The Wall Street Lab

Rami Cassis, founder and CEO of Parabellum Investments, discusses how his firm operates as a hybrid between a family office and private equity firm. He provides an inside look at his investment approach, building relationships and reputation, and his perspective on improving private equity's image. Key Topics and Timestamps: What a hybrid family office and private equity firm is and why Cassis cares about private equity image [00:02:00 - 00:05:45] Cassis' approach to sourcing investments and what he looks for in an acquisition target [00:05:45 - 00:10:15] How valuation discussions unfold and avoiding deal fatigue [00:10:15 - 00:15:00] The importance of honoring your word in building relationships and reputation [00:15:00 - 00:20:00] Integrating a new acquisition and exiting investments [00:20:00 - 00:25:00] Tips on deal negotiations and avoiding concessions [00:25:00 - 00:30:00] Working with management teams and the role of chairman [00:30:00 - 00:35:00] How private equity can improve its image and be a force for good [00:35:00 - 00:40:00] What Cassis looks for when hiring junior team members [00:40:00 - 00:45:00] The importance of diversity and avoiding "assholes" [00:45:00 - end]   More about our sponsor Fintalent.io: https://fintalent.io You can find all episodes of The Wall Street Lab Podcast on https://thewallstreetlab.com/ Check Out these Wall Street Oasis courses: Modeling Elite Modeling Package: https://il130.isrefer.com/go/TWSLElite/TWSL/ LBO Modeling Course: https://il130.isrefer.com/go/TWSLLBO/TWSL/ Real Estate Modeling Course: https://il130.isrefer.com/go/TWSLRE/TWSL/

In this episode, Christina Bresani, Managing Director and Head of Corporate Advisory at William Blair, shares her insights and experiences in investment banking and corporate advisory. She discusses her background, breaking into the industry, and the importance of networking. Christina explains the role of corporate advisory and its responsibilities in mergers and acquisitions, including advising clients on acquisitions, divestitures, mergers, and defending against activists. She emphasizes the changing landscape of friendly and hostile takeovers and the need for valuable relationships with clients. Additionally, Christina highlights the importance of diversity and the initiatives taken by William Blair to support women in investment banking. The episode concludes with her advice to be open to learning, curious, and true to oneself in the industry. We discuss the following topics: Christina's background and journey in investment banking Breaking into the industry and the importance of networking The role and responsibilities of corporate advisory in mergers and acquisitions Preparing for shareholder activism and engaging with activists Evaluating defense profiles and best practices in the boardroom The current landscape of friendly and hostile takeovers The importance of diversity and initiatives to support women in investment banking More about our sponsor Fintalent.io: https://fintalent.io You can find all episodes of The Wall Street Lab Podcast on https://thewallstreetlab.com/ Check Out these Wall Street Oasis courses: Modeling Elite Modeling Package: https://il130.isrefer.com/go/TWSLElite/TWSL/ LBO Modeling Course: https://il130.isrefer.com/go/TWSLLBO/TWSL/ Real Estate Modeling Course: https://il130.isrefer.com/go/TWSLRE/TWSL/

In this episode, Dr. Daniel Crosby shares insights on the behavioral aspects of investing. The conversation covered a range of topics, including the trends of passive and active investing, the biases exhibited by portfolio managers, the impact of recent events like the WallStreetBets phenomenon, and the interconnectedness of personal well-being and financial decision-making. Let's delve into the key takeaways from this enlightening discussion. We discuss the following topics: Passive vs. active investing: Strengths and weaknesses of both approaches. Biases in portfolio managers: Managers can exhibit biases they advise against. Rise of retail trading platforms: Gamification, easy access, and zero-cost transactions. Role of personal well-being: Connection between well-being and financial decisions. WallStreetBets phenomenon: Appeal and cautionary aspects of the movement. Influence of extreme states: Impact of emotional and physical states on decision-making. Overall insights: Understand approaches, manage biases, consider retail trading, and prioritize well-being. More about our sponsor Fintalent.io: https://fintalent.io You can find all episodes of The Wall Street Lab Podcast on https://thewallstreetlab.com/  Check Out these Wall Street Oasis courses:  Modeling Elite Modeling Package: https://il130.isrefer.com/go/TWSLElite/TWSL/ LBO Modeling Course: https://il130.isrefer.com/go/TWSLLBO/TWSL/ Real Estate Modeling Course: https://il130.isrefer.com/go/TWSLRE/TWSL/ Quick LinksGet Embed PlayerDownload Audio File  

In this episode of the Wall Street Lab podcast, we had the opportunity to interview Gene Goldman, the Chief Investment Officer and Director of Research at Cetera Financial Group. We will dive into the key takeaways from the interview and explore how they combine quantitative and qualitative data to generate insights for financial investment decisions. More about our sponsor Fintalent.io: https://fintalent.io You can find all episodes of The Wall Street Lab Podcast on https://thewallstreetlab.com/  Check Out these Wall Street Oasis courses:  Modeling Elite Modeling Package: https://il130.isrefer.com/go/TWSLElite/TWSL/ LBO Modeling Course: https://il130.isrefer.com/go/TWSLLBO/TWSL/ Real Estate Modeling Course: https://il130.isrefer.com/go/TWSLRE/TWSL/

Brian Robinson is not your average banker. He's a partner at Goldman Sachs, runs the firm's Prime Brokerage sales force and leads the hedge fund client segment for equities, both for the Americas region, but he's also made a name for himself through his unconventional yet determined approach to career and leadership. In this episode, we'll take you on an interesting trip through Brian's mind. We'll talk about: What Prime Brokerage is and where it fits into Goldman Sach's business Why fund managers sometimes need support building a business Brian's framework for impacting clients Brian's 19 Cs for success in finance How Brian approaches building human yet performing teams Why you're not cool if you only work and why you need interests outside of Finance to make it More about our sponsor Fintalent.io: https://fintalent.io You can find all episodes of The Wall Street Lab Podcast on https://thewallstreetlab.com/    Check Out these Wall Street Oasis courses:  Modeling Elite Modeling Package: https://il130.isrefer.com/go/TWSLElite/TWSL/ LBO Modeling Course: https://il130.isrefer.com/go/TWSLLBO/TWSL/ Real Estate Modeling Course: https://il130.isrefer.com/go/TWSLRE/TWSL/ Interview Prep Hedge Fund Interview Prep Course: https://il130.isrefer.com/go/TWSLHFInt/TWSL/ Investment Banking Interview Prep Course: https://il130.isrefer.com/go/TWSLIBint/TWSL/ Private Equity Interview Prep Course: https://il130.isrefer.com/go/TWSLPEint/TWSL/ VC & PE Venture Capital Course: https://il130.isrefer.com/go/TWSLVC/TWSL/ Private Equity Deals Process: https://il130.isrefer.com/go/TWSLPEDeals/TWSL/

