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Wall Street Oasis » Forums » I-Banking Bullpen
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Life after Investment Banking
 

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anonymousman's picture
anonymousman
      IB
 
 
(Senior Gorilla, 789
 
Points)
 on 9/9/12 at 12:00pm
Stephen Ridley plays at a school

Like a majority of people who are on this website, I used to come on here and write bullshit about a life partly my own, partly fantasy. I'm now going to uncloak the anonymous man and tell you my story.

My name is Stephen Ridley. I graduated from a top tier British University with a First Class Honours Degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics in 2010 and went straight into IBD at a top tier European Investment Bank, after interning there in 2009. I worked in the top team (on a revenue basis) for 16 months, before quitting in October 2011. I want to tell you about that experience, and about what has happened since then, about how I left the green to chase my dream. This will be blunt and honest. I do not mean to offend, quite the opposite, I hope to inspire! Again, this isn't an attack on those who choose to be bankers, it's just me sharing my experience together with the lessons I've learnt, and hopefully it speaks to a few people. If you look at the picture above you'll see a picture of what I do now. It's a little different from where I was 6 months ago!

Banking is fucking brutal. I knew this after my internship, but I didn't care. I wanted money. I wanted respect. I wanted to be a somebody in the eyes of myself and others. But most of all, I wanted money. Why? Because money is freedom. Money means I can wear what I want, live where I want, go where I want, eat what I want, be who I want. Money would make me happy. Right? Well... not exactly I'm afraid. In fact, money didn't seem to make any of the bankers happy. Not one person in the roughly 200 I got to know in banking were happy. Yet all earned multiples of the national average salary.

The reality of banking is this. Like everyone there, I worked my ass to the bone, working mind numbingly boring work. My life was emails, excel, powerpoint, meetings, endless drafts and markups about shit I couldn't give less of a fuck about, edits, drafts, edits, drafts, edits, send to printers, pick up, courier, meetings, more work, multitasking, boredom, boredom, tired, boredom, avoiding the staffer on a friday, more work, depression, tired, tired, tired, fucking miserable. 15 hour days were a minimum, 16-17 were normal, 20+ were frequent and once or twice a month there would be the dreaded all nighter. I worked around 2 out of every 4 weekends in some form. I was never free, I always had my blackberry with me, and thus I could never truly dettach myself from the job. These are the objective facts, contrary to what any 'baller' wants to tell you. The only models were excel models, the only bottles were coca cola, which I drank a lot of to stay awake.

Though I managed to maintain relationships with certain friends (testament to how good these friends were), I never was really 'there' and never really relaxed to enjoy their company, I was either pre-occupied, exhausted, or too self-centred to really have a 2 way conversation. I was constantly tired, constantly stressed, and I had this constant reoccurring thought. The thought went like this. I'm not happy. These are my golden years, my 20s, the years I want to look back on and talk about with fondness and pride. I should be making interesting stories, having the time of my life whilst I have no dependents. I'm richer than I've ever been, yet I'm not as happy as I was backpacking around South America on a shoestring. This is bullshit.

I personally did not find the work interesting, and that placed me in the 95% majority. Your not golfing with CEOs, talking about strategy, then driving your lambo home at 3.30pm to have sex with your hot girlfriend. No, your sat at your computer, haven't spent more than 5 minutes in the sun in weeks, your out of shape, bad skin, tired, overworked, and your facing yet another office dinner before calling yourself a cab somewhere between 1am and 5am to take your lonely ass to your empty bed. In those rare moments you do get out your tie to go talk to a client, you're not having a nice interesting chat with an interesting person, you talking finance to some other depressed office drone in some corporate office, who either pretends to give a shit or, more often than not, doesn't pretend. Of course, every now and then, I did meet that rare breed who got their kicks from debt-restructuring or endless levels of back-solved pseudoscientific analysis, but this only depressed me as it reminded me how little I cared about this nonsense, and thus made me further question why I was spending every waking moment - and half the ones I should have been asleep - devoted to it.

You're never going to get as rich as the superstars you admire on the TV and watch in films. Even though I got paid well, I wasn't going out buying a different coloured helicopters every weekend, rolling in designer threads, splashing £30k on a night out and holidaying every other week in some exotic location whenever I can be bothered to charter my private jet. You'll be above average, but still pretty average. Sure, you can buy an macbook air without really thinking about it, and you can take taxis instead of the bus. But that's it. I was amazed how modestly people lived in banking given all the hype that surrounds it. They were just sad middle class bland people, with unexciting lives, and unexciting prospects. A bunch of nerds who got caught up in a cage made of money and dreams and greed, and never got out. There had to be more to life than this.

