Is MM a fit for me? (ex-gamer / poker player)

Hey guys - I'm a current associate at an MF thinking about moving to a MM firm. Basically I'm getting pretty demotivated by the progression system in PE-land - a lot of it from what I can see is just working long hours and playing the politics well which is starting to wear on me. I know it's an oversimplification but it just doesn't really scratch the itch that drives me.

My big passion in life has always been competitive games. I'm very high ranked in a bunch of video games and I'm a former semi-pro poker player. I loved the competitiveness of poker, the instant feedback loop, and the skill expression that existed. It was so fun to feel like I was steadily getting better and better at a very complex and chance-based yet skill-intensive game and it drove me to put in a ton of hours of studying without ever feeling like it was a chore. I'd love to recapture that feeling in my career.

I have been thinking about traditional SM L/S (which is what most of my peers previously left for in earlier years) but I feel like the more "fundamentally-driven" investing styles don't suit me - I don't actually love business analysis, I'm more driven by winning / playing games at a high level. I also worry that feedback loops are too long / nebulous in a longer-duration style as I really need tight feedback loops to learn and improve quickly.

I'd love to hear opinions from people who might have a similar background (e.g., poker, competitive e-sports, something like that) and how it translates into MM-style investing.

6 Comments
 

If you can get into a good SM, do that for 2-3 years and try to leverage into sleeve at a pod - you’ll skip the part of a pod career where outcomes aren’t in your control (junior analyst) and get straight into the game you enjoy

Many SM guys make this switch for the comp upside anyway

 

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