Blogging is great. Anyone who has succeeded in the life should start a blog as a simple way of paying information back (to those that will listen of course!), yet blogging does have its downsides. Lets take a look at them.
1) Repeat Questions: This has to be the most annoying one. For anyone with Wall Street experience, you know that asking the same question twice is the fastest way to guarantee you will be at the bottom of the ranking pool. You will be bottom bucket, 4th quartile, faster than Usain Bolt can run a 100 meter dash. Yet. It still occurs.
The most common ones we get are listed here, and they generally revolve around the same topics:
How to *beat the market*. If you’re not a multi-millionaire the chances of you being smart enough to outdo professionals is pretty much zero percent. If you’re a multi-millionaire, you likely started a business, therefore you know the actual products and industry inside out and *may* have an extremely slight edge. Everyone else trading for money is going to get emotional about meaningless 10% declines in the market.
Dollar cost, work you a** off and create multiple passive income streams. You will be significantly better off having 3-5 streams of income, than you will spending any time generating 5% extra returns on a meaningless 6 figure portfolio.
Blueprint to Getting Girls: There is no blueprint and people who sell you on line for line, rhyme for rhyme words that will get you laid… are wasting your time. The people who request these types of posts have not even tried to get laid.
This is not mean at all. It is simply the truth.
If they were to go out and approach 100 women (less than a month of effort if someone cares to do so) then they would find their own specific sticking points. If you do your best to look sharp, be in a positive mood and approach… You’ll likely get laid. In rare instances, people with severe social skill issues, you may go zero for 100.
But even then? You will have specific issues, see sticking points, where the pick up falls apart.
If a person asks you for a blueprint tell him to go approach women. If he comes back with specific parts in the interaction where he falls flat on his face… He actually tried and you can now help him. Until then, don’t bother.
2) People Don’t Like the Truth: Once the rubber meets the road and your friends from college who wasted 4 years of their life chasing girls start to fall off the radar, you’ll learn that they don’t like to hear the truth. They would rather read feel good information about how they can “make it too” than recognize they made terrible decisions that will take at least a decade to overcome. Instead of learning harsh truths they would rather be entertained. Unfortunately this will continue to get worse as you age, maybe 1/10 of your buddies will turn it around, the rest will become jealous of you and expect you to give them a handout because you are their “friend”.
What does this have to do with blogging? In short, if you tell people the truth via a blog, they will get angry at you because they see their own mistakes in the writing. If what you’re writing was truthful, you should anticipate some serious venom.
3) Emails: As your blog grows you’re going to receive a lot more email. First it starts with 1-5 emails a week and you’re excited to see you have some fan mail. Then… It grows to 10-15 per week. Still manageable but you’re getting lower quality emails from people demanding you help them… as if your time is free and grows on trees. Finally, you start to get into the 10 per day range and begin ignoring large amounts of emails – 1) you don’t want to use your time to respond to them and 2) most of them offer no compelling reason to read them.
The worst part of this email trend is you likely miss out on some good ones, but that’s the name of the game if you have no serious intention of becoming a full time blogger.
We have a solution for this but it’s not going to be put into action until 2015.
4) Traffic Flows: Traffic flow is practically impossible to control. One day you can be at your regular X thousand views per day, then out of nowhere, it jumps 5-10 fold or more. This creates a problem since a casual blogger does not have time to respond to questions/comments/emails and again many of the items get dropped to the wayside.
On the flip side, if you’re a serious blogger, you should plan for ways to monetize a spike in traffic outside of simple ads that help you track page views. Think of how each post would help sell a specific product. This way, you avoid the hassle of missing lost revenue.
5) You Can’t Help Everyone: Even if you’re having a good time helping people improve their lives, you have no way of helping everyone. You’re going to get busy, you’re not going to prioritize them and a potential success story will slip through the cracks. It’s simply how it works.
The best way to combat this is to have an allocated number of people you will allow yourself to exchange emails with and work with privately. Our number is a maximum of ten people. It is a low number because 1) we would rather help someone to the fullest than give 50% effort and 2) the number of people that are significantly underperforming relative to their abilities is low.
6) It’s a 7 Day Per Week Process: As soon as you start gaining traction, you’re going to get emails/requests on the weekend. While you can avoid tweeting and posting on Facebook during the weekend, you certainly cannot do anything about people searching the internet for the truth.
In addition, if you blog is new and *different* then people are more likely going to read it at home versus at work. They are afraid of being caught reading obscure websites at work because… you know… Human Resources.
7) 80/20 Rule: At the end of the day, you’re going to primarily speak to 20% of your readers. Just like everything else in life, where all good things flow to a small subsection of people, your writing will only reach about 20% of the readerbase.
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With the bad out of the way, there are a lot of reasons we’re continuing to blog.
