Over on the Ask Us Anything section we’re starting to see the same questions come up. This post is going to address why the advice won’t change and how we can save time together.
1) How Do I improve my Diet? We have covered diet advice in a post. If you haven’t taken a look then go ahead and read the post. If you’re slogging 80 hours a week you need to be efficient and as we stated before, if you don’t want to read the post, here’s the basic outline:
Breakfast: Fruit + Protein. Worst case a protein shake in the AM and a banana/fruit bowl on your way to work
Lunch: If you have a high paying job, lunch is used to improve your political positioning so you always eat with people so suck up the $10-12 meals
Dinner: You can get $25+ from your company, do not waste it on unhealthy food. Most people will eat terribly which starts the downward spiral. There are hundreds of options online using seamless. If you don’t have to work late… then make your meal at home after your day is done.
By doing this you guarantee 2/3 of your main meals are healthy. Lunch may be hit or miss, but if you’re smart all 3 will be perfectly fine and you won’t break the bank.
2) What Bank do I Join? Again this question misses the point by a country mile. The question is, which bank will allow me to get promoted the fastest. If you have no idea which bank then go by the rule of thumb
Elite Boutique (Moelis, Qatalyst, Centerview, Evercore, Lazard, etc.)
Bulge Bracket (Goldman, Morgan Stanley, Citi, etc.)
Middle Market (Jefferies, Piper Jaffray, etc.)
No-Name Banks (simply make sure it is the same job function)
No, we will not get into a back and forth about “what exactly is E-Boutique versus not” it is up to you to make that decision but if you’ve done your due diligence the answer will be extremely obvious. If they pay above top bonuses at a bulge bracket… it’s an E-boutique. If it pays the same as a BB… it’s probably smarter to choose the BB.
After your very first job none of this matters at all anymore. From that point forward you choose the firm that is going to promote you the fastest. Think smart. It is about responsibility not prestige.
“F*** prestige get money”
Put that quote on your cubicle. People who obsess over prestige have never had a long career on Wall Street. Maximum of maybe 5 years. To put the nail in the coffin check out one of two blogs we recommend (we only recommend Danger and Play and Financial Samurai). Click on FS’s blog… notice something? He started at a top shop but his real money came in after getting promoted and generating a ton of revenue. **hint hint**
3) When Should I Work Out? Well do you even work out? If you’re under 30 years old and you don’t work out 6 days a week you’ve already lost in the first place. If you have been working out 6 days a week, you probably already have a healthy routine! See how that works? So the question is not when you should work out it is if you even work out in the first place. We got this question many times and the answer when pushed is exactly the same.
If you work on the East Coast you go to the gym first thing in the morning. If you work on the West Coast you go to the gym after work.
You can feel free to change this if you’re a morning person or a night owl but it really misses the point. The point is this:
“There is no science, there is simply consistency.”
Consistency is how you keep yourself honest. If you can make it to the gym every single day and lift correctly, you’re going to see gains.
4) What Do You Think About the Stock Market Levels? Always the same answer, do not care at all. You should not care if the S&P is at 1,700 or 2,000… simply dollar cost average into cheap ETFs such as VOO, SPY etc.
If you’re trying to beat the stock market and you only have a half million dollars or so in the bank, you’re wasting your time. $500K in the bank to invest is pretty much a waste of effort. It means if you beat the bench mark by call it 5% that is only $25K. You may as well go and chase real revenue in a business. $25K for 10+hours a week is only $48/hour… That is significantly worse than what you’re making on the job anyway.
If the economy collapses? It doesn’t matter again. Generally recessions last about a year so you simply sit around and take the extra cash that was on the sidelines and buy any time there is a large correction. Your cash was on the sidelines because you want to continue buying through the dips so you get lower entry prices. Maybe you lost your job for a few months. No big deal. You had cash on the side to keep buying and get your next position.
If the market goes up 20%? Great already exposed getting richer!
What if inflation goes “crazy”? Again already own assets… getting richer! Only poor people think inflation is a bad thing.
5) I Make $50K and I am X Years Old What Do I Do? Some tough love and inspiration at the same time. First why in the world did you do this to yourself? If you look around there is money everywhere. A weekend in a high cost city driving an Uber will net you $30+ an hour. That is an extremely low estimate and yet that gets you an extra $60K per year. Why is it an *extra* 60K per year? Well, if you’re not working at least 80 hours per week and you’re broke, you have no one to blame but yourself. Anyone who believes they should be rich working 40 hours a week is going to be in for a rude awakening.