Eventually, I thought fuck this. I got to the point where I wasn't buying myself nice things anymore because doing so only reinforced my dependency on a job which I hated, a job which was taking over every aspect of my shortening life. I had worked hard at university to have a good life, a happy life, a 'successful' life. And I wasn't finding it in IBD. And nobody above me was either. Even the 'baller' MDs were really just miserable, uninteresting, and often pathetic old farts. I didn't want to be them. I wanted to be a colourful, shinny person with love in my heart. Someone with passion, happiness, laughter lines, someone who has taken life by the horns and lived on the edge, taken risks, had love and loss and seen the world.

I made my plan to leave in baby steps. First I started interviewing at other city jobs - everything from hedge fund analyst to private equity analyst to inter dealer broker to insurance to wealth management to sales to trading and even equity research. These all looked boring, these all involved wasting away the majority of my life at a desk. These all involved long working hours, even if a little better. None of these lit the fire I once had before being crushed by banking. So I looked at jobs in corporates, in their M&A team, their finance team. Again, I went to a few interviews, got offers, but it was just the same shit. I didn't want to be a drone in a suit and tie. Fuck that Stephen, fuck that!

Eventually I snapped. Despite being staffed up to my eye balls, I left the office at 7pm to prepare for an interview I had the next morning at 8.30am. The AD I was working with (5 years my senior) consequently had to work until 5am. The next morning, I wasn't at my desk at 8am as I should have been. I was at my interview. Just another mind numbing 'opportunity' to work in debt refinancing team at Tesco's head office. Fuck that. I'd had enough. There was nothing for me in any spectrum of finance. I'd had enough. I walked into work at 11am, and by 11.01, the AD had dragged me into a side room to rip me a new asshole (she'd got a little cranky after 90 minutes sleep and a lot of stress). She said that she was going to go and talk to our team head about this and stood up. I told her to sit her ass down, I'd do it for her. I walked over to his desk, and I respectfully told him I'd had enough. I thanked him for his time, he did the same, we shook hands, and I packed my shit together and sent my bye bye email around the team.

Within 20 minutes of quitting, I was out of the front door. Bye bye blackberry, bye bye security pass, bye bye banking. The sun has never shone so bright, the air has never tasted so sweet, I have never felt lighter, than that moment. I was free. I was free. I was so fucking free I could taste it!

Now, oddly, I chose this moment to go to a shopping centre (long story) with a friend. Upon walking around in a slight state of shock I saw a piano in a suit shop, and this was exactly what I needed. To play a little tune and unwind. I didn't even ask if I could play, I just went in and started playing. A man quickly came up to me, paid me a compliment and then asked me what I did. I responded 'I'm a musician' (why not?!). He asked how much? I said £100 for 2 hours. He hired me 5 days a week. Just like that I'd become a musician, working around a ninth of the hours for about the same money.

Now I'm going to speed up the story a little. I quit this in a couple of weeks because I realised I didn't want to be a background musician in a shop, I wanted to be in the limelight. I wanted to entertain the world. I wanted to try and make it in music. I rolled a piano onto one of the busiest streets in London, and I started playing. Within 1 month I had 9 management contract offers and had started recording my first album. It's now been 6 months. I've travelled around the world, I've got an album on iTunes, named 'Butterfly In A Hurricane'. I've played to literally tens of thousands of people. I've felt all the love and beauty of the world. I've laughed until I've cried. I've enjoyed more female attention than I thought a guy with my face could get! This is the most alive I've ever felt.

I used to do something I hated all day everyday, I used to hate myself for doing that. I was bad company around people and nobody really liked me. Now I do something that I love, that makes me bubble with excitement daily. In return for doing the thing I love the most, people are made happy, people are overhwelmingly kind to me, people open their hearts to me, and I do the same to them. I roll my piano around the world sharing this love which grows inside in the soil of my happiness and fulfilment. I never ever thought I'd be this happy.

Okay, I can't afford the Prada suit right now, but I can't wait to wake up tomorrow, I've got a singing lesson in the morning and I'm meeting Coca Cola in the afternoon to talk about being in an advert for them. My future is unpredictable (which I love), but I know that it will be fine because I'm the one in control. I spent 23 years developing my brain, and now I'm using it.

