Turney Duff's Blog, page 3
August 11, 2017
Pint-Sized Networking
As a child I was always asked what I wanted to be when I grew up – I always had an answer, but never a reason why. So when my daughter told me she wanted to work for the ASPCA someday I decided to take her there and see if she really wanted to…
July 15, 2017
Wall Street’s Last Great Party Boy
And the dying art of wining & dining on Wall Street – here’s the link to a new magazine American Consequences – Read Article
May 19, 2017
The Jobs I didn’t get changed my life and career
After graduation, I made millions of dollars climbing to the top of Mount Wall Street. It took years, but I did it. Then I lost it all falling face first off the side of the mountain.
Eventually, I walked away from the business and reinvented myself. But in order to fall from great heights, you first need to know how to get there. At the beginning of my career, it was all the jobs I didn’t get that ended up changing my life.
I moved to New York City in a U-Haul with a giant lobster and “America’s Moving Adventure – Maine” written on the side of it, wearing L.L. Bean boots and a flannel shirt. Shortly thereafter, I got a job on Wall Street.
As a B student with a journalism degree and a 970 SAT score, I was an unlikely candidate for Wall Street success. Hell, I was an unlikely candidate for Wall Street mediocrity. But I did know how to do one thing: How to plant, water and watch seeds grow.
May 10, 2017
Wall Street Confessions: Guilty Pleasures & Indulgences
“What’s the point of having f— you money if you never say f— you?” – Bobby Axelrod (Damien Lewis) in the Showtime series “Billions”
F— you money is a common expression on Wall Street. You work hard to earn that obscene paycheck so f—you, I’m going to spend hard, too. Bobby Axelrod’s No. 2 at Axe Capital, “Wags” is famous for one-liners about indulgence like “Yo, b—es! Saddle up. Body shots and sushi at the strip joint, on me.”
Real-life hedgies like Wags know f—you money is offensive and they don’t care. Spend it if you got it.
“Why not?” a portfolio manager responded when asked why he spends so extravagantly. “It’s simple math, I make a lot so I spend a lot. If the AmEx bill comes in under $20k, I wonder what I did wrong that month.”
April 29, 2017
I once got a $2 million bonus — and I was never more miserable
Getting a job on Wall Street was the first of like ten boxes I thought I needed to check in order to be happy. The last box — the finish line — was to make a “stick,” which means earn one million dollars in a year.
A decade into my career I was sitting on the couch, alone, in my 2,700 square-foot Tribeca apartment. It was just after Christmas and I had received a $2 million bonus. I was thinking to myself, I got the girl, the home, the social status, the job title and tons of power. But if I can just make three million dollars next year … then I’ll be happy.
I sought happiness like a crack addict in search of his next rock. I constantly craved for my next hit of happiness.
March 31, 2017
The Sin Index is Rising on Wall Street
Wall Street wasn’t initially sold on a President Trump — typically markets hate uncertainty and he seems to bring it by the metric ton. But, it’s been a solid first-quarter performance for the market since Trump was elected, with all three major indexes — the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq — hitting new highs in recent weeks as traders cheered Trump’s pro-business agenda.
“I’ve made a million dollars since the election,” a managing director at a bulge-bracket firm said. “Our stock is up every day.”
And, when traders are making money … they’re also spending it. There’s a direct correlation between finance professionals’ day-to-day business and their discretionary spending. Luxury or high-end items, such as automobiles and entertainment usually get a boost when Wall Street is feeling good.
February 2, 2017
Wall Street & the Travel Ban
Wall Streeters typically aren’t the protest type. When they feel strongly about something, they don’t protest it — they trade it. So, while you saw the tech industry explode with outrage over President Donald Trump’s immigration ban, you haven’t heard much beyond measured statements from big Wall Street firms and you don’t see a lot of finance guys marching on Washington.
“Off the record, Trump went too far too fast. It seemed barbaric,” a sales trader at a bulge bracket firm said. “But our firm and the industry as a whole are much better served by standing on the sidelines on this one.”
The immigration ban (or “pause,” as Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly likes to call it) prevents people from seven different countries — Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen — from entering into the United States. That goes up to 120 days for refugees. However, for Syrian refugees, the ban is indefinite.
