for the (aspiring) finance professionals

In senior year of college, I was about to go work in investment banking full-time when I realized that finance might be a trap.

A bunch of old men made money through financial wizardry; they traded the markets, bought out companies, created junk bonds, etc.

And not just a little bit of money, a LOT of money. And they all came back to give talks at schools like Wharton, promising graduates the same thing: if you work hard and grind it out, one day you can be like me...

You give up your time to do the "analyst" grunt work in an investment bank, private equity firm, or hedge fund. That's why you get paid so well ~ you gave up your time ~ but your seniors make 5-100x more than you

You are then told you can reliably achieve success if you grind it out.

But what if you can't...

What if the fund sizes are not increasing and headcount is stagnant? What if a market is just trending downwards? What if your career starts when rates are going up and not zero? What if the money is already made?

And finally, what if the reason you were told you could make it was because someone wanted you to do the grunt work for them? Capitalism at its finest.