Investors are quick to brag about the impact and network they add to their investments. After all, they know a lot of important people, have access to cash, and an infinite source of knowledge. Christoph Jost, Founder & Managing Partner at FLEX Capital, isn't one of them. "We come in when the founders have already done the hard part", he says. "They have scaled their business to 1 million EBITDA or 5 million in revenue. It's clearly working already."  In this episode, Andi and Christoph discuss: What bootstrapped founders face when they scale How FLEX Capital finds and invests in them How FLEX Capital approaches consolidation How Christoph moved into Private Equity More about FLEX Capital: https://www.flex.capital/en/  More about Fintalent.io: https://fintalent.io You can find all episodes of The Wall Street Lab Podcast on https://thewallstreetlab.com/ 

Welcome to the Wall Street Lab podcast, where we interview top financial professionals and deconstruct their practices to give you an insider look into the world of finance.   In this episode, Jan Voss of BLN Capital shares insights on the challenges, rewards, and intricacies of working in the family office space We discussed: What are the complexities of family offices and their various forms (Single Family Offices vs. Multi-Family Offices)? How does the role of a family office manager differ from traditional fund managers? What is the importance of discretion and trust in family office management? How do family office managers balance family interests while maintaining professionalism? What is the appeal of working in the family office space in terms of diversity and intellectual stimulation?   More about BLN Capital: https://www.blncapital.com/   More about Fintalent.io: https://fintalent.io You can find all episodes of The Wall Street Lab Podcast on https://thewallstreetlab.com/   

Welcome to the Wall Street Lab podcast, where we interview top financial professionals and deconstruct their practices to give you an insider look into the world of finance. Financial models are more than forecasts - they're a crucial decision-making tool. And it takes more than Excel-skills to make them impactful. Our guest today is Ian Schnoor, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Financial Modeling Institute In this episode, we discuss: Why Financial Models are vital tools for investment decisions What makes a Financial Model great What can go wrong when building a Financial Model Learn more about the Financial Modeling Institute: https://fminstitute.com/ More about Fintalent.io: https://fintalent.io You can find all episodes of The Wall Street Lab Podcast on https://thewallstreetlab.com/

Welcome to the Wall Street Lab podcast, where we interview top financial professionals and deconstruct their practices to give you an insider look into the world of finance. Alan Jones is a Senior Managing Director and the Head of North American Private Investment of ICG Asset Management, a global alternative asset manager with over 65 billion USD in Assets under Management. Prior to ICG, Alan spent 25 years with Morgan Stanley where he served most recently as Vice-Chairman of Private Credit & Equity. In 2007, he rebuilt Morgan Stanley's private equity investing business, and from 2007 to 2018 was Head of Private Equity and Chair of the Group's Private Equity Investment Committee. In this episode, we discussed: - How luck can be a powerful driver for career change - How Alan considers PE investments - How he lets younger professionals into his inner circle - Why humility and curiosity are key traits when hiring More about Alan and ICG here: https://www.icgam.com/people/alan-jones/ More about Fintalent: https://fintalent.io/ You can find all episodes of The Wall Street Lab Podcast on https://thewallstreetlab.com/

Welcome to the Wall Street Lab podcast, where we interview top financial professionals and deconstruct their practices to give you an insider look into the world of finance. Today we're joined by Kison Patel, CEO and Founder of M&A Science and Dealroom, a project management software for complex M&A transactions. In this interview, we will discuss: Why current M&A practices are not enough anymore to deal with complex transactions What M&A professionals can learn from agile in software How values in M&A transactions have shifted towards people issues How Kison structures his own companies to capture value in the fragmented M&A market Why he started his podcast despite being an introvert, and what the result of it was His outlook on M&A activity in the current market More about M&A Science: https://www.mascience.com/  More about DealRoom: https://dealroom.net/ Follow Kison on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kisonpatel/  More about Fintalent: https://fintalent.io/ You can find all episodes of The Wall Street Lab Podcast on https://thewallstreetlab.com/ 

Welcome to the Wall Street Lab podcast, where we interview top financial professionals and deconstruct their practices to give you an insider look into the world of finance. Today we're joined by Krista Morgan, a general partner at Stage, an early-stage private equity firm based in Denver, Colorado. She's also the co-founder of Aelin.ai, an artificial intelligence platform helping small businesses prepare for loans. She's currently a board member of Peak Beverage.  Krista holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science and a Diploma in Liberal Arts.  In this interview, we will discuss: How Krista and her co-founder founded Stage Her experiences running a private-equity firm Managing relationships with founders and investors Her approach to funding startups and getting returns   More about Stage: https://stagefund.com/  More about Krista: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristamorgan/  More about Fintalent: https://fintalent.io/ You can find all episodes of The Wall Street Lab Podcast on https://thewallstreetlab.com/ 

My guest today is  Maëlle Gavet, the CEO of Techstars. Techstars is one of the world's largest pre-seed investors, with over 3,300 investments. Maëlle is the Author of “Trampled by Unicorns” and an advocate for Empathetic Tech. Today is a special episode. I apologize for the noise in the background because we have the pleasure of recording this episode in person at the Web Summit in Lisbon. Links More about Techstars: https://www.techstars.com/ More about Maelle: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maellegavet/  More about Fintalent: https://fintalent.io/   You can find all episodes of The Wall Street Lab Podcast on https://thewallstreetlab.com/ 

Today we're joined by Lisa Marchese, Head of Corporate Development of American Express, where she is responsible for all venture investments, joint ventures and M&A activities. Previous positions at American Express include SVP of International Business Development, VP Corporate Development, and VP Strategic Planning Group within the last 20 years. Lisa holds an MBA degree from Columbia Business School and a bachelor's degree from Barnard College. This episode is about all things strategic M&A. Buckle up because we'll discuss: What Corporate Development / M&A means for Amex Lisa's path into M&A How Amex identifies great targets The path from prospecting to closing great deals The importance of integration and how Amex deals with that The episode is filled with a ton of frameworks and practical tips for M&A practitioners and professionals interested in the space alike. The Wall Street Lab is brought to you by Fintalent.io - the leading community for M&A and Private Equity professionals. 

