Wall Street Oasis

In this episode, Brian shares his path from undergrad in the US to working straight for a new venture capital fund in Tokyo.  Learn why he turned down his return offer in investment banking after his junior year summer at Jefferies and what the biggest challenges were as a junior employee in a sink-or-swim role.   

In this episode, MidwestMonkey2 shares his story coming out of a large non-target state school.  Learn how he still managed to land incredible internships at front office investment banking roles in both his sophomore and junior year as well as why he turned down his full-time offer from one of them to jump straight to the buyside.  I think this episode really highlights the power of saying no and waiting for the right opportunity.

In part 2 of this 2 part chat with Paul, we cover his days working at McKinsey and how he managed to make the difficult transition into private equity as a consultant.  We talk all about the private equity recruiting process, imposter syndrome, meditation and how he was able to find balance.  In this part 2, Paul has some really great foundational advice for young motivated go-getters, so make sure you stay until the end.

In part 1 of this 2 part chat with Paul, we cover his days as an undergraduate at a non-target school in the midwest.  We find out how he managed to break into an investment banking internship at Morgan Stanley and why he pivoted to consulting after a health scare.  We learn how he was able to successfully recruit at both a top investment bank AND a top consulting firms in back to back years.  In this part 1, we step back to really evaluate his internships and recruiting out of undergrad to find out what really opened the most doors for him.  

In this episode, Jeffrey shares his eclectic path from two non-target schools, shifting to night classes so he could earn money in real estate his junior year and how he ended up at several Boiler Rooms.  He also covers his eventual pivot to break into Morgan Stanley and why that didn't end up being a long term stay, how he added value at HSBC and his rough transition out of a family office that was dabbling in venture capital.  Learn how he made each transition and advice he would give to his younger self.  

In this episode, Julie shares her winding path from studying Biomedical Ethics at Cornell to getting her MBA at Columbia, to joining McKinsey as a health specialist to her stint in investment banking at Lazard as an associate.  Listen to hear about her triumphs and struggles as she navigated a move to London to join the venture arm of a large biopharma company to her move back to the states five years later, all while starting a family.   

In this episode, Brian shares his winding path from a non-target school into an accounting role right after the financial crisis.  First, he explains how he was able to pivot into RBC for a middle office accounting position.  From there, we learn how he was aggressive in trying to get to the front office, the challenges he faced once he got there and the subsequent jump to private equity at HIG Capital.  Listen to hear why after years of struggling to get to the top of the mountain in finance he left to go start his company called LCS, a high-end maker of cool custom laces with NBA and MLB licenses.    Check them out at YourLCS.com.

In this episode, learn how @mstrat spent three years in a large consulting firm before making the jump to a middle-market private equity firm.  Learn about the recruiting process for consulting out of undergrad, how he leveraged two internship offers to get into the city and group he wanted, how to position yourself for private equity recruiting coming from a consulting background and what resources he used to land the offer (hint, you might have heard of it before...)

In this episode, an old high school classmate of mine, Peter Christodoulo shares his winding path and how he ended up as a Partner at a private equity megafund, Francisco Partners in SF.  We hear about what happened to the tech startup he launched during undergrad at Harvard, his analyst days in investment banking at Credit Suisse, his jump to private equity at TH Lee and finally, his lateral move to the small London office at Francisco Partners during the great financial crisis.  Listen to hear his views on where the private equity market is headed, the trend toward hiring from non-traditional channels as well as the differences across the PE market in London compared to San Francisco.  Stay to the end to hear his advice on how to help differentiate yourself in a competitive recruiting process.

In this episode, Justin shares his impressive path with us.  We cover how he was able to break into Goldman Sachs on the high yield trading desk directly out of a non-target university,  what his internships were like, how he was able to build relationships and what has changed now that he has moved to the buyside at Oaktree.  Listen to hear how his work ethic, interpersonal skills and attitude made all of the difference. 