I just wanted to reach out to all those people who are in banking and miserable but too scared to leave, I want to reach out to all the nerdy kids with the great CVs who want to go into banking, I want to reach out to everyone who has got this far reading and I'm telling you to take a leap and do something you love. You might not know what that is, but you sure as hell aren't going to find it sat unhappily at your desk trying to multitask all day long. You only progress by taking a leap of faith, not in God necessarily, but in yourself. Know that you have all the tools within you already. You can do and be whoever you want to be, and you deserve to be so much more than a tired suit in an office. Of course if that's where you get real happiness, then that's fantastic. I'm just saying that wasn't my experience, nor was it for the majority of those I met.

Life is short - you're young, you're old, you're dead. React to that knowledge. You have nothing to lose!

With all my love,
Stephen Ridley

In the interests of proof (and self promotion), here are the links to some YouTube videos and my Facebook/twitter.

www.facebook.com/stephenridley.official
https://twitter.com/ThisIsRidley

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nnYgVPy7gA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1dkKOYmskE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A06V12zX1NQ

p.s. I've responded to a few people's comments etc. on this post http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/life-after-i...

and

http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/life-after-i...

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Tags:
  • Money
  • investment
  • power
  • prestige
  • the meaning of life
  • IBD
  • IB
  • Banking
  • bullshit
  • fulfilment
  • happiness
  • I-Banking Bullpen
streetwannabe's picture

Virginia Tech 4ever: We've

streetwannabe
     
 
(King Kong, 1,316
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 9:27pm
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"History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme."

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BTbanker's picture

I just bought your album.

BTbanker
      IB
 
(Senior Neanderthal, 5,331
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 9:31pm

"A man generally has two reasons for doing anything. One that sounds good, and the real one." - J.P. Morgan

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Cane0180's picture

Damn dude, you're a baws.

Cane0180
     
 
(Baboon, 106
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 9:32pm
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Virginia Tech 4ever's picture

Won't let me edit--met to

Virginia Tech 4ever
      EN
 
 
(Neanderthal, 2,319
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 9:34pm
  • -2
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AndyLouis's picture

I just re-read the post word

AndyLouis
     
 
 
(Senior Neanderthal, 5,787
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 9:34pm

WSO's COO (Chief Operating Orangutan) | My story | Connect with me on Linkedin.

2013 WSO Conference

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JeremyLinMVP's picture

Not impressed.

JeremyLinMVP
     
 
(Senior Monkey, 99
 
Points)
 on 5/22/12 at 9:01am
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anonymousman's picture

Virginia Tech 4ever: We've

anonymousman
      IB
 
 
(Senior Gorilla, 789
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 9:35pm
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Cane0180's picture

Virginia Tech 4ever: This is

Cane0180
     
 
(Baboon, 106
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 9:36pm
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biggestboss's picture

best of luck to you! thanks

biggestboss
      IB
 
(Monkey, 32
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 9:40pm
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RagnarDanneskjold's picture

+1 Great story, Steve. Like

RagnarDanneskjold
      HF
 
(King Kong, 1,031
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 9:41pm
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Virginia Tech 4ever's picture

anonymousman: Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech 4ever
      EN
 
 
(Neanderthal, 2,319
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 9:41pm
  • -2
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jcbgrss's picture

BlackHat: Anyone else ever

jcbgrss
      PE
 
(Monkey, 44
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 9:42pm
  • -1
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Virginia Tech 4ever's picture

Cane0180: Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech 4ever
      EN
 
 
(Neanderthal, 2,319
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 9:42pm
  • -3
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macro's picture

Virginia Tech, I'm not sure

macro
      HF
 
 
(Gorilla, 555
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 9:52pm
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Virginia Tech 4ever's picture

macro: Virginia Tech, I'm not

Virginia Tech 4ever
      EN
 
 
(Neanderthal, 2,319
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 9:59pm
  • -3
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Beachbum89's picture

Macro - if I had a silver

Beachbum89
      IB
 
(Senior Monkey, 81
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 10:03pm
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Commuter's picture

AndyLouis: zeropower: Com

Commuter
      IB
 
 
(Neanderthal, 2,989
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 10:07pm

I work here...sup
WSO Company Database | WSO Job Board
[email protected]

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gf1990's picture

I absolutely agree with

gf1990
      PE
 
(Baboon, 125
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 10:09pm
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melvvvar's picture

which piano brands are the

melvvvar
     
 
(King Kong, 1,693
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 10:10pm
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AlsatianCousin's picture

GoldmanBallSachs: Nice.

