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> First, Wall Street's role in capital markets towers over Silicon Valley. True, but what's the delta? Where are the sources of new power (and subsequently wea

> First, Wall Street's role in capital markets towers over Silicon Valley. True, but what's the delta? Where are the sources of new power (and subsequently wealth) being generated? Why, for that matter, are you a former investment banker and now a tech-cofounder and coder? As I'm sure you know, you're not the only one who's made that (smart) move. What moving around money was to the 19XXs, moving around information is to the 20XXs. That's the crux of "software is eating the world". AUM doesn't seem a useful metric for power, in fact it's debt and so it all depends on what you do with it. What % of those assets are depreciating? How fast are the % of assets that are appreciating doing so? I know little about capital markets, but these seem like the obvious begged questions, don't they?

dpcheng2003 13y ago
New power/wealth generation is and will be in finance for the foreseeable future. I can go into great detail on this but for TL;DR purposes, I will generalize: finance > tech in making aggregate money because finance only cares about making money and tech cares about a lot of other things, which in turn generates money. I moved into tech because I liked it, not to make money. If I were still in investment banking, I'd be making 7figures a year (and killing my soul in the process). This is not a judgment call; it's a personal choice. There exists good-willed bankers as well as selfish, rent-seeking coders. Moving money around has not been limited to the 19XXs. It's been around since humans put a face of an important person on some piece of metal (actually earlier, but it lacks the imagery).
- argumentum 13y ago
  Power and money aren't the same thing. Power is the ability to control your environment .. i'd say that's exactly the "lot of other things" that tech cares about. Power derives from generating wealth, which is making people's lives better. Of course, people have always moved money (and information) around (and always will). Just as we've always moved goods around. That wasn't my point. When "Brittania rules the waves" became Britain's national anthem, it was because ruling the waves (and moving goods) was the main source of power in those days. Since then, shipping has become a commodity. This is now happening to finance.
  - dpcheng2003 13y ago
    Agree to disagree my friend. I wish you well.
- nostrademons 13y ago
  Andreessen has very publicly said that he wants to replace money with tech. His Bitcoin bets are public statement that he believes that this new technology will disrupt an industry: that industry is finance. The majority of the financial industry probably doesn't think the threat is credible ("First they ignore you..."), but Icahn is a bit more forward-thinking than most, and he probably realizes that Andreessen is going straight after his power base.

dpcheng2003 13y ago

New power/wealth generation is and will be in finance for the foreseeable future. I can go into great detail on this but for TL;DR purposes, I will generalize: finance > tech in making aggregate money because finance only cares about making money and tech cares about a lot of other things, which in turn generates money. I moved into tech because I liked it, not to make money. If I were still in investment banking, I'd be making 7figures a year (and killing my soul in the process). This is not a judgment call; it's a personal choice. There exists good-willed bankers as well as selfish, rent-seeking coders. Moving money around has not been limited to the 19XXs. It's been around since humans put a face of an important person on some piece of metal (actually earlier, but it lacks the imagery).

argumentum 13y ago
Power and money aren't the same thing. Power is the ability to control your environment .. i'd say that's exactly the "lot of other things" that tech cares about. Power derives from generating wealth, which is making people's lives better. Of course, people have always moved money (and information) around (and always will). Just as we've always moved goods around. That wasn't my point. When "Brittania rules the waves" became Britain's national anthem, it was because ruling the waves (and moving goods) was the main source of power in those days. Since then, shipping has become a commodity. This is now happening to finance.
- dpcheng2003 13y ago
  Agree to disagree my friend. I wish you well.
nostrademons 13y ago
Andreessen has very publicly said that he wants to replace money with tech. His Bitcoin bets are public statement that he believes that this new technology will disrupt an industry: that industry is finance. The majority of the financial industry probably doesn't think the threat is credible ("First they ignore you..."), but Icahn is a bit more forward-thinking than most, and he probably realizes that Andreessen is going straight after his power base.