In this episode, Joshua shares his path from Princeton to investment banking at Credit Suisse.  Learn why it wasn't a great fit for him, his surprising transition out, the risks and benefits of not having a clear direction and how he landed at an exciting small business experiencing rapid growth.  I really enjoyed this chat because there was a lot of honest reflection about burnout, private equity recruiting,  trying to find your way and the importance of exploration and faith in your abilities to find interesting opportunities - many which you'd never know about unless you were actively looking.  

In this episode, Douglas Rogers shares his long and winding path after graduating from Cornell in 1996.  We learn about his stint as a broker-dealer, his time as an associate portfolio manager for ultra-high net worth individuals, as well as what happened when he founded his own advisory firm only a few years out of school.  Listen to hear where there were pitfalls, the lessons he learned and why after several stints at senior positions at boutique IBs ...he has decided to become CEO again with the launch of Semi Cap Equity Partners. 

In this episode, Kevin shares with us his path from a top consulting firm in Germany to helping run a startup accelerator in Shanghai.  Learn why he made the jump to China, the differences in the venture capital and startup space in China compared to the US, what his plans are for the future and the realities now with Covid-19 in Shanghai.   Management Consulting Insights - Youtube Kevin Jon Linkedin

In this episode, @imsurance shares what he did during his senior year when he realized his dream of going to medical school wasn't going to happen.  We learn how he graduated from Emory and went straight to a back-office role at a large financial services firm, but kept focused on his ultimate goal of breaking into investment banking.  As part of this path, he was able to successfully transition to the middle office of a top bulge bracket investment bank and eventually break into Booth for his MBA.  Listen to the end for some wise advice.  

In this episode, Steph shares his very unusual path into venture capital.  We learn how his lack of a traditional background both helped and hurt him repeatedly throughout his career.  Listen to find out why he thinks he was successful and why when you drop out of VC it's so hard to get back in.  Learn one piece of critical advice he'd give his younger self and his future plans. 

In this episode, Jason Scott, former managing director at Deutsche on the derivatives sales desk talks with me about his 20+ years in finance.  With stints at Barclays and Credit Suisse, Jason has an interesting perspective, especially since he also worked in a variety of locations including in London, Singapore and Hong Kong.  We learn what it was like on Black Monday back in 1987 as a trader on the floor, the transition from trader to sales as well as how he thought about each successive jump in his career.  Listen as he gives one piece of critical career advice near the end.

In this episode, Jeff Sands, a veteran of corporate turnarounds shares his winding path.  Learn why a graduate from the south moved to Alaska for 10 years, why he got his MBA, how he transitioned to his family business and what he did when they were wiped out.  This is a very interesting episode, especially in light of how Covid 19 is rocking financial markets and economies around the world.  Check out his timely book: https://www.amazon.com/Corporate-Turnaround-Artistry-Business-Days/dp/1119539986#customerReviews

In this episode, I'm joined by Carter Malloy, CEO & Founder of Acretrader.com, a site where you can easily invest in farmland.  Prior to breaking out on his own, Carter spent five years at a long-short hedge fund and over seven years in equity research at Stephens before that.  Learn what he liked most about equity research and investing as well as why he eventually decided to start his own company.  

In this episode, @LondonMentor shares his journey from going to a non-target in Italy to breaking into consulting where he worked for over 3 years.  Listen how he eventually decided to take on a lot of debt to go to a top MBA program and make a successful transition to investment banking in London at a top bank.  Make sure you don't miss how much he had to pay in penalties to his consulting firm for not going back and why it was still an easy choice for him.  A really fun chat, hope you enjoy it!

In this episode, John LeFevre, author of Straight to Hell and popular twitter handle @GS Elevator joins the WSO pod to discuss his volatile career path.  We learn about what initially drew him to Wall Street, why he left after a decade and what he's up to now with a variety of startups.  I think John's path is a great reminder of some of the dangers young finance professionals face.  The temptations, the drugs and the potential erosion of character in the chase for money is still something that is very much alive.  Check out his latest entrepreneurial endeavors including thewhim.com which is a collection of interesting content around lifestyle, finance and travel and brummelco.com, a fashion startup he launched a few years ago.