Investment Banking Wisdom
Funny story I found... for me its as much about the journey as the end.
The investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The investment banker complimented the fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.
The fisherman replied, only a little while.
The investment banker then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish?
The fisherman said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs.
The investment banker then asked, but what do you do with the rest of your time?
The fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life, senor."
The investment banker scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You can leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise."
The fisherman asked, "But senor, how long will this all take?"
To which the American replied, "15-20 years."
But what then, senor?
The American laughed and said that's the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions.
Millions, senor? Then what?
The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."
- Anonymous
this is actual a remake of an old german story about a fisherman and a tourist. what's funny is that the last part is completely left out. in the original story there's this epiphany the tourist has at the end, where he realizes that the fisherman has everything anyone could ever want...and that money and fame aren't going to lead him to any sort of enlightenment. naturally, the banking version would leave out that part.
http://tiki.oneworld.net/sustain/tourist.html ^ there's a shortened english version
That morale is implied even though not explicitly stated.
Nice find.
I lived in Europe for awhile, and some Swiss farmers essentially said the same thing to me when I was inquiring about their short hours and small farm sizes. They pretty much said that they have a good standard of living only doing the bare minimum. Which is fine, especially since I like the austere farmer archetype. But then you find out they rely on the charity of a nearby church, tourism (which they endlessly complain about) and welfare.
For anyone that would rather just watch a video than read all of that:
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