Good to Gate

It’s 327am. I’m leaving for a 4 day trip to Paris in 3 days and a 6 day trip to Istanbul in 7. A Christmas party at the Electric with 7-11 close friends in 2 days and squash at Lord’s with 1-2 in 7.5 hours. Belgrade and the US before the end of April and a ski trip to Austria or Norway before the end of March. The best thing about all of this is that I am hanging out with some of the best friends I’ve had in my life. These friends are from around the world and the thing we have most in common is an obsession about our post graduation careers, which is what I really want to talk to you about (again) this morning.

The book Good to Great (and my girlfriend) will be accompanying me on the first of these trips, to Paris. It is a case study of what turned the fortunes of a select group of great companies around relative to their peers who stagnated. While only half way through reading, the lesson that resonates most with me so far is that you have to work with people that you like to build something great. The people obviously also need to be good, but unless the group collectively enjoys working together, regardless of leadership, strategy, IQ, the organization as a whole will not become great (defined by sustained stock returns). I find this reassuring because after securing a job, the grass quickly becomes greener on the other side; but, when I consider the group that I am joining post-London Business School, I realize that I do enjoy both the work and people so should be positioned well within a growing and successful business.

With spare time, I have also taken to reading some of the classic banking books such as Monkey Business (DLJ-IBD), Liars Poker (Salomon-S&T) and FIASCO (Morgan Stanley-S&T). These books provide a good history of financial services and make it clear that banking culture is unique and can be very tough. As such, they reinforce the importance of fitting in well with a desk/team as that is what will give you the best chance to succeed. Liars Poker also provides a good corollary because while Salomon was filled with some of the best people of its time, the bank was headed by dominating executives who hated each other. Once faced with the need to change, their lack of cooperation drove one of the most successful banks of its time straight into the ground.

Regardless, it is impossible not to look over the fence when friends, media and books such as Barbarians at the Gate draw your attention to private equity firms and hedge funds that make billions on each deal. You wonder what hoops you need to jump through to join one of these firms and dream of the riches you will have once there. You forget that founding partners were good friends (or relatives as Kraviz & Roberts are) and that working hard for someone else doesn’t ever pay off as much as it should. I can’t think of anything more fun than starting a business with the friends I will be travelling with over the coming months. So instead of agonizing over precise career directions now, I will instead focus on learning as much as I can now and once an opportunity arises, I will approach my friends about starting companies. If everything goes according to plan, maybe someday someone will call us b...ugh