraction, and a news item on Twitter suggests that the price of Bitcoin could take off soon. He executes a buy order with a single click.
The market is volatile, but unlike Lorenzo, Mateo does not have to chase clients or negotiate prices. An algorithm automatically connects his order with someone willing to sell at the same price. Supply and demand meet in milliseconds, without the need for meetings or favors to bankers.
Hours pass as he analyzes new opportunities. By lunchtime, he has already closed several trades with profits and some with losses. However, his strategy allows him to minimize risks. He does not need to wait weeks for a ship to arrive with goods or lose sleep over late-paying customers. His capital is in constant motion, accessible at any time.
At the end of the day, Mateo closes his laptop and goes out for a walk. While Lorenzo, five centuries earlier, relied on his intuition and contacts, Mateo has access to immediate information and tools that automate much of the process. What once took days of travel and in-person negotiations now happens in seconds from anywhere in the world.
Both are merchants, but Mateo lives in an era where connectivity and technology have made connecting supply with demand more efficient than ever. Although uncertainty remains, the time and effort required to do business have drastically reduced. At its core, his task is the same as Lorenzo's: buy cheap, sell high, and manage risks. Only now, everything is faster, more accessible, and in many ways, easier.