If you attempt to come back with the “but i’m smart” argument, you’re going to get laughter on this side of the web. Why? If you were actually *smart but lazy* you wouldn’t be broke in the first place right? It is much smarter to control what you can control. Go ahead and start slogging those long hours because at some point everyone pays their dues.
Finally, to put the nail in the coffin on this one… If you believe that anything over 40 hours is “too much work” then how exactly are you going to catch up to someone better than you putting in more time? If Person A is working 60 hours a week making $100K per year and you’re working 40 hours a week making $50K… You’re already making significantly less than Person A on an “hourly basis” and there is no way you’re going to catch up by working less and learning less.
Get to the grind!
6) Does Money Attract Women? Yes. Anyone who says otherwise has never made a good amount of money. Here is a general guideline since the question is asked so frequently:
$50K or less: it will be a negative to your sex life because you are not making enough
$50K – $100K: in a regular city this will be perfectly fine, in a major city it is still a detriment to your sex life
$100K-$175K: in a regular city you’re doing well, in a major city it now has no negative or positive impacts to your sex life
$175-$250K: Positive impact to your sex life in practically every city
$250-500K: Significant positive, less because of your life but because of the value of your time. At this point you’re extremely busy, you’re traveling, you’re not available, these are traits that will make you incredibly attractive. It won’t be possible to fake these trips/traits.
$500K+: It is practically impossible to blow through this type of money with common sense and everything in the previous tier are truer.
$1M+: If you can make this income at any point in your life you’re set. Your life changes because all of your actions value your time and comfort. You fly business/first class and do not care. You live a life that is impossible to fake.
Given the range and scope of this blog, it is certainly possible to get to $250-500K (before mid 30′s of course). This is achievable for anyone who wants it. When you start pushing up on high 6 figures and 7 figure numbers, you’re going to have to do something special.
Finally, there is no need to bother asking people like us. You can check out James Altucher’s blog, a multi-millionaire, who comes to the same conclusion… money gets girls.
(Caveat: before all the guys who live on shoestring budgets come in, yes you still need some social skills. That is about it though. If you don’t have some sort of social disease you’re going to be perfectly fine if you ever obtain large amounts of money)
7) Can You Hire Me? No
8) Are You Writing a Book? Maybe, not enough page views as of today. Creating a book that will take a long amount of time. It is certainly not worth it for a 5 figure payoff.
9) Industry Overview on XXX Sector? Probably, these are for Wall Street folk and the blog is currently a ~50/50 split it seems. This means it’s likely but no promises.
10) Resume Reviews? Nope! Hate them.
11) Can You Redesign the Blog? 100% agree needs to be re-done, no time-table yet though.
2) I am XX years old What do i Do to break in? We also get this one far too many times here’s the general guideline. Unless you have something spectacular you are holding back, this is the backdrop.
Analyst: If you are 25 years old or younger, keep gunning for an entry level slot as an analyst. This means you pass CFA level 1 if you have absolutely no finance experience to prove you understand the basics and then you get straight to networking. If you’re at a non-target then read our post on how to network/recruit. Now if you are from a no name school, no work experience and low GPA. You have next to no shot and are better off going to get an MBA later in life. This is the truth. As a non-target or older candidate with no experience, you need to have something to bring to the table otherwise you will lose time and time again to 22 year old candidates with banking internships, top GPAs and a great school.
Associate: If you are 26-33 years old this is your second chance to break in. If you have nothing related to finance, probably best to get an MBA.
Vice President and Above: Likely 33+ years old and you’re making a switch from a revenue generating career. In this case you should already know if you’re well qualified. Generally speaking, if you’re in a sales role or run a product line at a firm and are paid $300K+… You’re likely a good fit (this is general as most people who are in this slot know if they have the skills to move to the sell-side or not)
There you have it, it will answer 99% of questions. If you’re young you simply network and spin your resume assuming you have some skills that are transferable. If you’re in your late 20s you’re likely better off with a top MBA.
They say that your network=networth. How can I expand my network database? I want to include rich and successful people. They say that we are a product of our environment. That in order to be the best you have to surround yourself with the best. Any tips? Thanks….
Strike 1 already in the FAQ. This has been answered (literally) over 50 times in this page alone.
Hey Guys,
Had an networking opportunity within my field of interest (consulting). However, since presumably networking principles stay constant between fields, I was hoping you could help.
I was able to secure a call through a recommendation, but I got sidetracked and started talking about a business idea I’ve been seriously looking into, instead of making the person like me; i.e. I fucked up the networking call to my best knowledge.