Today is a special episode - because our host Andi is the guest! Andi was a guest on the Fintalent.io podcast. Of course, he's not only the host of the Wall Street Lab, but also founded his own FinTech recently - and raised money for it. If you have always wondered who Andi actually is and how he started the Wall Street Lab podcast, this is the episode to tune in.   In this episode, we discussed: Andi's journey from banker to entrepreneur Why he started Reach.Finance, and what is broken with financial advisory How he approached fundraising How the podcast helped him with fundraising   This podcast is supported by Fintalent.io. Fintalent.io is a professional community for M&A and Private Equity professionals. Connect with peers, and work on exciting deals together.   Links: Connect with Andi on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreasvonhirschhausen/ More about Reach.Finance: https://reach.finance/ More about Fintalent.io: https://fintalent.io

Our guest today is Danielle Joseph. Danielle is a Managing Director and leads the Closed Loop Ventures Group platform – the seed and pre-seed investment division of Closed Loop Partners - focused on the circular economy. She is also a Board Member of several companies.   Prior to Closed Loop Partners, Danielle worked on clean energy project finance activities, including clean energy, energy efficiency, waste-to-value, water resources and reclamation, and environmental services.   Danielle earned her MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business where she led the GSB Impact Fund, an early stage investing platform for impact-driven companies. Danielle earned her Bachelor of Arts from Pomona College.   Danielle is a mentor with Built By Girls – an organisation preparing the next generation of female leaders, builders and creators.   What we'll talk about in this episode What is the circular economy, and how can it help reduce waste in supply chains? How Venture Capital and other asset classes can help accelerate the sustainable movement What qualifications philosophy majors have to become VCs How to balance the traditional VC investment thesis with ESG impacts VC portfolio concentration and how to manage it for sustainability The impact of the current market environment for circular investments   Links https://www.closedlooppartners.com/team-members/danielle-joseph-2/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-joseph-71790026/ https://www.homebiogas.com/ https://partsmonkey.com/ https://www.solarcycle.us/ https://www.cartercenter.org/ https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Peter-Lacy/dp/1349959677 https://www.amazon.com/Waste-Free-World-Circular-Economy-Planet/dp/0593191846 https://www.wastedive.com/ Contact & Disclaimer If you want to get in touch: contact@thewallstreetlab.com Disclaimer: Information contained in this podcast constitutes the opinions of individuals and should not be treated as investment, tax, financial or legal advice. We take no responsibility for the accuracy of any statements made in this podcast. This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and it does not contain an offer to sell or buy any sort of financial products and should not be treated as advertisement for such. Any copying, distribution or reproduction of this podcast without the prior permission of the creators of the podcast is strictly prohibited.

Srecko Dzeko is a General Partner with Flash Ventures in Berlin, focusing on Europe and Latin America. Prior to joining Flash, he was a Senior Consultant at McKinsey. During his career Srecko working in banking with ANZ and Morgan Stanley, private equity with 3i and founded his own startup: Simplo, a venture-backed B2B marketplace. Srecko holds degrees in philosophy from the London School of Economics, and business from the WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management.   In this episode Srecko talks to us about investing into early stage companies as a day-zero investor. His investment decision making criteria, what he looks out for in a startup, and most importantly in a founders team. We learn how Flash Ventures thinks about deal sourcing by creating a network of exceptional people, even before they even think about founding a company. That is how committed Srecko and Flash ventures are to finding the right founders. Srecko also gives advices to founders, and people that want to start a career in VC.   https://flash.vc/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/sre%C4%87ko-d%C5%BEeko-58259864/

Mathieu Chabran is Co-founder of Tikehau Capital, a global alternative asset manager with over 30 Billion USD in Assets under Management.  Previously, he worked in the Real Estate Debt Market team of Deutsche Bank in London. He began his career at Merrill Lynch, firstly in Paris within the Principal Investment team, then in London, in the High Yield Capital Market department. He received his education from ESCP Europe. This episode is about Mathieu's journey as a founder to scaling his alternative investment asset management company across the global. We talk about Private Debt, Real Assets, Private Equity, and Capital Markets Strategy. We cover the importance of people and culture and the effects of covid on the business. And of course we talk about the requirements to grow as an employee and climb the ranks. 

Andrew Scott is a founding partner of 7percent ventures, a London & San Francisco-based technology VC. Before founding 7percent ventures in 2014, Andrew founded six startups of his own. Among these was the world's first location based social network (Playtxt 2001; patented), online digital news archive (BritishPathe.com, 2002), trust graph/recommendation engine using machine learning (Rummble, 2007; patented). In-between he did strategy consulting for VCs and Corporates including Astra Zeneca, AT&T and Alcatel Lucent. Andrew is also co-founder of ICE, a global non-profit network of tech founders and investors, established in 2009.   In this episode we talk about Andrew's journey from serial entrepreneur to Venture Capital investors. Along the way we learn about his selection criteria for investments, lessons learned from being an entrepreneuer, CEO, and then investors. We also talk about how to stand out as someone looking to get into the VC industry. 

  Salim Ramji is a Senior Managing Director and Global Head of iShares and Index Investments for BlackRock and a member of the firm's Global Executive Committee. Prior to that he was Head of BlackRock's U.S. Wealth Advisory business. Salim joined BlackRock in 2014, serving initially as the Global Head of Corporate Strategy. Before joining BlackRock, he was a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company where he led the Asset & Wealth Management practice areas. He started his career as a corporate finance and M&A lawyer in London and Hong Kong. Salim earned a bachelor's degree in economics and politics from University of Toronto, a law degree from Cambridge University and is a CFA charter holder. He is also a trustee of Graham Windham, a New York-based child care agency.   This episode is about nothing less than finding one's purpose in life. For Salim that is making investing easier for millions of people. We talk about ETFs, passive, and index investing, new trends in technology, the recent trading boom and how startups helped facilitate that. We took about the influx of new investors that never before have participated in the markets. We talk about sustainability and it's relation to ETFs, we talk about corporate governance and BlackRocks innovations to let clients vote even in passive vehicles.

