7 ms·

Really helps discredit this notion of retail vs hedge fund. Most people who frequently make “DD” posts to r/wsb have ties to the financial industry and Wall Str

Really helps discredit this notion of retail vs hedge fund. Most people who frequently make “DD” posts to r/wsb have ties to the financial industry and Wall Street. They either work there or have worked there. And yet they are critical of the Man? This is like ex-Facebook employees having a found-Jesus moment.

toomuchtodo 6y ago
Some folks have no choice but to bootstrap at The Man. There’s no startup accelerator for starting your own fund.
- hehehaha 6y ago
  Yes, my comment was harsh. I am happy for the guy, really, especially as a Bostonian.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
tootie 6y ago
I think this is almost expected behavior. Anybody who spends enough time in the trenches of any industry will come out jaded and bitter. In my limited time working on the tech side of some Wall St giants, 99% of the grunts are normal people with their noses in very narrow tasks. Tasks that seem too mundane to have any implications for the outside world. I even heard a top marketing exec at Goldman talk about how to shed their image as a "vampire squid". None of them set out to be evil, they just set out to earn profits. Same everybody else.
throwaway0a5e 6y ago
You can hate how the sausage is made and still work at the sausage factory.
- aabhay 6y ago
  You can hate yourself and still be employed, it seems.
- u678u 6y ago
  I still eat sausage and I know what's in it.
hangonhn 6y ago
I worked at a hedge fund as my first job on the IT and Dev side. I will never put my money in a hedge fund. Just the way they spend money to boost the sense of self importance, etc. is nauseating. I once Fedex-ed a ream of printer paper from NYC to a partner on vacation in Miami because he was too entitled to drive to the nearest office supply store. I literally found a store like 10 minutes away but was told to just Fedex the paper. Then there were the allegations of PIPE and various other SEC investigations that always end up settling without any admission of guilt. There are quite a few genuinely good people in finance so don't be surprised to find good people doing good things who also work in finance but finance also attracts a lot of people who are amoral at best. I shake my head at the memory of one of the partners screaming at someone over the phone, "This isn't even illegal! How is it immoral!?"
- hehehaha 6y ago
  Yes, I was on Wall Street for awhile on trading desks, research etc. I’ve seen how the sausage was made. I only respected very few people with academic credentials who had genuine intellectual curiosity for the markets. Outside of that it’s a jungle and you will get eaten if you don’t watch your back. People steal all the time without any remorse.
  - smabie 6y ago
    buy-side or sell-side? I don't have any exp with working at a fund or a bank, but I work at a prop shop and the atmosphere is markedly different than what people would expect. Money is not wasted, profits are distributed every month in a way such that every employee does very well (some more well then others ofc), and everyone hustles to generate pnl. When you are fully invested (life savings in the firm) you tend to get much better results. On the other hand, if you're using OPM or not even really trading except to rip off dumb businessmen on high spreads, things probably look a lot different.
- smabie 6y ago
  That's because the costs come from OPM. When you work at a prop shop and all the money is literally the money of the employees, things are very different. Sure, everyone makes out like bandits and gets rich if things are going according to plan, but no one, and I mean no one, is wasting money. If your prop shop blowing up means everyone who works there is now penniless, you tend to get much better results.
derptron 6y ago
>Really helps discredit this notion of retail vs hedge fund. Most people who frequently make “DD” posts to r/wsb have ties to the financial industry and Wall Street. Do you have a shred of evidence to back this up?
baby-yoda 6y ago
personally i haven't seen any commentary from DFV disparaging institutions. its not accurate to take WSB commentary in aggregate and assign it to an individual. not to mention, not everyone is in a position to say "screw the man" and do their own thing. the ideal exists but the means may not be there.

toomuchtodo 6y ago

Some folks have no choice but to bootstrap at The Man. There’s no startup accelerator for starting your own fund.

hehehaha 6y ago
Yes, my comment was harsh. I am happy for the guy, really, especially as a Bostonian.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

tootie 6y ago

I think this is almost expected behavior. Anybody who spends enough time in the trenches of any industry will come out jaded and bitter. In my limited time working on the tech side of some Wall St giants, 99% of the grunts are normal people with their noses in very narrow tasks. Tasks that seem too mundane to have any implications for the outside world. I even heard a top marketing exec at Goldman talk about how to shed their image as a "vampire squid". None of them set out to be evil, they just set out to earn profits. Same everybody else.

throwaway0a5e 6y ago

You can hate how the sausage is made and still work at the sausage factory.

aabhay 6y ago
You can hate yourself and still be employed, it seems.
u678u 6y ago
I still eat sausage and I know what's in it.

hangonhn 6y ago

I worked at a hedge fund as my first job on the IT and Dev side. I will never put my money in a hedge fund. Just the way they spend money to boost the sense of self importance, etc. is nauseating. I once Fedex-ed a ream of printer paper from NYC to a partner on vacation in Miami because he was too entitled to drive to the nearest office supply store. I literally found a store like 10 minutes away but was told to just Fedex the paper. Then there were the allegations of PIPE and various other SEC investigations that always end up settling without any admission of guilt. There are quite a few genuinely good people in finance so don't be surprised to find good people doing good things who also work in finance but finance also attracts a lot of people who are amoral at best. I shake my head at the memory of one of the partners screaming at someone over the phone, "This isn't even illegal! How is it immoral!?"

hehehaha 6y ago
Yes, I was on Wall Street for awhile on trading desks, research etc. I’ve seen how the sausage was made. I only respected very few people with academic credentials who had genuine intellectual curiosity for the markets. Outside of that it’s a jungle and you will get eaten if you don’t watch your back. People steal all the time without any remorse.
- smabie 6y ago
  buy-side or sell-side? I don't have any exp with working at a fund or a bank, but I work at a prop shop and the atmosphere is markedly different than what people would expect. Money is not wasted, profits are distributed every month in a way such that every employee does very well (some more well then others ofc), and everyone hustles to generate pnl. When you are fully invested (life savings in the firm) you tend to get much better results. On the other hand, if you're using OPM or not even really trading except to rip off dumb businessmen on high spreads, things probably look a lot different.
smabie 6y ago
That's because the costs come from OPM. When you work at a prop shop and all the money is literally the money of the employees, things are very different. Sure, everyone makes out like bandits and gets rich if things are going according to plan, but no one, and I mean no one, is wasting money. If your prop shop blowing up means everyone who works there is now penniless, you tend to get much better results.

derptron 6y ago

>Really helps discredit this notion of retail vs hedge fund. Most people who frequently make “DD” posts to r/wsb have ties to the financial industry and Wall Street. Do you have a shred of evidence to back this up?

baby-yoda 6y ago

personally i haven't seen any commentary from DFV disparaging institutions. its not accurate to take WSB commentary in aggregate and assign it to an individual. not to mention, not everyone is in a position to say "screw the man" and do their own thing. the ideal exists but the means may not be there.