Is there anything I can do repair the relationship (at least to the extent where my impression won’t burn me?) Am I being overly dramatic?
He won’t know who you are in 6 months.
Simply send a thank you a week later and move on if you don’t get a response.
Thank you. However, the next cycle of interviews is within 2 months – same advice/comments?
No. We do not work in consulting therefore don’t know anything about the space. We also do not recommend it as a career unless you’re going to a top 3 firm (BCG, bain, McKinsey) and plann on leaving in 2-3 years for wall st, sales or the valley.
Good luck.
[not necessary to read]Im a 16 year old highschool sophomore. Before this year started I had to do summer school to pass the 9th grade with a 2.0. IM about to reach the end of my 1st semester of this year. I had a 2.0 the first quarter due to shear laziness. Got arrested for 2 times for domestic disputes.(my dad was also an alchoholic who commited suicide when I was 7,l. My mom cant beat the shit out of me,and I’d have no qaulms for having my stepdad arrested if he left a mark. My mom just felt hopeless,because it was the only think she could think of to teach me a lesson,and she was angry about me not trying in school)
fast forward and this 1st semester is about to end. Reading your blog has inspired me to pursue a career in wallstreet finance which actually gives me a reason to do my school work,pay attention,etc(could always go harder than the rest in the weight room or on the lacrosse field because I motivated myself properly just needed a good reason to kick ass in the classroom).
Writing to take a short break from finishing all the science work I neglected to do before to make sure my efforts will not be fruitless.[not necessary to read]
Im a 16 year old highschool sophomore.
This semester is going be lucky with a 2.5(depending on latepoints for all the missing stuff im doing now) My current transcript is a low 2. Producing 4.0’s for the rest of highschool isn’t going to fix my gpa above 3.5.
Does it look like my chances of getting into a target school are severly hurt by this?
Yes it will be hurt a lot by all of that.
Solution: get a 4.0… At a community college while you’re in high school. Take summer classes at a community college. Get a near perfect standardized test score.
Unless you can get a scholarship for your sport, treat it as a hobby.
Good luck! It can be done.
“Banks are urging some of their largest customers in the U.S. to take their cash elsewhere or be slapped with fees, citing new regulations that make it onerous for them to hold certain deposits.” I just read this today on yahoo finance. What do you think should be done now ? Where should people stash their small amount of cash, 10k or less?
Nothing it is irrelevant
In starting a small PE firm, likely a “fundless sponsor” i.e. savings + equity from limited partners on a deal-by-deal basis… what skills do you think would be most important for the founding team, including myself?
For ex: financial modelling, management/operations experience, sales skills, etc.
What is your role?
If your job is to raise money to invest by cold calling the best skill is sales.
If you have enough money and you need to see if the transaction will generate the appropriate IRR then modeling/intense research are the important skills.
Why are you guys against procreation? I agree about being against marriage in the usa but if you guys had a kid that kid would become successful very quickly because of your knowledge and experience. I want to know all your reasons against that.
If you want kids go for it. Just realize what you’re signing up for. Having kids isn’t for everyone, similarly, some people want them. Just don’t be a neglectful parent or worse, a parent who didn’t even have the financial resources to help them succeed.
what is the best way to stop a bad habit, ie – going out and spending money on getting hammered with friends Friday/Saturday. The cycle seems to start on Friday end Sunday, same friends reach back out to each other end of the next week and it happens again.
Instead of doing this after a long work week, what are motivations/things you may recommend a 22-25 year old do on weekend nights/days (days are easier).
For that specific habit the answer is easy. You need to find something better to do in that time frame.
If you are 25 it sounds like you’re being dragged into mediocrity by partying on the weekends. 9/10 times this means you have a low income. So you need a weekend business asap. If you have a high income at that age (250K+) then it’s not a big deal keep partying since you’re on the right track anyway.
What do you recommend the best way to become “uninhibited” is, or socially ‘unstifled’?
Feeling comfortable to be yourself/say what you want to anyone in any situation with no tension/insecurity/anxiety.
Search bar – no one cares about you
In short, you are inhibited because you care about he opinion of the masses. You shouldn’t.
The only way to be 100% free is when you are financially independent then you don’t even care what people think at work.
Hi… I scheduled a meeting with someone I found online as they seemed driven and serious about building a company of some sort… we will meet this weekend. However I managed to discover their Facebook page and… let’s say I’m disappointed. The guy isn’t someone I want to start a company with.