Barney Coles is a Managing Director, Co-Head of the Clean Energy team and member of the Executive Committee of Capital Dynamics. He is also a member of the Responsible Investment Committee. He has over a decade of renewable energy financing experience across Europe. Prior to joining Capital Dynamics, Barney spent over six years in energy corporate finance at Ernst & Young in London, working across lead advisory, project finance, and M&A in the clean energy and utility sectors. He also provided transaction advice to both the private and public sector on large-scale clean energy infrastructure procurement processes. Barney has a bachelor's degree in Economics from University of Cambridge and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.   In this episode we dig deeper into a topic we brushed with Capital Dynamics CEO Martin Hahn before: Clean Energy. Private Investments in renewable energy assets, like wind parks and solar farms all across Europe. We dig into lifecycle of such assets, value drivers, and buyers and sellers in the market. We go deep into the mechanics of the power market and what it means for asset pricing. Barney tells us how he experienced the complete change in the market when subsidies suddenly stopped and much more.

Rasa Karapandza is a Professor of Finance, Vice Dean of Education, and the Academic Director of the Master in Finance Program at EBS Business School in Germany. He is also a visiting Professor at New York University. He was previously also visiting scholar at UC Berkeley. Additionally, Rasa is a Member of the board of directors and member of the audit committee of RS2, a payment processing company. The general focus of Rasa's research is investments, empirical asset pricing, and portfolio management. He advised members of the US congress on the topics of regulating cryptocurrencies Rasa received his PhD in Economics and Finance from Graduate School of Economics Barcelona (summa cum laude). He holds a Masters degree in Economics and Finance from University Pompeu Fabra and a Bachelors degree in Astrophysics from the University of Belgrade.   In this episode we cover a lot of ground. We get into Rasa's research about empirical asset pricing aka trying to predict future asset prices. We talk about how he utilises machine learning and language processing methods to extract sentiment from public news sources. We then speak about the controversial topics of High Frequency Trading and Payment for order flow. We cover cryptocurrencies and Rasa debunks some myths about blockchain. Rasa shares insights into his past and encouragements he wants to give to students.

Jens Bernhardt is the Founder and Managing Partner of Bernhardt Advisory, a multifamily office, an M&A service provider, and placement agent for private equity funds in Germany.  Before founding his own company, Jens was Chief Investment Strategist of the family office service provider subsidiary of Sal. Oppenheim, which at the time in 2008, was Europe's largest independent private bank. Jens previously has been a member of the Board of Deutsche Wohnen, a property company listed in Germany's main index, the DAX.    Before that, he was Chief Investment Officer for Germany at Zurich Insurance Group, Switzerland's biggest insurance company. And before that, he was Chief Investment Officer at Skandia Life Insurance. And even before that, Jens was a management consultant and fund manager. Jens holds an MBA from Cambridge and a PhD from the University of Kassel.   In this episode Jens gives us an overview of the Private Wealth space. This includes similarities and differences between Family Offices, Wealth Managers, and Private Banks. As an industry veteran, Jens gets into the benefits and struggles of Family Offices.

Jascha Samadi is Co-Founder and Partner at Greenfield One, a Berlin-based early-stage venture fund dedicated to blockchain and crypto. Greenfield One makes long-term bets on early developer teams building towards an open, decentralized and more robust architecture of tomorrow's web. Prior to Greenfield One, Jascha was Co-Founder and CEO of apprupt, which was acquired by browser maker Opera Software in 2014. He is also Co-Founder of Flux, a scalable open market protocol. Jascha holds a Bachelor and Master of Law from Hamburg University.   This episodes combines two topics we have talked about in the past, Venture Capital and Crypto and how the two can go together. We talk about how crypto VCs invest into new technology, teams, and tokens. We learn how the decision criteria for a crypto VC, the differences, and the similarities between crypto VC and traditional VC. And we learn how the blockchain helps the transparancy on which VCs are all in on the project. Enjoy this deep dive into Web3 Investing. 

Our guest today is Mohnish Pabrai. Mohnish is a legendary investor, a shameless cloner and an effective philanthropist. He is both, the author and the subject of several books. Mohnish is the founder and Managing Partner of Pabrai Investment Funds, Founder and CEO of Dhandho Funds, Founder of the Dakshana Foundation. He is the author of "The Dhandho Investor" and "Mosaic: Perspectives on Investing". In this episode we talk about how Mohnish cloned his investment style from legends like Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffet, and Charlie Munger. Mohnish shares lessons from his book about businesses and investing. We talk about deep value investing, great compounders and the difference in mindset those styles require. We get into his investment funnel, investing mindset, and what Mohnish focuses his attention on. We talk about other great investors like Nick Sleep, Zak Zakaria, and more. Mohnish shares investing lessons from the sitcom "Seinfeld" and fantastic advice on personal and career development. 

Our guest today is Laurie Menoud. Laurie is a Partner at At One Ventures, a VC that finds, funds, and grows deep-tech startups to catalyze a world where humanity is a net positive to nature. Laurie also joined the board of directors of several Startups, and is a multi board observer. Throughout her career Laurie was a Microbiologist, a Biochemist, and Biotechnologist. She was involved in the characterization of the giant virus, “Mimivirus,” at the French national laboratory, which shed new light on the origins of life and optimized new biological processes for wastewater treatment. All that, before she turned to VC, where she co-founded A DOZEN! deep-tech startups related to computer vision, Natural Language Processing, diagnostics and robotics during her time at SRI International and later as Co-lead of BASF's North America Venture Capital efforts. In this episode we talk about Deep Tech VC Investments. We learn how to invest in Biotech, robotics, AI, and much more. Laurie tells us how her background in research, biotech, biochemistry and biology has helped her be a better investor. We talk about investments in companies to lead humanity to a state where we are a net positive to nature. We learn about sourcing deep tech investments, doing due diligence, and helping net positive companies grow. 

