3 ms·

The bigger problem is that Hedge Funds develop an expensive lifestyle. Expensive lifestyles are hard to change.

pw0ncakes 17y ago
Entry-level hedge fund salaries are similar to technology salaries, and perhaps a little bit lower. Bonuses are very high, but these vary from year to year and shouldn't be taken for granted (not to say that people don't). I made this change. I'm 26 and have no kids. My girlfriend's in school but will be able to support both of us when she's out. It's mildly annoying not to have a maid and nice vacations right now, but working on interesting problems is more important than having those comforts, which are disposable for now (you don't need help until you have kids, really). Then again, I can also still afford basic necessities; if I couldn't, I'd have to go back to Wall Street. The major problem in New York is that rent is ridiculous. Most "lifestyle" factors (vacations, alcohol) are flexible and can be deferred for a few years, but rent is non-negotiable. If it stays this high, the city will bleed talent too fast to reach "critical mass". You want the freshly unemployed quants (although quants are among the last to be let go) to stick around in the city for 6 months, not move back in with their parents because of New York rent. Regarding lifestyle expenses, any guess as to where top traders spend most of their leisure income? Gambling. I never thought I'd meet people smarter than me who find "games" like Roulette and Craps to be interesting and worth playing (because I'm a game designer and a Euro-snob who'd rather play Tigris than Poker) but I have. This is because it's visceral and not intellectual-- people with the "gambling gene" make great traders but I wouldn't want one as a co-founder (long digression omitted). I'm going to bet on the Midwest as the startup hub of the 2010s. There are a lot of brilliant graduates of schools like Chicago, Northwestern, Carleton, Michigan, and Grinnell whose graduates (for geographic reasons) are not nearly as likely to go to Wall Street (or Silicon Valley) as their coastal counterparts. Most of them go into graduate school, seeing that as the best option for them, because often it is. Wall Street under-recruits the Midwest, and there aren't a lot of cutting-edge companies out there-- yet. If you want to hire talent on the cheap, buy a set of winter clothes and head out to the Great Lakes region.
- dnsworks 17y ago
  Betting on the midwest in the same breath as looking down on Roulette and Craps? Are you sure you're not a gambling man? Having grown up in the midwest, let me tell you that beyond the fact that it's cold (it is), except for Chicago, it's rather desolate and depressing. Even Chicago is pretty miserable in the winter. I know dozens of entrepreneurs from Illinois and Indiana who moved to SF as soon as they graduated university. I'm fairly certain nobody has ever attend Berkeley or Stanford and said "Oooh I can't wait to move to Cleveland when I graduate!"

Entry-level hedge fund salaries are similar to technology salaries, and perhaps a little bit lower. Bonuses are very high, but these vary from year to year and shouldn't be taken for granted (not to say that people don't). I made this change. I'm 26 and have no kids. My girlfriend's in school but will be able to support both of us when she's out. It's mildly annoying not to have a maid and nice vacations right now, but working on interesting problems is more important than having those comforts, which are disposable for now (you don't need help until you have kids, really). Then again, I can also still afford basic necessities; if I couldn't, I'd have to go back to Wall Street. The major problem in New York is that rent is ridiculous. Most "lifestyle" factors (vacations, alcohol) are flexible and can be deferred for a few years, but rent is non-negotiable. If it stays this high, the city will bleed talent too fast to reach "critical mass". You want the freshly unemployed quants (although quants are among the last to be let go) to stick around in the city for 6 months, not move back in with their parents because of New York rent. Regarding lifestyle expenses, any guess as to where top traders spend most of their leisure income? Gambling. I never thought I'd meet people smarter than me who find "games" like Roulette and Craps to be interesting and worth playing (because I'm a game designer and a Euro-snob who'd rather play Tigris than Poker) but I have. This is because it's visceral and not intellectual-- people with the "gambling gene" make great traders but I wouldn't want one as a co-founder (long digression omitted). I'm going to bet on the Midwest as the startup hub of the 2010s. There are a lot of brilliant graduates of schools like Chicago, Northwestern, Carleton, Michigan, and Grinnell whose graduates (for geographic reasons) are not nearly as likely to go to Wall Street (or Silicon Valley) as their coastal counterparts. Most of them go into graduate school, seeing that as the best option for them, because often it is. Wall Street under-recruits the Midwest, and there aren't a lot of cutting-edge companies out there-- yet. If you want to hire talent on the cheap, buy a set of winter clothes and head out to the Great Lakes region.

dnsworks 17y ago
Betting on the midwest in the same breath as looking down on Roulette and Craps? Are you sure you're not a gambling man? Having grown up in the midwest, let me tell you that beyond the fact that it's cold (it is), except for Chicago, it's rather desolate and depressing. Even Chicago is pretty miserable in the winter. I know dozens of entrepreneurs from Illinois and Indiana who moved to SF as soon as they graduated university. I'm fairly certain nobody has ever attend Berkeley or Stanford and said "Oooh I can't wait to move to Cleveland when I graduate!"