1) Friends: We’ve made a few friends through blogging and have also helped connect people who would have a mutually beneficial relationship by meeting. Win win.
2) Improved Writing: To say that the writing in the past was poor is an understatement. Writing for a blog is nothing like writing professionally or at the collegiate level. Completely different skill sets.
3) 100% Investment Banking Placement Rate: We thought we were going to have our first miss but the candidate eventually came through. We have helped a select few people with Wall street advice and a total of zero people have failed. The number of success stories is getting close to 100. Not bad. More impressed by the 100% success ratio. (no we still won’t do any sort of resume review service since we do not trade our time for money).
4) A New Hobby: This blog is still a hobby. If we wanted to increase the traffic it would likely take 2-3 months of actual effort instead of the 3 hours per week we put into the blog at this point. Oddly enough it’s still growing!
5) Learning to Sell is Harder than Learning to Buy: As you know, everything is sales. If you can learn to teach/inform via a blog it’s going to improve your salesmanship. Not in a material way, but it will certainly help.
6) Improved Quick form Typing: The grammar police will always be watching! In addition to the spelling police! Continue to free form write and you’ll find that your spelling errors will naturally decrease. This will help your more important emails that are unrelated to your blogging hobby.
With that out of the way… Expect some Wall Street effort shortly…
This is by far my daily most-visited website. Thank you.
Glad to have you!
That said we update facebook/Twitter with new posts to make it easier to avoid constant refreshing.
Follow/like and you’ll be up to date.
Will likely have an email list in the future.
every other site bores me. Not this.
Thanks! Nice user name, best city in the world. Not even close.
This site is in the top 5 things that have changed my life. I would print this stuff out and give it to my children, if I had any
Curious to see how you guys will continue to put out content without repeating, since as you said youve addressed all the major questions
Where there is a will there is a way!
I agree and think this is one of the best sites ever. I have recommended posts to my friends, but they don’t seem to care as much as I do and does not go beyond in reading your other posts. Their lost.
For me, I do the whole Read, Practice, Observe thing you suggested. The sales post you did is still in my head and I’ve been thinking about it every single day. Everything is sales is 100% correct but the sales post went beyond just sales.
Just like how everything in life is about persuadtion and sales, I realized that all self made, honest successful people have the same mindset and core principles. Whether it’s Warren Buffett financially, or even Arnold in terms of body building, successful people all have similar attitudes towards themselves, other people and goals. This idea have changed me tremendously because I realized that before I can be a millionaire, I have to adopt and practice these core principles. There maybe shortcuts to success, but if the core principles aren’t there, I doubt I can STAY successful (for example, we all know about the dot com bubble burst or the dude who won the lottery and became broke in a few years).
Anyways this is way too long and will probably give you guys a migraine but thanks for teaching me and a lot of other 20’s people. I’ll keep reading and maybe we’ll see WINNER post a few more redundant questions.
Yep, just read our book recommendation post and there is a book called “how rich people think” that is extremely accurate.
Numbers 1 and 2 reveal to you what the majority of people are like. Most people want a panacea of sorts, something that can solve all of their ailments and provide them a lavish lifestyle with no work required. These people are lazy and undisciplined, and they aren’t willing to do what it takes to improve themselves. Unfortunately they are the norm.
They call it success for a reason, if it were easy to get there than everyone would have it. But if everyone had it then it wouldn’t really be success anymore. Success is defined by its deviation from and above the average, if that makes any sense.
Yep people will ask the same stuff over and over becuase they want an “easier answer” to the issue . There is no such thing as an easier answer.
But now you know how the get rich quick schemes sell so easily.
There is a large market for the “easier answer” because people already want to believe it
“Learn to make six figures in your pajamas at home with no skills!”
“Learn to beat the market with no skills/resources!”
“Learn to pick up the girl of your dreams in just 5 days!”
The only thing you can learn from these types of people is how they sell emotion. In reality the products are all a scam though.
Glad to see you picked up the book. It is a very interesting read.
This is a very insightful website, I don’t know of any other website with these kinds of insights, and I don’t know how I would get them from my social circle either. Even if I became friends with a wall st. guy somehow, how much will he just reflexively ‘nod and smile’ at me anyway because of my general ignorance?
Maybe you guys could cover the tech startup & VC world if you work on it. What to expect, what to avoid, how you would go about it, etc.
Maybe promotions, the political realities, become team leads / executives, etc.
We already have blog posts set up for the next 2 months. No worries my man!
If you want a website with similar insights but on tech startups and vcs then look into michaelochurchs blog. Lots of unpleasant truths. Don’t join startup in tech role btw it’s a dead end. Ignore people on quora offering career advice. Most of that is people validating their own decisions. I made mistake 2 years ago and am now 4 years behind where I should be
We spoke about startups already in a dated post.