Our guest today is Luis García Álvarez. Luis is an Equity Portfolio Manager at MAPFRE Asset Management. MAPFRE is the world's largest Spanish insurance company and the second largest insurance group in Latin America.   Luis has recently received the 'Fund Manager of the Year' award at the Third Edition of the RankiaPro Awards. The economic-financial publication has recognized Luis as "anticipating volatility and creating a portfolio consistent with the long-term view" in an adverse context in financial markets such as that experienced since March 2020.   Luis is also the Co-Director and Professor at the Executive Program in Value Investing and Behavioural Finance at ICADE Business School.   Since 2013 Luis is a CFA Charterholder. Luis also has co-authored several papers on the field of finance which he has presented at the University of Warsaw, University of Munich, Humboldt University of Berlin, the European Central Bank and the Spanish Finance Association. Before joining MAPFRE, Luis worked at Banco Santander as a Market Risk Analyst and also at BBVA as an Equity Research Analyst.   Luis holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the Francisco de Vitoria University, a Master's degree in Economics and Finance from CEMFI and the Value Investing Diploma awarded by the Ben Graham Chair at the Richard Ivey School of Business. In this episode Luis explains to us what Value Investing, Behavioural Finance, and Investing in sports have to do with each other. Luis talks about combining the Value Investing approach with knowledge from Behavioural Finance and how that helps him invest into European Football (Soccer) clubs. He explains his investing approach, idea creation, systems to keep his own emotions in check while gauging the emotions of greed and fear in the market to make successful investments. We deep dive into the financial side of European football and sports in general.

Alina Sychova has more than 18 years of experience in Investment Banking. Currently as the head of capital markets origination at Sova Capital, a UK based Broker specializing in Emerging Markets. Previously, Alina was a managing director and the head of equity Capital markets at Gazprom bank. And before that, the head of ECM origination in Russia and CIS that's the Commonwealth of independent states at City. Alina clan the ranks at Bank of America Merrill Lynch from an Analyst to Director. All those jobs have a strong focus on investment banking for emerging markets across Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Alina holds a master's degree in finance from London Business School, a bachelor's degree in finance, and a bachelor's degree in international finance, both cum laude from pyramidal College of New Jersey. In this episode we deep dive into Investment Banking, more specifically into IPOs. Alina leads us through the entire process a company does from deciding to go public, to the first days of trading on an exchange. We talk about the checklist IPO items, as well as the creative, artistic parts of taking a company public as an investment bank. We explore Investment Banking in Emerging Markets and the differences to developed markets. Alina shares with us her views on industry trends, opportunities for young bankers, especially women interested in IB. Alina also shares  and her own story making career in this male dominated IB world. And of course she gives great advice for young professionals and many jumping off points for a round 2.

Michael Berns is Director for AI & FinTech at PwC. Michael has a broad background across blue chip names such as Morgan Stanley & Moody's as well as a range of smaller innovative AI Firms. Michael has been a Mentor and Judge for organizations like Startup Bootcamp, Virgin Money Startup, Cocoon Network, Level 39, MIT Inclusive Innovation Competition and the United Nations World Food Program. Michael is als a guest lecturer at London Business School and Mannheim Business School. Michael holds an Executive MBA from London Business School.  In this episode we revisit AI in Finance and Banking and we are busting some myths about common misconceptions people have about it's adoption. We also get into the difference in AI adoption across several regions across the world. We talk about regulation, use cases, and much more. Michael also gives some advice on getting your career path right and resources on how to start with AI.

Lutfey is a Visiting Professor-in-Practice (IDEAS - "Ranked #1 university-affiliated think-tank 2020") at LSE, the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he also is aMember of Scientific Advisory Board at the LSE Systemic Risk Centre. At LSE he is also Co-investigator of the Inclusion Initiative, a Former member of the LSE Court of Governors & Investment Committee. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the National University of Singapore, where he also is part of the Advisory board of the Centre for Governance & Sustainability.  Furthermore, Lutfey is a Member of the Global Agenda Council or Global Future Council of the World Economic Forum. He is also a member of the Bretton Woods Committee and on several more boards.  Previously Lutfey was the Global Head of Emerging Markets (FX, Rates & Credit) and Founding Head of the Knowledge Network at UBS, where he also was a Sustainability Council & Opinion Leader. Before that, Lutfey was the Head of FX Distribution & Corporate Risk Advisory for Asia-Pacific at Barclays Capital and Head of FX Structuring at Deutsche Bank. In this episode we explore the realm of global risk management and then deep dive into a key ingredient in making financial firms more resilient: inclusion and diversity. Lutfey takes his impressive vita as a baseline to talk about the changing understanding of risk in the context of a global financial institution. We go into leadership and inclusion frameworks firms and leaders can apply to have a more stable setting for risk management. We talk about the short term cost and obstacles of inclusion and diversity, and why it's worth the initial trouble due to the sustained long term benefits. Lutfey gives advice on what to possibly anchor your career on in the next decade, how to prepare for a global leadership role, and other great tips for professional improvement. 

Robert Almgren is the Chief Scientist and co-founder of Quantitative Brokers. Rob was previously a professor of mathematics at the University of Chicago, the University of Toronto, and currently teaches High-Frequency Markets at Princeton University. Prior to QB, Robert was a Managing Director and Head of Quantitative Strategies in the Electronic Trading Services group at Bank of America until 2008. Robert Almgren completed a B.S. in physics and a B.S. in mathematics at MIT, then an M.S. in Applied Mathematics at Harvard University. He holds a Ph.D. in Applied and Computational Mathematics from Princeton University. In this episode we nerd out a bit: We get deep into the weeds of optimal trade execution, particularly in Fixed Income and Futures markets. We talk about the history, theory, and practice of minimizing trading costs by minimizing slippage in fixed income markets. We learn why trade execution is an important topic to think about, how to measure optimal trade execution and what research is done to further improve it. We dive into the ideas of the quantitative models and methods used and get some tips on where to learn more about the increasing quantification of financial markets.