What do you in this position? Shall I just go, talk for 30 mins, smile and then cease contact?
Political correctness 101.
If there is no way either of you will be able to add value to each other’s lives cancel immediately.
This would be like going on a date with a fat girl. Cancel.
Hey WPB,
I’m currently a freshman at a state university. I’ll be graduating in just three years rather than the normal four years as a triple major (mathematics, economics, and statistics). Should I attempt to gain entry into a top 20 graduate school for an MBA or some other masters, or not go at all? I’d have a year on everyone else in the program (and if we’re being honest, time is everything).
An mba is useless without work experience. So no, don’t go. Go into sales, wall street or the valley.
If all you have is a piece of paper after finishing school and zero internships/work experience you likely have to go into sales.
Network marketing is the hottest thing now. Robert kyosaki promote s it as the best business to get involved in because it has thee lowest overhead. some gurus say is the best route to getting rich . Everywhere I turn I see people doing it and buying expensive clothes and cars from it. Success magazine talks about it a lot. They call it residual income or passive income. What are your thoughts and suggestions on it?
You asked this twice already, strike one. It is a scam. The only person who wins is the owner of the MLM
So what actually are the best sales jobs? How do you go about finding the real good ones? There is no wallstreetoasis for sales careers. reddit.com/r/sales and other sales forums are guys asking how to break six figures.
Ones I know about:
A- Investor relations for asset management /buy-side sales is good if you come from wealthy family background or were a pro athlete.
B- Enterprise software sales in silicon valley typically pays $200k with only a year or two of experience. The top guys get $400k routinely, and you hear some people in some years hitting $1M.
C- Sell side IB obviously
D- Insurance sales. Like insuring corporate land e.g. airports. Good because you have a book of business that you can take away from your company and move to a rival. so they have to pay well.
E- Work your way up to partner in legal / consulting firm and bring in business for a million a year. But you advise against this as it takes 8-10 years before you even start the sales bit.
Aside from sell-side finance, which are the best sales jobs? What is the best framework to go about finding where the top oil&gas/tech sales & business development jobs are? Should you see a mentor and great package in a SaaS company or a brand name company when starting out? Its not your field, but any insight would be much appreciated…
Thanks!
1) you answered your own question
2) we don’t have specific expertise beyond Wall Street
You already have it down. Go find a hot insdutry with a major corporation and go into the B2B sales piece. Enterprise level sales.
Option B is great and option D is great as well if you don’t want to work on the street.
Not sure how to help since one, it is not the expertise here and two you already did a great job answering your own question.
Oil & Gas Sales is pretty hot last I heard from someone who is in it (Started with around 100k+commission. Though he had a petroleum engineering degree and knew what the hell he was talking about.
I’m graduating in 2015 with a signed offer at MBB. Few questions:
1. What’s the best exit option for maximizing earnings potential? I have non-engineering tech experience and a CS degree.
2. How do I make the most of my years at consulting, from your knowledge?
3. I have the option to back out of MBB to join a tech company (recent multi-hundred-million funding) in a non-engineering role, with options for 50k shares. Do I?
Read the top of this page. We don’t work in consulting and all of the
remaining questions have been answered.
Not going to auto ban you but 1 strike is more than fair. Search bar: career. First hit.
How do you guys deal with loneliness and dry spells? I always had a girlfriend or fuck buddy . I went from girlfriend to girlfriend but now for the first time in my life I have a dry spell. I occupy my mind by reading financial books and working out but now that I read your posts I find out that everything I learned is bullshit and I cant work out 24 hours a day. I just came out a 5 year relationship with a concubine and got screwed. In the sense that I wasted 5 years of my youth with a feminist. Thanks to you guys I realized how valuable time is and to never do that again. Im confused and would love some suggestions because unlike other blogs you guys tell the truth.
None of those are real problems at all. You already know the answer.
If you want to get laid go and approach women. Take notes of your errors and adjust your game.
If you are lonely, go make new friends by chatting with new people very day.
As always the answer is work at it.
Hi WSP
In a lot of your tweets / articles you write about pursuing only the three high paying careers (Sales, Wall Street or Silicon Valley) or start a business. I summarized your posts / tweets and I was wondering what you guys think about this small guide for the business part (More aimed at college students):
Two main focus points:
Become good:
Don’t start a business before you’re actually good at it. Nobody wants a sloppy product / service and it would be a waste of time for both persons. This process will always take time, but the sooner you start the sooner you’ll get there.