AlsatianCousin
     
 
(Senior Baboon, 209
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 10:19pm
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Devils Advocate's picture

That was fucking awesome. I

Devils Advocate
      IB
 
(Senior Gorilla, 869
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 10:26pm

Interview Guides
WSO Resume Review

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insidenothing's picture

thanks for sharing your

insidenothing
     
 
(Senior Chimp, 23
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 10:28pm
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melvvvar's picture

Virginia Tech

melvvvar
     
 
(King Kong, 1,693
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 10:31pm
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Virginia Tech 4ever's picture

John Law is one of the

Virginia Tech 4ever
      EN
 
 
(Neanderthal, 2,319
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 10:35pm
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melvvvar's picture

you're just jealous because

melvvvar
     
 
(King Kong, 1,693
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 10:37pm
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Virginia Tech 4ever's picture

melvvvar: you're just jealous

Virginia Tech 4ever
      EN
 
 
(Neanderthal, 2,319
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 10:39pm
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melvvvar's picture

awwww someone getting

melvvvar
     
 
(King Kong, 1,693
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 10:44pm
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BigBucks's picture

VirginiaTech4ever has not

BigBucks
      IB
 
(Gorilla, 509
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 10:59pm
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Macro Arbitrage's picture

I tip my hat to you. Had I

Macro Arbitrage
      HF
 
(King Kong, 1,369
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 11:04pm

"I swear, by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine."

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bbjhva's picture

Firstly, OP -

bbjhva
      CO
 
(Orangutan, 298
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 11:05pm
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Virginia Tech 4ever's picture

BigBucks: VirginiaTech4ever

Virginia Tech 4ever
      EN
 
 
(Neanderthal, 2,319
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 11:08pm
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Febreeze's picture

Connor: I just bought your

Febreeze
     
 
(King Kong, 1,151
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 11:21pm

RIP WSO Chat.

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pacman007's picture

Life is indeed very short.

pacman007
     
 
(Gorilla, 668
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 11:21pm

"Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a Champion" - Muhammad Ali

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Relinquis's picture

Congratulations on escaping

Relinquis
      RE
 
 
(Neanderthal, 2,186
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 11:26pm

relinquis... Killing the GMAT this December; Over/Under set at: 725 GMATs.

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melvvvar's picture

BigBucks: VirginiaTech4ever

melvvvar
     
 
(King Kong, 1,693
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 11:28pm
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Virginia Tech 4ever's picture

"Sneering dullard"? You're

Virginia Tech 4ever
      EN
 
 
(Neanderthal, 2,319
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 11:31pm
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melvvvar's picture

lol, butt-hurt, i know

melvvvar
     
 
(King Kong, 1,693
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 11:32pm
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Human's picture

Virginia Tech

Human
      PE
 
 
(King Kong, 1,891
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 11:33pm

"I am the hero of the story. I don't need to be saved."

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M Friedman's picture

So how many girls do you

M Friedman
     
 
(King Kong, 1,007
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 11:39pm

See my WSO blogs here.

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APAE's picture

I think the takeaway here

APAE
     
 
(Neanderthal, 3,660
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 11:43pm

A lot of people do certain things to add days to their life. I do things to add life to my days.

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finger_me_elmo's picture

Good job OP, great to hear! I

finger_me_elmo
      PE
 
(Baboon, 129
 
Points)
 on 4/25/12 at 11:44pm

Whats the matter? Scared of my little red fuzzy anus? Don't be shy,let me show you the way, give me your hand and I will take you to paradise <3

Kind Regards,

ElmElm

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burnsy's picture

Album bought Stephen. Just

burnsy
     
 
(Senior Monkey, 77
 
Points)
 on 4/26/12 at 12:01am

"All things are difficult before they are easy"
- Thomas Fuller

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burnsy's picture

APAE: If money is your

burnsy
     
 
(Senior Monkey, 77
 
Points)
 on 4/26/12 at 12:03am

"All things are difficult before they are easy"
- Thomas Fuller

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BTbanker's picture

febreeze: Connor: I just

BTbanker
      IB
 
(Senior Neanderthal, 5,331
 
Points)
 on 4/26/12 at 12:08am

"A man generally has two reasons for doing anything. One that sounds good, and the real one." - J.P. Morgan