Hello and Welcome to another episode of the Wall Street Lab Podcast.  I am currently in the offices of Solactive in Frankfurt. The second in person interview in a very long time. With me is today's guest: Timo Pfeiffer. Timo is the Chief Markets Officer of Solactive and in charge of Research, Sales, and Communications. He joined in 2017 as Head of Research & Business Development, after working for more than 15 years at Deutsche Bank, where he has held various management positions in London and Frankfurt. Most recently, he served as Managing Director in charge of Structured Products distribution in Europe. He holds a bachelor's degree from the Berufsakademie in Mosbach.  In this episode we explore the world of indices. You all have heard of the biggest indices, use them probably every day, but how much do you know about their origin, creation, administration? This is our topic for today. We look at the life of an index from beginning to end. Who comes up with the idea? How does the creation process work? What are the use cases? How to maintain an index? And in the end, what is the point of termination for an index? We speak a lot about trends and themes, like thematic investing, ETFs, sustainability, and much more.   

Our guest today is Michaela Walsh. Michaela is an activist, scholar, mentor, educator, and author. She was the Founding President of Women's World Banking. Women's World Banking is the global leader in women's financial inclusion. Prior to that, Michaela served as a Project Director for the U.S. Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, and as a Program Associate with the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Michaela also was a pioneer woman manager with Merrill Lynch in Beirut, Lebanon, in the '60s, and the first woman Partner of Boettcher & Company in the '70s, and in 1980.  This episode is a rare one. Michaela at 86 years old has a treasure trove of experience and is a true force of nature. We talk about the founding idea of women's world banking, the issues it wanted to solve, the story how it came into existence. We talk about Michaela's experience in female financial inclusion and the positive effects of it. We talk about how WWB financed over 100 million women over the years and became one of the most important financial institutions for female empowerment.  

Daniel Faggella is the Founder, CEO, and Head of Research at Emerj Artificial Intelligence Research. He is also a Member of the OECD Network of Experts on AI, a Fellow at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. Daniel previously founded Science of Skill, CLVboost, and Black Diamond Mixed Martial Arts Academy, so we have someone with a very specific and similarly broad experience set. Dan also hosts a total of 3 podcast: The AI in Business Podcast, The AI in Consulting Podcast, The AI in Financial Services Podcast. Dan holds a Masters degree from the University of Pennsylvania in Positive Psychology and a bachelors in Psychology and Kinesiology with a Minor in business. In this episode, we get into AI for financial services. Daniel talks about the true distribution of AI funding for banks, how one needs to cut through the tweets and press releases to check where money in AI is actually flowing. We talk about how to research AI use cases, and how to think about investing in AI as a bank. How to think about ROI (Return on Investment) before doing an AI project, and the answer might surprise you: It is not always hard Dollars that might be a project's true ROI. And of course Daniel gives us a lot of places to further dive into AI for the finance space.

Hugo Bongers is the Head of ABN Amro Ventures, the 150 million Euro Corporate Venture Capital fund of Dutch Bank ABN Amro. His mission is to make strategic investments in early-stage (series A and onwards) tech and fintech companies which are relevant for the bank. His job is to scout for innovative companies, invest in them, connect them with relevant stakeholders within the bank. Hugo is on the board of a lot of startups, like solarisbank, penta, crosslend, just to name a view. Hugo has a background in acquisition finance and private equity. Hugo holds Masters degrees in law and economics from Utrecht University. In this episode we talk about the Corporate Venture Capital arm of ABN Amro. We talk about how Hugo sources his deals, his decision criteria on when to invest in startups. His value proposition to startup founders and how he deals with internal and external stakeholders of the bank. We go into the latest market developments, the recent rise in valuations even in early stages before hitting a positive cash flow. And of course, we give some interesting career advice.

Colin Lancaster is a 25-year Wall Street professional. He has run two of the highest profile global macro businesses for the top-performing hedge funds in the world and has worked directly for a number of the icons in the investing world. Most recently he was Head of Global Macro Strategies at Citadel and prior to that he was Head of Global Macro at Balyasny Asset Management. He has managed investment operations in London, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, Chicago, and San Francisco. Colin is a graduate of Princeton University and is a lawyer by training. Colin is also the author of the book "Fed Up! - Success, Excess and Crisis Through the Eyes of a Hedge Fund Macro Trader". It tells the story of a global macro trader working amidst the greatest market panic we have seen since the Great Depression. In this episode we talk about hedge funds, and Global macro especially. We get into how the field has changed over the years. We also talk about Colin's experience about modern financial markets chronicling the men and women who make them move. Can they beat the markets, or will the markets beat them? We further talk about the aspects of repositioning one's portfolio during a crisis. How does one behave as a trader when the markets crash? We get into Colin's book and the learnings he wants to bring across in writing it. 

Jean-Christophe or JC de Swaan is a lecturer in the economics department at Princeton University, where he is affiliated with the Bendheim Center for Finance.  He teaches courses on ethics in finance and on Asian capital markets to undergraduate and graduate students.  He also teaches at the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge.  In the past he has taught at Yale University, Hong Kong UST, and Cheung Kong Business School in Beijing. Separately, JC de Swaan is a Partner at Cornwall Capital, an investment fund based in New York.  Prior to Cornwall, he was a senior advisor on China at a global macro fund and an investment professional at an Asia-dedicated hedge fund.  Prior to that, JC de Swaan worked at McKinsey & Company. JC de Swaan received his B.A. from Yale University in Political Science, an MPhil in International Relations from the University of Cambridge, and a Master in Public Policy from Harvard University's Kennedy School.  He is a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and an Associate Fellow of Ezra Stiles College, Yale University.  He is the author of Seeking Virtue in Finance: Contributing to Society in a Conflicted Industry (Cambridge University Press).

Patrick Lowry is the CEO and Managing Partner of Iconic Holding. Iconic Holding is a global crypto asset management group that started in 2017 with Iconic Lab, a global crypto VC and accelerator. Iconic also launched a series of crypto asset index vehicles under the Iconic Funds brand. Patrick is also the CEO of Cryptology Asset Group. Cryptology is a Malta based investment company investing in crypto assets and companies around the world with portfolio companies including Block.one, nextmarkets and Iconic. Cryptology is the largest publicly traded holding company for blockchain companies and crypto assets. Previously, Patrick was an auditor at PwC and worked many years in private equity and in venture capital, most notably for the German stock exchange, Deutsche Börse. He holds an MBA degree, a BS in Finance and Accounting and a CPA license. In this episode we revisit the crypto space. Patrick walks us through his first experiences in crypto, his view of the crypto winter and how it was to start a crypto company. We speak about institutional adoption of crypto assets, the future thereof, and how some instruments like BTC ETPs are structured. We then go into the widely discussed topic of bitcoin and sustainability of its mining, Elon Musk and his impact, and last but not least, Patrick explains NFTs and their use cases.