What to do: Get a job in the sector (After all you need money to survive)
Keep learning (The one who doesn’t adapt fails)
Start networking (Work for people better than you to learn)
Start your business:
When you’re at the same level as the top players (or even better) you can start your business. I’m not really going to explain the whole process of starting a business here (brand, image, target audience, …) but I think you guys know what I mean.
Thanks for reading this.
PS: If you guys really did an article about it: My apologies and I won’t have any problem with a strike.
Solid summary!
Hey
Recently started reading your blog and I would like to ask a question.
Paper or digital Journal?
Digital. We added your question to our post on journals.
http://wallstreetplayboys.com/why-and-how-to-keep-a-journal/
Was reading an old post of yours and saw the “defeated MD” comment by one of you guys. “Seems to have incredible people skills but never made an adjustment to learn game.”.
How is this possible, and how can one who “seems” to have great people skills make said adjustment?
“Rich people don’t pay a cent for coffee. Caffeine for thought.” What do they spend on then?
“Rich people don’t pay a cent for coffee. Caffeine for thought.” Explain…
I’m not WSP but it’s simple:
“Rich people don’t pay a cent for coffee” => They don’t pay for the caffeine (the thing that wakes you up), but they pay for the person they want to bond with: One coffee can provide one business opportunity. Think about it: You pay 8 dollars, but maybe get an opportunity that will give you 10000 in return.
Most people just pay coffee because they they’re bored (Do you really think anyone does something in that coffee shop?). If most people do this, you know the rule: Don’t do it!
Pretty much. Rich people spend money to make money or spend money on their own personal endeavors.
Rich people are an eclectic bunch, can be a party animal with booze and drug problems or they can be down to earth and not do much.
Think the difference between Warren buffet and Dan Bilzerian
The richer you are the less you pay for. Other people pay you to even bother showing up.
No they also do not pay for flights, accommodation or food. Usually covered as well for “free” since their time is so valuable that is the bare minimum to even get them to show up.
Need to pick a desk for my analyst stint. Do i just go with the best performer and suck up the shit hours?
and not choose a team i believe myself to be ‘interested’ in?
Strike one. Already covered numerous times, go to the one that has the highest historical promotion rate.
If you cannot find one then yes you go for the more prestigious one.
1) promotion
2) very distant second – prestige
thanks
Would you guys consider doing another post on book recommendations for 2015? Books for finance, self-improvement, and leisure? Your opinions are like gold to me.
No, that is all you need. Get to work after that.
To be blunt. Figure it out yourself. It is quite obvious.
I find I’m most happy moving towards a difficult goal. I had a huge fire under my ass when I was networking and grinding to get an IB offer. Got that offer and now that I’m working 70-100+ hour weeks, I feel myself getting bored/unhappy staying still.
While working that long, in a great job, what is the mindset in terms of what you’re moving towards. Obviously I know i want to get the associate promote, or move to PE/HF, but during the day to day?
I keep myself pushing forward with the gym, and reading books. I guess the bottom line is how do you stay motivated/high energy in my position, when its hard to pursue any other goals?
We cannot answer this. Go try new things, learn about new topics, send PDF’s of books to yourself to read during “face time” hours.
If you are not motivated, that is a personal problem.
People who are not motivated cannot be taught. Motivation is a personality not a feeling.
What are your thoughts with this vegan movement? Eating dairy ,meat and fish is unhealthy and not necessary to build muscle…these vegans claim that we can get all our protein from plants..what are your thoughts? do you follow this eating style personally since you guys always advoce juicing, fruits and vegetables?
Already covered in diet, strike one.
Our opinion on diet is already up and won’t change, search function diet.
Hey guys,
I just got linked to your (your guys’?) blog after stumbling onto Danger and Play. It’s very eye opening stuff and I’m still reading though your posts. I’m hoping that you can spare a minute to give me some real talk on my situation.
For a bit of background (I apologize if this is long-winded), I’m a sophomore at a target school. I was originally planning on studying mathematics and going graduate track but I’ve burned out quite hard largely due to the difficulty and prestige of my school’s mathematics department and the mediocrity of my public high school’s mathematics program. Unfortunately, I got an F in a higher level theoretical mathematics class that brought my GPA down to slightly over a 3.0 this semester.
I felt the lack of motivation in my mathematics studies last semester (you study math because of love not the non-existent $$$ after all), so I started hedging my bets. I’ve become an officer in some business related organizations on campus and participated (and won finalist) in some competitions hosted by BBs and other name brand finance firms (i.e. Blackrock).
