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systemtheory | 11 years ago

dear god. run for the exits. the day is finally here.

i left the world of finance and headed toward software engineering. side benefit, no fantasy football. nobody pretending that they understood "the market". those who commented regarding "shorts" etc. why not options? or swaptions? or futures? or future options? you should totally start a risk-neutral team. wait, weren't we talking about software engineering.

here is the thing. by and large, you all have zero clue what you're talking about. tell me that's not true all day long, but, whatever. you've read a book. you've worked on some algorithm. but chances are you've never been wined and dined by a bulge bracket investment bank attempting to win the brokerage business of the hedge fund you work at. you've likely never spoken with bankers about upcoming offerings. you've likely never been given a tour of the manufacturing plant floor by management, because you're thinking of investing a hundred or so million.

and here is the thing that makes me really sad. at least bankers, a horrible bunch of humans, by and large studied the humanities and admit that they are generally selling crap. this new breed of programmers sorta study computer science and then walk around like they have "the answer" for every human problem. and now i have to deal with "Fantasy Angel Investing".

run for the exits

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dferr|11 years ago

So some guy lists a side project of putting a fantasy spin on startup valuations(which i guess is fun for some people?) and thats the straw that breaks the camels back for you?

the exit is to your left, don't let the door hit you on the way out.

systemtheory|11 years ago

i wasn't taking issue with exchangel.co, per se. i was taking issue with the responses to it on HN. "Best idea ever!" "You should be able to short!" "How about an 'Index Fund' version!" "I wan't to make money and pretend I know investing!"

rboyd|11 years ago

that's cute, because as programmers we generally think you bankers have no idea what you're doing.

7Figures2Commas|11 years ago

"Bankers" may not be the most likeable lot, or even the smartest, but telling folks who have perfected the art of siphoning small percentages from vast pools of other people's money over long periods of time, often with room for meaningful upside and limited downside, that they have no idea what they're doing is kind of silly.

Note: I'm assuming that your use of the word "bankers" refers broadly to those who work in finance (investment bankers, fund managers, etc.).

systemtheory|11 years ago

please note, i said "left the world of finance". i wasn't a banker.