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energyanalyst's picture

Thanks for posting this

energyanalyst
      O
 
(Orangutan, 305
 
Points)
 on 4/26/12 at 12:13am
  • 0
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energyanalyst's picture

Thanks for posting this

energyanalyst
      O
 
(Orangutan, 305
 
Points)
 on 4/26/12 at 12:13am
  • 0
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BTbanker's picture

They should make a WSO Poll

BTbanker
      IB
 
(Senior Neanderthal, 5,331
 
Points)
 on 4/26/12 at 12:18am

"A man generally has two reasons for doing anything. One that sounds good, and the real one." - J.P. Morgan

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evilbyaccident's picture

I did a PPE degree as well,

evilbyaccident
     
 
(Senior Baboon, 239
 
Points)
 on 4/26/12 at 12:32am
  • 0
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okay24's picture

Although I am happy for you,

okay24
      IB
 
(Orangutan, 280
 
Points)
 on 4/26/12 at 12:43am
  • 0
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Quarterlife's picture

As a female I only have one

Quarterlife
      CO
 
(Orangutan, 329
 
Points)
 on 4/26/12 at 12:46am

My formula for success is rise early, work late and strike oil - JP Getty

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You should not access WallStreetOasis.com by any means other than through the interfaces we provide for use in accessing our services or use any automated means, including, without limitation, agents, robots, scripts, or spiders, to access, monitor, copy, or harvest data from any part of our sites, except those automated means that we have approved in advance and in writing.

The Company, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to remove any postings, or deny access by any individuals, for any reason or no reason.

If you see something that you feel is a violation of the these Terms and Conditions, please notify us by emailing wallstreetoasis at wallstreetoasis.com.

We reserve the right to change the Terms and Conditions at any time. Changes will be posted on the applicable web page.

Use of Material.

The Company authorizes you to view and download a single copy of the material on www.WallStreetOasis.com (the "Web Site") solely for your personal, noncommercial use. By using the Web Site you are giving the Company the sole right to use any and all content you generate or publish on the site for commercial, non-commercial or promotional purposes. This includes any and all forum posts, comments, blog posts or any other material you generate on the Web Site.

The contents of this Web Site, such as text, graphics, images, logos, button icons, software and other items (collectively, "Material"), are protected under both United States and foreign copyright, trademark and other laws. All Material is the property of the Company or its content suppliers or clients. The compilation (meaning the collection, arrangement and assembly) of all content on this Web Site is the exclusive property of the Company and protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. Unauthorized use of the Material may violate copyright, trademark, and other laws. You must retain all copyright, trademark, service-mark and other proprietary notices contained in the original Material on any copy you make of the Material. You may not sell or modify the Material or reproduce, display, publicly perform, distribute, or otherwise use the Material in any way for any public or commercial purpose. The use of the Material on any other web site or in a networked computer environment for any purpose is prohibited.

You shall not copy or adapt the HTML code that the Company creates to generate its pages. It is also protected by the Company?s copyright.

Acceptable Site Use.

General Rules: Users may not use the Web Site in order to transmit, distribute, store or destroy material (a) in violation of any applicable law or regulation, (b) in a manner that will infringe the copyright, trademark, trade secret or other intellectual property rights of others or violate the privacy, publicity or other personal rights of others, or (c) that is defamatory, obscene, threatening, abusive or hateful.

Web Site Security Rules. Users are prohibited from violating or attempting to violate the security of the Web Site, including, without limitation, (a) accessing data not intended for such user or logging into a server or account which the user is not authorized to access, (b) attempting to probe, scan or test the vulnerability of a system or network or to breach security or authentication measures without proper authorization, (c) attempting to interfere with service to any user, host or network, including, without limitation, via means of submitting a virus to the Web Site, overloading, "flooding", "spamming", "mailbombing" or "crashing", (d) sending unsolicited e-mail, including promotions and/or advertising of products or services, or (e) forging any TCP/IP packet header or any part of the header information in any e-mail. Violations of system or network security may result in civil or criminal liability. The Company will investigate occurrences which may involve such violations and may involve, and cooperate with, law enforcement authorities in prosecuting users who are involved in such violations.

Specific Prohibited Uses.

