Ex Wall Streeters talk about the better life working at a startup
Here’s a post from UF contributor and intrepid Wall Street reporter Lauren T. LaCapra, who is on assignment:
By Lauren Tara LaCapra
“One last question,” the moderator asked the panel of former Wall Streeters now working for fast-growing tech startups. “Would any of you go back to banking?”
One by one the five panelists, some of whom work for hot shops like FourSquare and Spotify, each shook their heads: “No…no…no.”
The responses from the former traders and investment bankers was a comforting message the three dozen or so people who still work on Wall Street and had gathered Tuesday at General Assembly — a tech hub of sorts in New York City’s Flatiron neighborhood — to learn about life beyond stocks, bonds, commodities and derivatives.
The panel was sort of a group therapy session for finance types considering making the jump from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. And these days there are plenty of people interested in doing just that as layoffs at big banks continue and finance just doesn’t thrill as it once did. The problem for Wall Street is there’s a huge talent drain taking place and it’s something firms are going to have to keep an eye on.