I’m set on pursuing an economics degree now and breaking into finance rather than math academia. I’ve made some plans to help me bounce back from this terrible semester but I wanted a sanity check on my plans from a neutral party.
1) I’m only 4 classes away from a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics. Should I tough it out and go for the Economics-Math double major (preferably shoving the remaining math classes till senior year when the job offers will already have been given out)?
2) I’m planning on participating in fraternity rush (my school does spring only) for the networking and social benefits (Greek life is huge here). Is this a good idea or should I not and go all in on fixing my GPA? It’s also something I wanted to do but got buried freshman year under my studies.
3) As a sophomore with a mediocre GPA who doesn’t fit any diversity criteria, what sort of finance internships (or things that pass for finance experience) could I realistically hope to get and how should I go about getting them? (As an addendum, I live in DC, so DC area opportunities are good too).
Thank you in advance for any input.
This blog is growing too fast.
2-3 sentences max or we won’t answer. Sorry it is a waste of time to read a 4 paragraph essay, a question is a question not a life story.
Is it possible to start a hedge fund (for one industry?)
Assuming you have deep sector knowledge and knew people with money. Is this something you can do without any direct finance experience?
If people give you money, yes. You can do whatever you want.
Sorry for making a super long post last time.I’ll try again.
I’m a sophomore math major at a target school and my GPA is slightly above a 3.0 due to an F in a math class this semester. Am I fucked and what should I do?
The schools I attended both had grade replacement programs for 2-3 classes. See if you can retake the class and get the grade replaced (You’ll probably have to anyways).
Listen to F.
4 weeks into my M&A gig and I can already see the top bucket slipping away. People like me but my Powerpoint game just isn’t good enough. I’m either too slow (I tend to check my work 3 or 4 times which is probably overkill) or if there’s a tight deadline I’ll get it done but there will be one or two mistakes e.g. a double space, formatting error,typo etc. – people do not like this. As a result I am ending up staying until 5am checking work again and again while the other, more efficient analysts are leaving earlier and feeling fresher, working more effectively as a result.
Any tips on how to become more efficient/do better work? I refuse to be an IB washout.
You need to relax. If your only errors in 4 weeks are formatting you are fine.
In a rare case you are working TOO hard, you are not working efficiently. You need to let your brain relax, when you do work put 100% effort in not 75%.
Two checks only.
1) highlighter, go through every change you were asked to make, prevents any error
2) check 2 you go through and look for meaningless things like spaces and formatting
Finally
3) always use/go through company macros and never build your own sheet of there is a template
Good luck, if you stress yourself out like this, you are going to burn out. Everyone makes formatting mistakes in their first few weeks. Relax.
For someone who broke his way into IB from a nontarget, but has never seriously followed the markets, or invested himself. What is the best way to seriously get up to speed on these things/skillsets in order to set myself up for a HF interview eventually?
I have strong confidence I’ll be able to grind into an interview, but I need to build these skillsets.
Thanks!
Start investing yourself.
I’ve been following this blog for awhile, and I consider the lessons I learned here more valuable than everything I’ve learned throughout my years in college. Whoever writes these articles, you are pretty much distributing success (like it’s a normal good) to those who are aspiring to become successful and those who might have been facing a plateau in their career. I genuinely appreciate you guys’ hard work and time spent on sharing such insightful messages.
I would love to be in contact with any one of the contributors and just absorb as much as I can. I’m only a senior in college but I want to learn how to learn and thrive even during the worst times. If you could please reach out to me, my e-mail is
Thank you for all the valuable lessons and hope you all have a happy holiday season 🙂
Just follow along, as you know we NEVER trade time for money. So that would not happen, thank you for reading though !!!
You said that you need 4 types of income minimum in the last post. Can you elaborate?
Not much to elaborate on it is simply an opinion. Do not rely solely on one source or even two sources of income. If it goes to zero, you’re done.
I’m 16. I have low to mid six figures as a result of an internet business I run. Best way to invest? Best people to seek advice from? Thanks!
You’re doing great! Keep investing in your biz otherwise, if you can’t think of anything else, but etfs. Voo.
How did you increase/maximize your mental toughness?
Everyone quits at some point going all out in the weight room, staying up 48+ hrs looking for/ following up with leads, 100+ rejections with women etc.
I eventually always hit a plateau whether it’s 365 on the squat, 3 deals a month or 2 girl rotation
You shouldn’t plateau. If you’re at your “typical max” for all the categories you care about, focus on one of them for 6-9months. All your extra time should be dedicated to breaking that plateau. It’ll happen.