Bashar Al-Natoor is Fitch Rating's Global Head Islamic Finance. Bashar is responsible for coordinating all Islamic Finance activities across Fitch's Sovereign, Financial Institutions, Corporate, Structured Finance, Infrastructure and Insurance teams. Bashar has more than 16 years' experience in the Islamic Finance market. Prior to joining Fitch, Bashar spent seven years at the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) in key roles. Bashar graduated with an MSc in banking and financial studies from the Arab Academy for Finance and Banking Science and a BS in finance and banking from Amman University. Bashar is also a Certified Bank Auditor (CBA), a Certified Risk Professional (CRP), a Chartered Market Analyst (FAD-CMA), and a Certified Risk Analyst (CRA). In this episode, we dig into an entirely new topic that we never covered before with Fitch Ratings' global head of Islamic finance, Bashar Al-Natoor. We are given an introduction to the Islamic Finance industry, a topic that hasn't received much attention in the western world. We learn about key Islamic finance terms like sukuk and takaful, as well as learning about the rules that govern Islamic finance and Islamic banking. We talk about the biggest Islamic finance markets, like Dubai, Kuwait and Malaysia. After learning about the basics, we dive into challenges, and opportunities in the market, as well as the future of Islamic finance, including fintech. 

Radboud Vlaar is a Managing Partner at Finch Capital, a VC investor based out of Amsterdam.  Prior to launching Finch Capital and its first fund in 2013, Radboud was a Partner at McKinsey & Company, focused on Financial Services, PE, and M&A. Prior to McKinsey, Radboud worked at TPG, co-founded 3 companies. Radboud holds four Master's Degrees from the University in Groningen. Radboud leads the firms' investments in ZOPA, Fixico, BUX, Safened, Salviol, DIG (incl. KNIP and Komparu), Trussle, Supply Finance among others.   This episode is dedicated to VC investments into Fintech startups. We have a look into investing in AI companies with a focus on the financial sector. Radboud speaks about how Finch Capital uses Machine Learning for their own deal sourcing and how a VC investor adds value to startups beyond the money when competing for the best investments. We have a section on raising and investing money over the lifetime of a VC investor. We get into how things change from a first fund to a third fund and get some great lessons learned when it comes to VC investing.

Brett King is a futurist, an Amazon bestselling author, an award-winning speaker, host the globally recognized radio show Breaking Banks, is the Founder and Executive Chairman of neo-bank Moven. He advised the Obama administration on the Future of Banking. Brett has spoken at TED conferences, given opening keynotes for Wired, Techsauce, Singularity University, Web Summit, The Economist, IBM's World of Watson, CES, SIBOS, and many more. He has appeared as a commentator on CNN, CNBC, BBC, ABC, Fox, and Bloomberg. He previously advised the Obama administration on Fintech policy and advises regulators and bank boards around the world on technology transformation. This episode is every Fintech enthusiast's dream. We talk about the current state of banking, what is possible, and where banking is headed. And most importantly, Brett gives some advice on how to be part of the future of banking. We talk about different technologies like AI, blockchain, but also soft skills needed to succeed, like having the right mindset. We go over lessons in technology from all around the world, like China

Stephen Stonberg is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Bittrex Global, one of the leading crypto trading platforms. Before joining Bittrex Global, Stephen held Managing Director positions with Deutsche Bank, J.P. Morgan, Credit Suisse, the Winton Group, and Goldman Sachs. He was Partner and CEO U.S. of the hedge fund Brevan Howard.  In this episode, we talk about all things crypto. We talk about the newest trends, the latest news, what's going on with regulation in the crypto space, and where Stephen sees regulation going. We talk about Ripple and their quarrel with the SEC. We talk about tokenized equity and leverage tokens. And of course, how to learn to get into the crypto space and why it's an exciting place to be.

Elizabeth Crain is the Chief Operating Officer and a Founding Partner at Moelis & Company where she leads the Firm's global strategy, infrastructure, and business management functions. Elizabeth has been in the investment banking and private equity industries for over 25 years as a banker, principal, and operations executive. Moelis is a global independent investment bank that has advised on more than $3.5 trillion on transactions, with deal sizes ranging from $100 million to $160billion. Prior to Moelis & Company, Elizabeth was a Managing Director in the UBS Investment Bank where she was the Manager of the Investment Bank Client Committee and a member of the Investment Bank Board. In addition, she was both the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Administrative Officer of the UBS Investment Banking Department Americas franchise. Before joining UBS, Ms. Crain was in the private equity industry from 1997 to 2001. She began her career in investment banking in 1988 at Merrill Lynch. Elizabeth was named one of the “25 Most Powerful Women in Finance by American Banker magazine in 2011 and 2012.   Elizabeth holds a B.S. in Economics from Arizona State University and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She serves on the Board of Directors of Exscientia Ltd., the Graduate Executive Board of The Wharton School, and the Board of Trustees of The Windward School.   In this episode we cover a lot of ground, we talk about the M&A and Investment Banking industry, the changes it went through in recent years, especially because of covid. We talk about the impact of technology, especially AI, on the business. We get into Corporate Social Responsibility, the increase in recent M&A activities, other industry trends like SPACs and PIPEs and finish with an intro into neurodiversity, career advice, and tips for personal and professional development.

Chris co-founded Class VI in 2005 with a mission to Enable the Entrepreneurial Spirit. Prior to Class VI, Chris spent more than 20 years gaining experience in executive management, marketing, sales, law, and mergers and acquisitions. Chris was a co-founder and President of Expanets, the nation's largest provider of converged communications solutions. During his tenure with Expanets, Chris led the acquisition and integration of 27 companies, ranging in size from $2 million to over $1 billion in annual revenues, ultimately leading to its acquisition by Avaya in late 2003. Prior to Expanets, Chris was an associate with the law firm of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich and Rosati, and clerked for the Honorable Jesse Eschbach of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit. Chris is a graduate of Miami University and Harvard Law School and has also studied at The London School of Economics.   In this episode we talk about buying and selling entire business of several perspectives as Chris has experience in both. We explore the process of selling a business, where to find buyers, getting the timing right, and; most importantly, getting the business itself ready for sale. We talk about different mistakes entrepreneurs make, how to avoid them, and then get the best possible price for the business. We also dive into the effects of covid on the M&A market, differences between boutique investment banks vs. large Wall Street Banks, and Chris offers some career advice.