The Company specifically prohibits any use of the Web Site, and all users agree not to use the Web Site, for any of the following:

  • Posting any incomplete, false or inaccurate biographical information or information which is not your own accurate resume
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  • Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, using or attempting to use any engine, software, tool, agent or other device or mechanism (including without limitation browsers, spiders, robots, avatars or intelligent agents) to navigate or search this Web Site other than the search engine and search agents available from the Company on this Web Site and other than generally available third party web browsers (e.g., Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Explorer).
  • Attempting to decipher, decompile, disassemble or reverse engineer any of the software comprising or in any way making up a part of the Web Site.
  • Aggregating, copying or duplicating in any manner any of the materials or information available from the Web Site.
  • Framing of or linking to any of the materials or information available from the Web Site.

User Information.

When you register for the Web Site, you will be asked to provide the Company with certain information including, without limitation, a valid email address (your "Information"). In addition to the terms and conditions that may be set forth in any privacy policy on this Web Site, you understand and agree that the Company may disclose to third parties, on an anonymous basis, certain aggregate information contained in your registration application. The Company reserves the right to offer third party services and products to you based on the preferences that you identify in your registration and at any time thereafter; such offers may be made by the Company or by third parties. Please see the Company's Privacy Policy below for further details regarding your Information.

Registration and Password.

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your information and password. You shall be responsible for all uses of your registration, whether or not authorized by you. You agree to immediately notify the Company of any unauthorized use of your registration or password.

The Company's Liability.

As a condition to your use of this site, you release the Company (and our agents and employees) from claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential, direct and indirect) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed, arising out of or in any way connected with such disputes. If you are a California resident, you waive California Civil Code d1542, which says: "A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his favor at the time of executing the release, which if known by him must have materially affected his settlement with the debtor."

We are under no legal obligation to, and generally do not, control the information provided by other users which is made available through the Web Site. By its very nature, other people?s information may be offensive, harmful or inaccurate, and in some cases will be mislabeled or deceptively labeled. We expect that you will use caution and common sense when using this Web Site.

The Material may contain inaccuracies or typographical errors. The Company makes no representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the Web Site or the Material. The use of the Web Site and the Material is at your own risk. Changes are periodically made to the Web Site and may be made at any time.

You acknowledge and agree that you are solely responsible for the content and accuracy of any resume or material contained therein placed by you on the Web Site and you agree to let any users that are identified as recruiters (designated in the sole discretion of the Company) to have access to your resume.

The Company is not to be considered to be an employer with respect to your use of the Web Site and the Company shall not be responsible for any employment decisions, for whatever reason made, made by any entity posting jobs on the Web Site.

THE COMPANY DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE WEB SITE WILL OPERATE ERROR-FREE OR THAT THE WEB SITE AND ITS SERVER ARE FREE OF COMPUTER VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL MECHANISMS. IF YOUR USE OF THE WEB SITE OR THE MATERIAL RESULTS IN THE NEED FOR SERVICING OR REPLACING EQUIPMENT OR DATA, THE COMPANY IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THOSE COSTS.

THE WEB SITE AND MATERIAL ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND. THE COMPANY, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. THE COMPANY MAKES NO WARRANTIES ABOUT THE ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, COMPLETENESS, OR TIMELINESS OF THE MATERIAL, SERVICES, SOFTWARE, TEXT, GRAPHICS, AND LINKS.

Disclaimer of Consequential Damages.

IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COMPANY, ITS SUPPLIERS, OR ANY THIRD PARTIES MENTIONED ON THE WEB SITE BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, INCIDENTAL AND CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, LOST PROFITS, OR DAMAGES RESULTING FROM LOST DATA OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) RESULTING FROM THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE WEB SITE AND THE MATERIAL, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, AND WHETHER OR NOT THE COMPANY IS ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

Links to Other Sites.

The Web Site may contain links to third party web sites. These links are provided solely as a convenience to you and not as an endorsement by the Company of the contents on such third-party Web sites. The Company is not responsible for the content of linked third-party sites and does not make any representations regarding the content or accuracy of materials on such third party Web sites. If you decide to access linked third party Web sites, you do so at your own risk.

No Resale or Unauthorized Commercial Use.

You agree not to resell or assign your rights or obligations under these Term of Use. You also agree not to make any unauthorized commercial use of the Web Site.

Limitation of Liability.

The aggregate liability for the Company to you for all claims arising from the use of the Materials is limited to $1.

Termination.

