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July 31, 2026
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Oh, I want in. Groupies gotta grope. Cause, thats what groupies do, right?
It's pretty similar to Superman building the Justice League.
Was just thinking the same exact thing today. How did Patrick stumble onto starting up WSO. I'm ready to hear the story behind the man the myth the legend.
Im not sure you you know but patrick was born with that red beard.
I made a deal with the Devil.
I hate to admit this, but that actually is me in my avatar. I'm pretty open to answering questions about WSO and my past. I've posted a lot of stuff on here about my background over the years, so feel free to ask away.
In summary:
Born in Boston - 1980 Williams College - class of 2002 Rothschild Ibanking in NYC - Restructuring Group - 2002 - 2004 Heritage Partners (PE) - 2004 - fired in 6 months (new record?) Tailwind Capital (more PE) in NYC - 2005 until 2008 (started iBankingOasis.com in 2006) Wharton MBA - 2008-2010 WSO full time 2010-present yes, I'm old for an internet entrepreneur. back living in Boston.
I did an interview with Mixergy.com that goes into more details on how I made WSO into a real business , but a lot of it is outdated now: http://mixergy.com/patrick-curtis-wall-street-oasis-interview/ i think the text is still available.
any other questions, fire away.
Sir I respect your candor about your dashing good looks.
Hush, our fearlesss Leader speaks..... -___-
If you can talk about it, how did you address getting fired during your Wharton app process? Or did they just not care?
I can talk about it - I never signed any release form. I actually used the experience to answer the essay "When have you made a mistake and what did you do about it?" something along those lines...basically, I explained how I was a bit naive coming out of banking thinking that if I put my head down and worked hard things would take care of themselves.
They didn't tell me at the time, but I think the primary reason I was fired is that the fund was going under and I was the easiest to cut since I was such a new hire...I didn't know this at the time though which made it very hard. Fast forward a year later and the fund wen from something like ~18-20 investment professionals down to 5.
...anyways, it worked out in the end.
What is the fattest pre-tax bonus check you have ever received.
Cmonn, everyone was thinking it, someone had to say it.
It's in the WSO Company Database: //www.wallstreetoasis.com/wso-company-database
hint, it was at Tailwind...
please remember to add in your comp data as well guys. We are going to be making the reviews and comp data only accessible to those that contribute to the database by next week. So you'll only be able to read company overviews until you participate as well.
For now, it's still 100% open.
Thanks, Patrick
Thanks. I was curious because people always make it sound like getting into a top 3 school means you are flawless in every way and you seem to have done fine despite that one set back.
Wait, wait...what?! Patrick is flawless.
Seriously though, correct me if I'm wrong, but that one "set back" is the reason we are all here posting and commenting!
Anyway - thanks so much Patrick for all your efforts. This site is the reason why I was able to break into IB from a non-target.
So, Williams College is up there with the Ivies when it comes to finance? I mean Patrick Curtis and Chase Coleman both went to Williams.
No, it wasn't a criticism. The point was that you can still get into Wharton (and another PE firm) and go on to do great things after that even if you have a set back. I think a lot of people on this website could learn something from that -- the crowd that thinks their lives are over if they don't get some crumby job at GS / MS / whatever right out of college.
Awesome website Patrick, thanks for putting this together.
Patrick:
What kind of toilet paper do you use?
Big booties?
Explain how you emotionally handled the death of Michael Jackson.
What is your greatest strength? Greatest weakness? Do you work well in teams? Why do you want to do internet entrepreneurship, and why this site specifically?
What what, in the butt?
Scott's - I don't need any of that fluffy girly shit. Give me cardboard and I'm fine.
I don't know what that means
I was strong on the outside, but deep down something died - I used to do a killer moonwalk when I was 10, and could even spin on my head. remember, i'm old - i was born in 1980
Greatest strength? I can be quick to move sometimes without thinking of the consequences - why WSO is able to keep making partnerships and churning our great products/services.
Greatest weakness? I can be too quick to move sometimes without thinking of the consequences - why WSO crashes sometimes when we are updating stuff.
Why internet? Why not? Fun, new growing industry, scalable and no boss....except you guys, and you make me laugh. not bad.
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