The ban hit two-hot button issues for Wall Street.
December 30, 2016
The Wall Street – best, worst and I can’t even Awards 2016
At the opening bell of 2016, the markets looked like an overmatched boxer entering the ring. Taking crushing blows to the head on the first day of trading, stocks got pummeled, creating a nosebleed for the first month. In June, Britain shocked the world with its vote to leave the EU — creating global losses of about $2 trillion in one day. But the markets started punching back.
In a year dominated by political headlines, it was also filled with highlights, lowlights and surprises like the Pokemon Go phenomenon, the delightful end to the Chicago Cubs World Series curse, a widespread Zika virus debate and the continued cyber security threats with a billion Yahoo accounts being hacked.
It was a decent year for M&A activity. The Bayer and Monsanto deal for $66 billion created a combined company that controls one-fourth of the global supply of seeds and pesticides. And the biggest deal of the year, which received negative commentary from every political candidate, was the AT&T and Time Warner deal, worth $85.4 billion.
And no year is complete with a major scandal.
December 16, 2016
It’s hard out there for a pimp – Wall Street Bonus Season
It’s that time of year again on Wall Street … bonus season!
Even though it was a good year for the stock market, it’s not all champagne wishes and caviar dreams. Last year the average bonus in the industry fell by 9 percent to $146,200 according to the New York State Comptroller’s Office and, after speaking with heads of trading desks, managing directors, hedge-fund-partners and others, it looks like bonuses could be down about 10 percent this year.
There are several reasons cited for this year’s lower expectations, including uncertainty in the stock market and less trading activity by clients (i.e., lower fees and commissions). And, while 2015 was a record year for merger and acquisition deals — 2016 was the year for billion-dollar broken deals like Allergan and Pfizer, United Technologies and Honeywell, Canadian Pacific and Norfolk Southern, and Halliburton and Baker Hughes.
All of that means less money in … and less money in the bonus pool.
One word you hear thrown around a lot on trading floors is “stick.” In Street speak, that means a million dollars.
October 5, 2016
How this 30-year-old entrepreneur built a $20 million business from his RV
Most entrepreneurs don’t have a blueprint to conceive their next big idea. And they often don’t know how to deal with burnout from the rigors of building a startup. But 30-year old Joel Holland, founder of VideoBlocks, has discovered the keys to solving both problems. He hops in an RV, turns the ignition, and hits the road.
But he doesn’t see this as a vacation — it’s more like inspired work. His daily tasks of talking with investors, returning customer phone calls and finding solutions are planned between pit stops, scenic views and guided tours. He believes the business doesn’t suffer; in fact, he says it thrives.
Over the last 18 months, he’s been through 43 states and logged over 30,000 miles on his odometer. This has led him to over hundreds of hours of reflection. It’s just him and his thoughts traveling across the country in his RV. “That’s when I can zoom out,” he said. “And think about what we’re trying to build at VideoBlocks.”
A turning point in his company came on one of his most recent trips. It was during a long stretch across a desert when he came up with the idea of creating a market place for buyers and sellers of the stock video industry. It completely changed his business and it’s what has helped him scale his company to where it is today — one of the hottest digital media startups that’s challenging Shutterstock, Getty and Pond5. They’ve crossed over the $20 million mark in revenues and reached growth of 214 percent in the last three years, according to the company.
“I find the easiest way to clear my mind is on an open road,” he said. “There’s something soothing and therapeutic about watching the blur of towns, mountains and landscape fly past.”
As he was graduating from Babson College he turned down a six figure offer from Wall Street and moved into his parent’s basement to start his company. “Everyone was telling me to take the job, bankroll some money and then start the business,” Holland said. “I realized kicking that can down the road was dangerous. If I didn’t start the business then it would become increasing less likely in the future.”
The inspiration for launching his company came in 2009 when he was working as a video editor on a small television show. They landed an interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger and it went brilliantly. Schwarzenegger offered great advice and the piece should have been amazing, but Holland’s employer didn’t have a budget for stock media. “The production quality was complete s**t,” Holland said. “So that’s why I started VideoBlocks — to solve that problem.”