The Company reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to pursue all of its legal remedies, including but not limited to immediate termination of your registration with or ability to access the Web Site and/or any other service provided to you by the Company, upon any breach by you of these Terms and Conditions or if the Company is unable to verify or authenticate any information you submit to the Web Site registration with or ability to access the Web Site.

Indemnity.

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the Company, its officers, directors, employees and agents, from and against any claims, actions or demands, including without limitation reasonable legal and accounting fees, alleging or resulting from your use of the Material or your breach of the terms of these Terms and Conditions. The Company shall provide notice to you promptly of any such claim, suit, or proceeding and shall assist you, at your expense, in defending any such claim, suit or proceeding.

General.

The Company makes no claims that the Materials may be lawfully viewed or downloaded outside of the United States. Access to the Materials may not be legal by certain persons or in certain countries. If you access the Web Site from outside of the United States, you do so at your own risk and are responsible for compliance with the laws of your jurisdiction. These Terms and conditions are governed by the internal substantive laws of the State of New York, without respect to its conflict of laws principles. Jurisdiction for any claims arising under this agreement shall lie exclusively with the state or federal courts within New York, New York. If any provision of these Terms and Conditions are found to be invalid by any court having competent jurisdiction, the invalidity of such provision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of these Terms and Conditions, which shall remain in full force and effect. No waiver of any term of these Terms and Conditions shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or any other term. Except as expressly provided in additional terms of use for areas of the Web Site a particular "Legal Notice," or Software License or Material on particular Web pages, these Terms and Conditions constitute the entire agreement between you and the Company with respect to the use of Web Site. No changes to these Terms and Conditions shall be made except by a revised posting on this page.

PRIVACY POLICY

The Company recognizes that you are concerned about privacy. We are committed to preserving your privacy and safeguarding your sensitive information. The following statement describes the general information-gathering and usage practices of our sites.

Our staff, contractors, Internet service providers and others involved in this site follow this policy or similarly strict policies regarding your Information.

Disclosure

The Company is committed to fully disclosing our policies regarding the collection, use, maintenance, disclosure and security of personal information obtained from users of our site. The term "personal information" includes a name, address, email address, or any other information which could be used to contact you directly or to identify you personally.

Use and Disclosure Limitations

The Company only uses personal information about its Web site users for specific purposes. We do not share user information with third parties except when we have told users about the disclosures, when we have prior consent, or when required by law.

Use Policy: When the Company gathers personal information from users, we ask for permission first. We also disclose, at the time of collection, how the information will be used by us. Personal information is used for activities such as auto-completion of commonly-used forms and helping us contact you when you solicit information from us.

Disclosure Policy: We do not normally disclose personal information to anyone outside of the Company unless we have previously informed users about the disclosures. However, some data may be used from time to time by outside contractors, including auditors or consultants, to assist us in carrying out necessary financial or operational activities. These uses will be consistent with this privacy policy and all contractors using this potential personal information must agree to safeguard it, to use it only for the authorized purpose, and to return it or destroy it upon completion of the activity.

The Company might be required to disclose personal information in response to a valid legal process such as a subpoena, search warrant or court order.

Although unlikely, it is possible that we may have to make certain disclosures to ensure the security of our Web site, to protect its integrity, or to take precautions against potential liability. In any of these situations, we will take any reasonable steps to limit the scope of the data disclosed.

Web Logs: The Company maintains standard Web logs that record basic information about visitors to our Web site. These logs contain: * The Internet domain from which you came to our Web site. * Your IP address. An IP address is a series of numbers which uniquely identifies your connection to the Internet. Although it is possible in some instances, certain types of IP addresses may be used by interested persons to identify users but we do not attempt to identify users in this way. * The type of browser (e.g., Internet Explorer or Netscape) and operating system (e.g., Windows 98) you use. * The date and time you visited the site, and the pages you saw.

We use Web log information to design our Web site, identify popular features, and in similar ways. We do not try to identify individuals from Web logs or to link Web logs to other user information. However, if someone tries to damage our Web site or use it in an unauthorized or illegal way, we may share Web log information with law enforcement agencies. The Company may provide aggregate information such as the number of users who visit particular pages of the site, or the number of people who link to certain external sites from our site, to other parties.

Changes to Privacy Policy

The Company's features and services will change over time and our information-gathering practices and policies may also change.

While our philosophy of protecting user information from inappropriate uses and disclosures will not change, this policy will be updated occasionally to include any change that materially affects the collection, maintenance, use, or disclosure of personal information.

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