Martin is President of FIS Capital Market Solutions business. You might have heard of FIS because of their 43 billion Dollar acquisition of worldpay in 2019, which was the largest acquisition in the Fintech industry to date. FIS is the world's largest Fintech with over 10 billion USD in revenue and over 55,000 employees globally.  In this role, Martin is responsible for developing and delivering the technology and services that facilitate the movement, management and growth of money and global securities. He joined FIS in 2015 with the acquisition of SunGard, where he began his leadership journey in 1998. Over his 20 years with FIS and its predecessor companies, Martin has held a variety of global operational and strategic leadership positions with increasing responsibility in treasury management, asset management, international distribution and the institutional and wholesale business.Before joining FIS, Martin was a senior manager with the Royal Bank of Scotland, a management consultant at KPMG, and started his career at IBM. He has a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Birmingham. In this episode we focus on the Fintech industry. We explore the impacts of covid on the adoption of new technologies and what tech trends Martin observes and expects for 2021. We speak broadly about technologies like AI, Cloud, mobile, and blockchain. Other topics are the ever more dominating role of technology in a companies operations, innovating at the scale and size of FIS, and creating a culture fit for a rapid changing world. 

Weijian Shan is chairman and CEO of PAG, a leading Asia-focused private equity firm. Prior to PAG, he was a partner of TPG, and co-managing partner of TPG Asia (formerly known as Newbridge Capital).   Over two decades, Weijian Shan has led a number of landmark transactions. Previously, Shan was a managing director of JP Morgan, and an assistant professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and an M.B.A. from the University of San Francisco.    Shan is the author of Out of the Gobi: My Story of China and America (2019) and Money Games: The Inside Story of How American Dealmakers Saved Korea's Most Iconic Bank (2020). His articles and commentary have been published in the Financial Times, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs and many other publications.   In this episode we speak about Private Equity. Shan walks us through the entire process of a Private Equity deal, from sourcing deals, the ins and outs buying a company, restructuring or turning around said company, and then exiting the deal successfully. We deep into some of the deals Shan lead during his more than 20 year career, most prominently into the acquisition of Korea First bank. We talk about his book Money Games and Shan leaves us with some fantastic career advice.

Stephan Feilhauer is a Managing Director at Macquarie Capital, the corporate advisory, capital markets and principal investment arm of Macquarie Group. Stephan leads Macquarie Capital's growth equity investment, or investments on the firm's own balance sheet, in the Infratech sector. Before Macquarie Capital, Stephan was a VP at Deutsche Bank, a Graduate Researcher at MIT, a Financial Economist at The World Bank, and a Financial Analyst at Goldman Sachs. Stephan holds a Bachelors of Engineering in Business Finance from University College London and the London School of Economics and a Masters in Engineering and Economics from MIT. In this episode we speak about principle investing and the differences between investing on a firm's balance sheet compared to other forms of VC funds. We get into investing in infrastructure and energy technology startups, the process, the decision criteria, the investment instruments and much more. Stephan also shares big trends he's seeing across the infrastructure tech industry, like responsible investing and growth opportunities in emerging markets.

Rich Nuzum is President of Mercer's Investments & Retirement business and a member of Mercer's Executive Leadership Team. Rich is also the Executive Sponsor for Mercer's Pride Business Resource Network. Rich's prior roles include President and Global Business Leader for Mercer's Investment Management business and global Chief Investment Officer for Mercer's Investment Management business. Rich holds an MBA (with high honors) in analytic finance and accounting from the University of Chicago and a bachelor's degree (with honors) in mathematical sciences and mathematical economic analysis from Rice University in Houston, Texas. He is a CFA® charterholder and a member of the CFA Institute. Rich has repeatedly been named to CIO magazine's annual list of the world's most influential investment consultants and received CIO's 2017 Industry Innovation Award as Consultant of the Year. Mercer is the largest investment consultant ranked by worldwide institutional assets under advisement, reporting $15.96 trillion in institutional AUA as of June 30, 2020 and further has Delegated Assets under Management of $304.5 billion USD as of 30 November 2019. We speak about investment consulting, what needs differently sized asset owners need from an investment consultant. We also talk about finding innovative investment managers, the strategies small, medium, and large asset owners use to outperform relative to their capabilities. We also get into the concept of Outsourced CIOs, the trends in the retirement fund world and of course, we get some career advice.

Martin is Chief Executive Officer, Head of Business Development and a member of the Executive Committee of Capital Dynamics. He has over 30 years of experience in sales, marketing and general management. Prior to joining Capital Dynamics, Martin was an independent management consultant and CEO at TestQuest, Inc., a start-up software company in the US. Earlier in his career, he held general manager positions at several publicly traded technology companies in the US. Martin holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Minnesota and an MBA from the University of Chicago. Capital Dynamics is a global private asset investment company founded 1988 with over $17 bn Assets under Management.   In this episode, we talk about private assets, including a very broad range of private equity topics: from Primary Fund-of-Fund investments to secondaries and co-investing. This is followed by a discussion about the characteristics of private credit. We then talk about clean energy infrastructure, the importance of Responsible Investing and, as always, Martin leaves us with some great career advice. 

Rob is the CEO of IPC Systems, the leading voice trading company famous for their dealer turrets, which you can find on every trading floor. Previously, Rob was the President of Global Trading at FIS, the world's largest Fintech and a Fortune 500 company. Before that, Rob was COO of several different companies. Rob recently won the CEO of the Year award. We speak about the past, present, and future of trading, especially voice trading. We dive into the effects of Covid19 on the trading world, how trading evolved in a working from home environment and how technology enabled this shift. Rob shares his views on leadership, how to become CEO of the Year and how to lead through transformational times. And of course, with such a high profile guest, I ask for some career advice.