1) People have earnings reports, and you are judged from them.
Your yearly salary is your earnings report. People judge you off of this, and determine whether they want to invest (spend time with you) based on what your prospects are. What do you think getting married is? It is someone judging your current revenues, current profits, leverage, and assets and determining whether they want to invest in your prospects. Will you appreciate in price over the next 50 years? Someone who is willing to marry you is saying they will invest in you and that your potential appreciation meets their risk/return minimum. They do get half, after all.
2) You need to divest your poorest performing divisions, invest in your best performing divisions, and use your cash cows to float your R&D divisions.
Don’t spend your time doing things that you are not good at. Don’t spend your time specializing in a saturated market (liberal arts) unless you have the network that will allow you to capture market share quickly. Use your day job to fund experiments and experiment with small, high risk ventures that won’t put you into bankruptcy if they fail. Use your finance job to fund programming classes that might make you a perfect candidate for a startup in San Fran. A friend of mine had a job in consulting, was making six figures in a dirt-cheap COL town, loved the paycheck, but was a below-average performer compared to his peers. What he did was spend 85 hours a week floundering in his deliverables and presentations. What he should have done was ask himself where his talents truly lay, and pivot. Apt quote: "Winners never quit, and quitters never win, but if you never quit and you never win, you're an idiot."
3) Managing expectations is key.
The only thing worse than an underperforming person is an underperforming person who promised the world at one point. The market punishes the stocks of companies that miss guidance or eliminate dividends. The same goes for people. In accepting a workload with a deadline, always under-promise and over-perform. WHen your boss asks you when you can complete something, say you can turn it around in 2 days, and then get it to him the next morning. People remember this, and year-end bonuses smile upon those who impress.
4) The best way to judge future performance is by past performance.
Goldman isn’t going to hire some schmuck of the street, who may be a genius but hasn’t done anything of note. Likewise, companies that have great proprietary software but can’t execute on sales flounder in the market. The world awards execution, not great ideas. You can have a great ideas on how to change a company's strategy, love pondering the next million-dollar idea, but until you execute, no one cares. People (and employers) who judge your future potential tend to only care about your previous execution and accomplishments.
5) People look out for their own. Always.
A good way to get a meeting with a hotshot is to be from the same town they are. A better way is to be an alumnus of their college. The best way is to be from the same family. It's human nature to naturally gravitate towards other that share your own mindset. It's why you and your best friends hate the same people.
These are not absolute truths.
You didn't manage expectations very well in your title. Practice what you preach, yo.
most of this is really common sense- at least here on WSO i would tend to disagree though with number one i don't all women judge men based on their earnings- 40-50% tops
I disagree with number 2. Too many people are majoring in business without really seeing any gain; major in what you want, and learn finance on your own, or take a couple of finance classes if you're really interested. Be the one liberal arts kid that reaches out to bankers for a chat. Watch jaws drop as an English major tells you the difference between APV and WACC. Profit.
I think 1 and 2 are flat out wrong. Who judges people on how much they make? For my friends, I might be disappointed in some for choosing particular career paths or not being more aggressive in promoting their own interests at work, but I don’t judge them from that. Furthermore, while it may be nice to date someone who is wealthy, it shouldn’t be a factor in choosing a life partner. Now hopefully that person is passionate, intelligent and educated, but if they are a teacher, and I am in love with them, I am not going to break it off because they’ll never break 6 figures.
As for 3, 4, and 5, they all just common sense. Maybe since I’m closer to 30 than 20, but these just seemed ingrained in me now, and honestly, can’t remember when they weren’t.
I don't think 1) was implying you should judge people based on earnings. I think he was just making a long-winded analogy b/w people and companies
most important thing i learned is no one gives a fuck about you aside from your closest friend(s) from childhood
This is definitely true. You will never make new friends of the same quality --- that you did before you graduated college.
About point #2, which programming language do you recommend learning?
It's important to learn to program and not learn a language. That said most people start with a high level language like python since it is easy to learn. Personally I believe people should start with a low level language such as C/C++ since it forces one to truly understand what is going on.
Considering that most people that works in banking has severe time constraints, how about Java or C# right away?
What a steaming pile of shit. I want my three minutes back.
You got it.
I feel this is just a reiteration to the norm; no drive, no inspiration, no insight... Kind of the same shit I have heard all my life and the same shit I have realized is all a fugazi. I agree with most who have commented, especially @"Simple As..." & @"DickFuld" not absolute truths & this is a steaming pile of shit.
Dang, you got shit thrown at you.
Neat way of thinking. I like the idea of "divesting" your poor performing divisions, that is insightful. However, try not to call it "San Fran", that is such a quick way to tell me you are a foreigner to the area.
"Your yearly salary is your earnings report."
Is that why high earning nerds can't find a date?
"Don’t spend your time doing things that you are not good at."
Hey boss, I'm a 1st year analyst and I am not good at making pitchbooks yet, so fuck learning, I'm not gonna do it at all.
"The best way to judge future performance is by past performance."
Gee whiz, if only Wall Street would do that to twitter and snapchat.
"People look out for their own. Always."
Bullshit. I have noticed how family members and friends are the first ones to doubt you and tell you your idea/process/system sucks while strangers are willing to give it a try and even support you.
Your article is bad and you should feel bad. I hate people who peddle easy answers to life.
Some thoughts:
1.) Yes, it is your earnings report but more to your bosses who hopefully aren't saying, "He makes THAT much nowadays? What does he do again?" There is a nugget of truth to this in regards to dating and women, but I think you are trying too hard to put relationships in terms akin to public companies.
2.) Never quitting and never winning might mean you are an idiot, or you've just found a genius way to game the system.
3.) Thumbs up.
4.) It's ironic that finance judges past performance of job applicants so harshly when compliance will have a heart attack if you forget the disclaimer "Past performance does not guarantee future results".
5.) Network, Network and Network. Some people are born into a built in network, some aren't. But I definitely think this is one to remember.
how is this front page?
I agree with the gist of the OP's post.
Regarding #1, which has seemed to elicit the most negative responses. The vast majority of people, including women, don't explicitly judge a man by his annual compensation. By this I mean that they don't think "oh this guy doesn't make that much, so I shouldn't associate with him or be friends with him." Of course, if you are dumb and lazy then that's a different story, but there are plenty of smart motivated people who are not doing as well financially because they are still finding a way, ran into hard times, etc. I think most reasonable people recognize that. And if you are say a student at a top grad school, it means that you are a rising stock even though you may not be "cash rich."
As with respect to marriage. Women rarely marry men who are less educated and successful than they are. Sure it happens but it's rare. Thus, the wealthier you are, the more options you have with respect to the # of potential marriage partners. Short-term flings and hookups are of course a totally different story.
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