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Back to office non-sense in banking has been sad. Many industries are also struggling with this however without using actual logic, you won't get employees to back your efforts and decisions. The banks on average have been looking at flex working where we will work in the office a few days a week and then work from home (wfh) a few days a week. Many of them behind closed doors are having department or team specific decisions though which are pushing for more days in the office than is being publicized. The backlash seen with Morgan Stanley is one reason banks aren't being super honest.

The goal of many banks is to enhance teamwork by being together in person. I see where they are coming from however they then implement rules such as masks for all and 6 feet spacing while in team settings. For quants communication due to international accents makes this more difficult and not being able to eat lunch and coffee together does not increase team work. If the banks are concerned with Covid (which they should be) then they should just have everyone work from home. It isn't increasing team work with having everyone come in and then creating rules that make it less effective to do team activities.

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Welcome to Season 4 of Talking Tuesdays with Fancy Quant!

I'm really excited to be back here on the podcast and back on YouTube. While I was taking a mental break from content creation I ended up finding an amazing job offer with some unique risks. I ended up not taking the offer due to legal risks however when valuing a new job there are a lot of different angles to consider from the dollar value of salary and bonus to the equity options and benefits (healthcare, PTO, working from home, and other freedoms). Quantitative finance has been a very interesting career as the industry is growing into the cryptocurrency world. Where does finance end and decentralized finance (defi) start?

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I wish managers took the time to really get to know me and other employees. This is a reflection as an employee and as a manager. People have relationships that go unleveraged. It is often easier to use relationships to help develop better connections across a business and make working together much easier. Another issue is that managers often don't get a full view of your skills. They hired you to do one job however they fail to realize the wide range of skills employees have and how to leverage them to create better solutions. This has been a big frustration with data science. People who jump up and down and all excited publicly about new topics like data science often get assigned to do the work while your most qualified employees typically aren't extroverts at least in technical fields. It is your responsibility as a manager to get to know people at a deeper level.

Other personal skills and characteristics are often missed. Management skills are judged based on your personal view of what management is. Managing at a bank is much different than managing at a small firm and especially in a blue collar environment. Age seems to be the biggest hurdle I face. It is really hard for people to grasp my experience due to my age. Realistically most people have not had 8 years of work experience in another industry as an expert by the age of 24. To top it all off, I started a whole separate career in quantitative finance. The ability to start over and jump fields has been a really big challenge and this multidimension perspective could really help companies manage a variety of relationships and projects.

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The whole third season of the podcast has been about working at a startup. I have seen the highs and I have seen the lows over an eight year period with sideline views for a few years after. In this episode I share four pieces of advice I wish I would have known before or during my time with this startup.

If you enjoyed this episode check out the other episodes where I discuss dealing with failure, the joys of a startup, as well as many of my experiences in manufacturing.

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Coping with failure is hard however coping with the failure of a business is even more challenging. Your life from money to time to ego all get slowly drained over time with a failing business however the final bankruptcy is the hardest part. It is the final nail in the coffin meaning there is no hope left.

There is a lot of self reflection and doubt in failing. What if I would have done things differently? What if I would have had more help? What if I would have fixed a very specific problem? It is important to learn from the failure however there are many things that you will never know.

Lessons I learned from this failure is how to manage employees, when to cut your losses, how to run a successful marketing campaign, how to program, the basics of analytics, the real world isn't fair, why managers want you to go above and beyond without direction, and a very long list of other lessons. While it is hard to let go and cost my family a lot of their time and money, we all learned more than we ever expected!


Video version:
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While working with family has a lot of issues, there are some benefits of working with family for me. My dad worked a lot of hours and still does. An 80-100 hour week is considered a normal week for my dad. This work ethic and passion for business was a bonding activity where we had hours of just driving across the country and talking. I never once thought about my dad being gone on the road as a negative as it was his job. I knew that if I wanted to spend time with him we could do it either working his sales job or working around the house. Some of my best memories are of us washing cars, laying pavers, or doing yard work. This unique relationship translated into an open conversation as colleagues when we worked together. I have told my dad many times he is being stupid and he has told me that I don't know what I am talking about endless times. We don't take it personal though as we know we both want the business to succeed. In the corporate world there are very few people who are open and honest with those around them. The PC culture makes it challenging to bring up tough decisions and corporate politics lead businesses to make stupid decisions.

I also learned a lot of crazy skills at a very young age as well. How many people have you met that were managing 45+ year old employees at the age of 19? I was managing a wide range of employees and had to take on a lot of responsibility due to necessity. I became an expert in accounting, corporate finance, and marketing by working at this start-up.

A start-up also gives you the opportunity to make a large impact and to see how it effects the end customer. Being able to control the entire process is a blessing and a curse. If you are good you will be very happy however when things fail, it's all on you!

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Data and the analytics needed to extract useful insights is really lagging in most if not all industries. I know many people watching and listening will disagree however there is no solid metric where we can see that things are working well versus slightly working better than no analytics. It isn't until you witness a great quant or analyst that you realize there is a lot of room for improvement in all areas of analytics including quant finance, data science, and business analytics.

A hard lesson for smaller firms is that it is better to pay more for a quality quant or analyst than it is to hire multiple analysts. It's like saying if you have 10 clueless people trying to do surgery on you, you'll end up with the same results as hiring a top 10 surgeon. More isn't better! A quality analyst can work faster and generate better results that an average or below average analyst would never be able to think of.

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When working at a start-up everyone comes out of the woodwork to tell you how to run your business. It is very challenging to figure out good and bad advice especially when you end up in really unique situations. There is no quick Google search for the right answer or there are a million opinions and no clear answer.

Over the years of my career in manufacturing and in banking I've come to the conclusion that most consultants aren't worth much and their charge way more than they add value. Most are young kids with no experience or senior managers who have been consultants all their lives. You can't provide very good advice unless you have been in many of the situations that start-ups or large companies will face. Don't get me wrong, I have seen a few good consultants but there aren't many of them.

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The challenges of management are no joke, and no an MBA won't cut it! Getting real world experience especially at a small firm will allow you to really see how people think and behave. You can't be the fun laid back manager and you can't be so strict that everyone undermines you behind your back. Setting a strict system of how you operate while being reasonable and understanding will go a long way. Balancing these two halves is very challenging though and often at large firms you have little or no control over the system such as how promotions or other benefits work.

It is also just as important to learn how to manage up, meaning to manage you manager as it is to be a manager of employees. One key tip I have found is that it is better to give your managers ideas slowly and let them take it as their own over time. They are far more invested in the idea as they think it is theirs than fighting you on why "your idea" isn't perfect. You will not get credit for the idea however you will come off as a great employee and a real team player.


Video Version:
https://youtu.be/80GQo78pavY

Connect with me:
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Precast concrete is a dead industry due to inefficiencies, a lack of understanding on how to set up operations and manufacturing, and there has been minimal innovation in decades. The industry needs to be revitalized. It needs fresh blood from those who are experts in manufacturing. Learning to optimize the process will make the job more enjoyable for employees and more profitable for companies. For precast concrete to attract good talent, they need to change their culture as well. The ruff and tough mentality is good for guys on the floor doing the actual production however to get top talent to manage the business, you need to more refined culture that encourages innovation.


Video Version:
https://youtu.be/MIFOJrZlNtc

Connect with me:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dimitri-bianco
https://twitter.com/DimitriBianco​

Quant t-shirts, mugs, and hoodies:
teespring.com/stores/fancy-quant​

☕ Show Your Support and Buy Me a Coffee ☕
https://ko-fi.com/fancyquant

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