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Managing a fund can be nuts.
Per Wall Street Oasis hedge fund managers work an average of 65 hours a week, compared to 75 for private equity employees, and 80+ for bankers.
That is probably the biggest reason why I decided not to work on Wall Street.
I’m not willing to sacrifice that much time to slave my life away.
Especially when you take into consideration that for the first several years you’re not even going to be making all that much.
There’s more to life than just making money.
How Will you Measure Your Life?
So I don’t mean to get all philosophical here haha, but I am almost done reading one of my favorite books, How Will you Measure Your Life by Clayton Christensen.
The premise of the book is discussing how certain theories apply to people to predict, or guide them, to the most probable path to satisfaction in life.
Christensen was a business professor at Harvard for many years and a leading economist in the country.
He discusses how his graduating class would return to Harvard for their 5, 10, and later 20 year class reunions.
The majority of his classmates went on to be extremely successful, with many of them going into investment banking in one form or another.
Yet, he noticed that so many were seemingly unhappy or had a personal life that was falling apart.
Christensen explains that this is thanks to the fact that sacrificing or neglecting our relationships with family, friends, and our communities is directly correlated with dissatisfaction in nearly every aspect of life, despite enormous professional success.
I have observed this trend amongst my own peers and fellow fund managers, of people who have perhaps lost sight of what really matters.
Sure the money and lifestyle are huge aspects of why I work, but at the end of the day I’m just trying to ensure that my family is in the best situation possible.
If I don’t have that, then what is the point?
For example I love going on vacations and seeing the world, but I really love them because I’m with my wife and those closest to me.
My Decision
A couple years back I did an internship for a large investment company in Silicon Valley.
The goal was to get a six figure offer and begin my climb up the ranks to get into the position of fund manager that I was after.
However, I realized after a couple of months there that maybe that wasn’t the path for me.
Long story short, I ended up receiving the offer from the firm, but I declined.
Logic would say that I was crazy, but I just realized that the sacrifice was going to be too great.
Additionally, I had the confidence that I’d be able to blaze my own trail and get to the same business level, without having to sacrifice my personal life.
Hindsight
Looking back now it’s been one heck of a journey.
I can tell you in all honesty that the path hasn’t been easy.
Lots of struggle, stress, and risks were taken to get us to the point where I’m at today.
But boy was it worth it.
My relationship with my wife and family has never been better, and now we’re expecting the birth of our first son in the coming months.
I’m in the position now with my own fund that I was always after, and with more opportunities in other fields than I would have ever thought possible.
These are things that would have never been available to me if I would have gone the traditional route.
So if you’re like me, someone who values other things more than just money, take the risks necessary to maintain your priorities.
It’ll pay dividends in the end.
Take Care,
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