In short everyone is running for the start up “make it rich” plan. Therefore you know the terms are getting worse and you should… Not join a start up.
Would strongly prefer a job at Google over a out of college start up job. Get the Google slot, jump to a equity based silicon valley job when you can command a meaningful slug of equity.
All our opinion though.
Its the correct opinion. Joining a startup can also make it harder to get into a bigger company later as they know you weren’t trained well and there are younger, fresher Ivy league students lining up who want less pay and are still wide eyed with optimism.
Google’s Product Manager track is legendary for basically teaching people to become mini-CEOs and preparing them for creating startups. Product Manager jobs are great IMO, wish I did one.
Also if you are doing startups move to SV. NY and London don’t come close, ignore the local media hype. Focus on density of networks and culture.
One of the best ways to start a startup is to work for a VC to learn the landscape and network heavily, and best way into VC is … a Goldman TMT investment banking analyst program. If you want to join a startup for whatever reason then look for top-tier venture capital firms funding it. Its best to look at who the Sequoias are funding and pick one that lines up with your business model (e.g. B2B SaaS). But, yeah, don’t ever actually work for a startup, start one.
And if you are a woman then your best risk-reward business model in the valley is to find a startup with Series B funding from a Top-tier VC, then flirt with them a lot and support them and get them to propose and fall in love with you. Repeat for a few more founders, keep them as plates, and when one reaches 50%+ chance of IPO ensure you are married.
Nodding head in approval, then got a good laugh at the last paragraph.
Awesome comment miked!
For venture, no this is completely wrong.
You do not need to go to work for GS TMT IBD to get into an early stage fund. I have worked for two early stage venture funds and I have friends in all the top tier funds around the world both Europe, SV and NYC. I’m currently working for a familiar tech company you all have heard of and use. I’ll say no more.
Almost all of these guys have the following:
1) Strong academics. This is non-negotiable
2) Tech experience: Worked for a startup/google/twitter/yahoo/microsoft/youtube etc and so forth
3) Finance experience: Banking, sales, trading. It doesn’t matter, anything will do as long as you have strong excel skills, demonstrate an understanding of technology etc
4) Journalism experience: Lots of founders will need media help, heck even venture funds need media help. The experience of working in the media helps significantly. Also, guess what Mike Moritz job was before Sequioa?
I am 100% with you on Google’s PM programme. It is awesome but any other technology company that is in hyper growth stage i.e Series A/B or better is worth joining as long as they are generating revenue. It is okay and worth the risk and no employer will mind if it was backed by a top tier venture fund.
In terms of startups my advice is always the following:
1. The product: You need to love and use the product. If you don’t even clear this baseline do not bother going to this startup
2. Revenue: Mobile downloads/unique views or any other vanity metric do not pay the fucking bills. Any seed/angel money will evaporate before you can blink if you’re in a non-revenue generating company. Be completely rational.
3. Team: Even if you go to a firm that fails at least go and work for a founder with a track record. If you flop with this team they’ll move to another venture and you can join or they’ll get you a referral to another company or something else.
4. Options: 2% of nothing is nothing. Don’t think you’ll make a dime of this. I had plenty of friends join Uber/Twitter/Groupon etc pre-IPO and I’ve run the calcs for them on the options. Here is the calculation:
Number of options x Strike Price = Option Value (fully vested over 4 years)
Take this number and take off capital gains tax in your country/stage. Now divide that number by four. Congratulations you’ve worked like mad for no reason and probably do not have enough money for a down payment on a home. This is usually how most people feel.
Obviously if you’re an executive you’ll be laughing all the way to the bank in an IPO/acquisition scenario. But then you wouldn’t be reading this site if you were one of those and people also win the lottery every week.
🙂
This question goes towards the experts out there – What type of money returns exit-wise do most people walk out with after joining startups? 500k? A few million? After a few years?
Do the majority of people just walk out with nothing?
I think most people out there have unrealistic expectations out there like they’re gonna win the lottery…
This one is easy, if you go straight into a start up with no real traction most leave with nothing.
It all depends on where the company is funding wise, growth wise and how much equity you get assuming the equity doesn’t go to zero like most penny stocks.
The only people who make money are usually founders/executives in a liquidity event.
However, this isn’t always the case. Many tech bankers I meet tell me founders/execs can make little money given the dilution/liquidation preferences etc. If you have an exit but it doesnt achieve a solid multiple you can really get screwed esp if your equity positions dwindles.
As I re-iterated above. If you’re joining a startup out of University such as an Uber pre-IPO just enjoy the work experience, work hard, get the brand name on your resume but after 2-3 years it will be time for you to leave. These places aren’t good for the long-term and your equity won’t be worth much even if you stay for four years and wait for it all to vest completely.