That’s how you increase your toughness. Raise the bar.
So, I’m studying psychology in Brazil, and I’ll graduate in a few years, my plan was to leave this place and go elsewhere with lower taxes and more opportunities, the thing is, I don’t think my diploma will be worth anything,
What should I do?
Strike one.
Search function career.
In a old post you mentioned that you guys don’t visit movie theaters. If you do it’s rare. Any reasons? People always say don’t watch tv or get rid of it because it’s all about brain washing. What do you think of people who watch it for educational purposes such as documentaries,etc?
You answered your own questions. Movies, even documentaries all have a slant as well.
Hell, even the movie on Jordan Belfort (wolf of Wall Street) was a hilarious depiction of how it actually works. Completely unrelated at this time. Nothing educational about it at all.
Based on your comment alone we can tell you your New Years resolution. Zero TV and Zero movies for a full year. Once you do that, you can watch 1-5 per year. Most of the ones we watch are on flights out of boredom if a book is finished and we don’t feel like blogging.
Thank you for the suggestion. However if I’m not working, working out, reading or sleeping , what else can I do in the spare time?
You are not taking your business seriously if you have that much spare time to watch TV/movies.
Keep up the great work boys, appreciate the effort. Usually the flights back are used to catch up on sleep. Quick questions:
1) Been pitched by VPs/Principals to stay with banking instead of recruit for buyside, their main arguments being: “Income is more stable with sell-side/income over the lifespan of a typical sell-side banker vs typical buyside investor is approx the same.” How true is their statement? Obvious conflict of interest
2) What’s the difference between recruiting for HFs as a first-year analyst vs second/third-year analyst? Perception/Additional expectations?
1) the median sell side person will out earn the median buyside person. So their pitch is legitimate. That said if you are *good* then the buyside far exceeds the sell side.
2) Not much. You are simply expected to know more, be faster, be a better communicator. You should personally know the difference between a year 1 and year 3 analyst or a year 1 and year 3 associate. It shows in their work/knowledge. If you don’t know the difference or don’t see the difference something is seriously wrong with that person/group.
Pay would be slightly higher just like an analyst/associate moving up the ladder.
how can i find your 2012 post/articles?
We will add an archives later. For now simply stick with the search function.
Also a lot of the 2012 articles sucked.
Is retaking a few courses to up your gpa and knowledge a good idea or a useless idea. (This can potentially jump me from 3.6 to over 3.7)
Also to add when a course will be retaken, it wont replace the course, but rather both will be used for calculating average
Waste of time. Get more finance work experience. Anything above 3.5+ is fine.
Added to FAQ.
In case I do, would it be looked badly upon or just ignored?
It will be ignored. If anything a slight negative if you waste your summer taking redundant courses.
Don’t bother.
Get work experience or learn about the industry.
Reading between the lines, the abundance mindset seems to be a crucial aspect with regards to life/game/finance. How do you prevent complacency resulting from an abundant mindset? Fine line between the two. Thanks
Sounds like a question for D&P not us.
What is your take on graduating a year early from high school and going to McGill? The alternative is waiting the extra year and applying to Wharton or Cornell and maybe getting in. If that doesn’t work I’ll still end up at McGill and would have wasted a year. Just a little background dual citizen of US and Canada who wants to do IB in NYC, with stellar grades.
Thanks for the input,
Happy New Year
We don’t know what McGill is. Both of those schools in the USA would be perfectly fine.
Probably best to reach out to someone in Canada.
I’m in shape and always dressed to kill. Everyday I strive to become better than the previous by doing everything that you guys write about on this blog. This has created a problem. Where ever I’m around females I attract them. Where ever there are males especially at work I’m looked as a threat because I stand out. I’m hated on. Because of this I tend have a hard time making guy friends. They hate on me so I just keep my distance and hang out with only females who I like or trying to sleep with. Women always touching me and saying wow you must work out a lot or complement how I dress.This happens in front of other men and they get pissed or give me mean looks. I work for an institution where 70 percent of the employees are professional females. This also happens where ever I go. Any suggestions on what to do on this situation? Thank you.
Don’t see any problems here.
Keep doing what you’re doing and if you’re around someone who can actually help you financially, then dress down and big him up relative to you to increase your income.
You shouldn’t care about the opinions of mediocre people.
I was just reading the article about developing unbreakable self confidence and I just wanted to thank you for writing something that has changed my life. The entire article was relatable right down to the breaking in from a non-target.