I graduated in 2008 and none of my friends who worked at Groupon/Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn for four plus years were able to put deposits on homes. These were for both sales/tech roles so that tells you quite a lot.
The real way is to join as an executive or be a founder. There is absolutely no short-cut here. If you’re going to join a startup is to 1) Like the product/use it 2) Work for a good team 3) Work for a growth firm that has revenue. I’m sure going to a startup backed by a top tier venture fund is going to help from a branding perspective but they make serious losses and write off most of their portfolio companies. It is better to go where a real business is actually being built with revenue, strong gross margins and solid cashflow situation.
No one wants to be the guy who gets laid off from a startup because it ran out of cash…
Mike – that’s an interesting perspective on the startup situation and how people do when they join already successful startups . None of my friends at Google and other startups have done that well either. Thanks for sharing.
Also, this is the most likely scenario. I will explain it below as someone who is a recent grad/mid-level hire since proper seasoned professionals who have an amazing 10-20+ year track record are unlikely to read this. Be fucking warned:
Individual A is a recent graduate or mid-level professional, either technical or non-technical and has an offer to join a top growth company. They usually will join a company such as joins [Twitter, Uber, Groupon Etc] pre-IPO or you can a public company like Google. They receive a couple thousand stock options and will be told the strike price. When they are hired it is explained to them they need to stay for four years for the shares to vest i.e 48 months. After the one year “cliff” they can actually get their hands on the stock options.
The assumption here is you will stay in this company for four years. This is at best REALLY unlikely and I’ve seen people get fired, pushed out (politics), get bored (leave for another opportunity) or any other number of scenarios.
Now what is the issue? If you leave before the four year period you have a 90 day period after the day you resign to purchase your stock options. So yes, you may get options worth $1m but if you decide to leave you cannot buy your vested stock up until that point.
If you get fired, you’ve just been screwed over hard because of the effort you’ve most likely put in and you won’t see any of the reward in a liquidity event.
However, no one ever thinks about how they can be royally screwed over over by these companies. This is very common practice and happens ALL the time in Silicon Valley startups.
If you want to make money either work for someone really high potential or start up yourself. It is okay to join one of these firms anyway and if you get fired before the four years you’ll most likely have a good brand name on your resume and will inevitably receive calls for an interview but really do not delude yourself into thinking these options are worth anything.
BEST SITE ON THE INTERNET BY FAR!!!
Keep doing what you are doing
Thanks brother
Hey guys, thanks for your always very entertaining blogging efforts, keep up the great work!
Just one comment on your generally very harsh view against attempts to beat the market:
I’m a consultant working in the competition field. I have been investing in the stock market for a significant time now and have always maintained an extremely disciplined approach that tries to avoid any sort of panic or hectic in bad markets and is very cautious in good markets. By focusing on European small caps (I live in Europa), which don’t get any serious analyst coverage, I have consistently beaten the market year over year.
Of course: it does require research and effort. But it was well worth doing so far. The power of compounding is quite strong, so averaging a significant outperformance over a certain number of years will get you at a point where your earning power from passive income streams gets quite powerful. The further you get, the more you can spread the fixed time cost of research over ever-increasing return streams. So by this point, the cost/benefit ration is actually quite good.
In short: investing in individual stocks can work out well if you have the knowledge, skills and (especially) emotional stability to do it. In that case it’s quite some effort in the beginning of your career, but over time the tides turn in your favour. My net worth today would be nowhere near where it would have been had I not invested in individual stocks.
This is not to say that it’s for everyone. Probably for the vast majority of people it’s not a good idea. But simply from a logical point of view, since passive investors as a group get an average return, also all active investors as a group must get an average return. This implies that for all the active investors out there who miserably fail at trying to beat the market, there must also be a counterpart that beats the market. So far, I have been on that second end of the table, and it has been fun and financially rewarding. So, while it may not be a good idea for most people, it can be a good idea for some people. But admittedly, those people will likely know that already. (If you’ve never done it and think “hey perhaps I can beat the market by buying some cools stocks” then most likely you’ll be the sucker at the poker table…)
In a word. Disagree.
Your competitive “advantage” is living in Europe and no sell side coverage?
That cannot be taken seriously.
Unless your book is 8 figures+ it’s not even wortha comment. Not being a dick, just the truth.
N = 1. Are you being serious? If you take enough investors and have them flip coins on their investment decisions, half of them are going to be right and succeed in year 1. Then another half of that in year two. And so on and so forth.
Survivor bias doesn’t mean you’re a good investor. The overconfidence effect makes you think you’re actually talented/smarter.
You’d also have to quantify ‘well worth doing so far’. How many hours spent in research that might have yielded above average returns for the risk of your investment against your actual return? Typically, the math says you’re better off focusing on increasing income in other ways.