I don’t know if you meant it literally or how I’ve interpreted it about the part where you talked about getting into a “fight in the club” and “taking that speed up too high and hurt yourself coming down” on the ski trip
But recently I broke up with my girlfriend after a fight at a club and I’ve had a terrible life changing comedown after doing some drugs and won’t touch them again for a long time/if ever. And both of these things have hurt me so much.
It helps to know that it’s not only me going through these things though. Thank you – the article meant a lot.
Awesome! Glad you liked it. In a few years you’ll look back and laugh about this experience.
What’s your opinion on taking a semester/year off if things get rough during college (health, family issues, etc)?
Or theres a possible better opportunity to chase down (startup, etc)?
Strike one we have covered the start up question already on the blog and you wold have uncovered this with 3 minutes of research. It is a waste of time unless you have valuable skills that the start up needs. Why? You won’t get much equity which is the only reason to join a start up = Event driven equity exit.
Your first question is too vague so we can’t answer. Type your actual question and we’ll answer. In general, taking a semester or year off for no reason is simply foolish. No one will feel sorry for you if that’s what you’re asking. Life is much harder than your family going through a divorce or something equivalent to that.
To be clear, the second paragraph is not “mean” it is meant to give you a look into reality (ie: how life works). Everyone believes their life is harder than the person they are talking to. Anything short of you being hospitalized to cause a drop in grades and you will get minimal slack from competitive fields.
If one’s goal is to start a small PE firm around the age of 21-25 by making super-small acquisitions and working one’s way up the ladder in terms of progressively making bigger deals as funds allow (starting with savings/bank debt), do you think startup/sales/management experience will be more useful than doing two years in IB or similar?
If you have enough money to start an actual private equity firm it is ob zero use to go and become an investment banking analyst.
If you do not understand why, it means you do not understand any of the job functions or how the industry works. We suggest you do research as all of that information is here on the blog.
We’re in a great mood so to save you time…
IB Analyst = Excel and powerpoint and word all day long
Associate = See above + checking the work + starting to communicate with clients from time to time
VP = Checking work (usually not at this point) + building real relationships to generate revenue
Director = Generate revenue
MD = Generates more revenue…
If you had a son that was 18 years old. What would you tell him that would aid him in his journey to rise to the top?
From a young man who wants to take advantage of his time and be further miles ahead of the competition.
At that age the answer is “try a whole ton of things”. You have to find out what you are good at.
While this is a great question it is far too complicated to answer in a comment.
You should absolutely get stellar grades and perfect scores because you want to hedge your bets if your business ideas don’t pan out. The answer is to use your best leverage point. Which is your energy.
Any advice for an analyst with no buffer between him and an MD at times aka, no associate or VP?
Easy. Try to take on more responsibility so he is interested in promoting you.
Remember in one of your prior articles, the answer to my question was day-gaming/online dating for current first year analysts in M&A. However, recent tweet mentioned online dating = batting below potential. Reading between the lines, sacrificing “dating”//hitting below consensus to build foundational blocks of life? Or am I interpreting this wrong?
If you are an analyst and work 90 hours a week. Just use online ***temporarily*** so you save time.
As soon as you get promoted you should never online date again.
For someone traveling a lot/in the office a lot, any recommendations for in hotel room/apartment workouts?
Looking for something rigorous and doable, and be doable I mean possible in a small space.
I searched the blog and only came across travel diet tips, and overall workout posts – which are awesome by the way. You also said in a previous answer: “working out in a hotel is tough if all you have is a few dumbbells and pull-up machines.”
That being said, and you only have your hotel room what would you do?
The best advice possible is to set up your work schedule to have a “sprints” day during the travelling time period.
If you can’t do that and have no free weights then you’re forced to do pullups and push-ups and go for a short run. No big deal.
hey, C J again. Again I’m 16 and currently run an online biz, getting time to start thinking about college. I can only see myself working online/running my own business in the future and I would have no interest in a typical job, what would you recommend I do about college? Should I bite the bullet and go for a 4 year degree? Basic 2 year degree from a community college? Save the money and not go at all? Love your posts, they resonate with all my personal beliefs so I would really value your opinion on this. I get offers constantly to ditch my business (hand it back to my partner) and work for a different online firm, so I have job opportunities should shit hit the fan and my biz crashes.
If you have detailed advice you would like to share and not put in the comment section for some reason, I put my personal email in the email box here. I would greatly appreciate any advice you can give me.
Thank you.
We have answered all of these already.
Search bar career, search bar college
Strike 1 (or 2?)
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