Friday Feature Book Review: "Lords of the Rim" by Sterling Seagrave スターリングシーグレーブ "宋家王朝" 中国の富と権力を支配した一族の物語

This book explains "how to be a billionaire". It is a hybrid of Chinese history, business entrepreneurship, and financial market evolutions. The focus is about how many Chinese adventurers left China. Many left for lands far away. A few even then built some of the most successful international business networks that Asia has ever seen. All three are things that I love, and this was reflected by the author as well. This is a densely packed book, full of very deep drill down research covering thousands of years. There are no shortcuts here, just quality writing, professionally researched and well explained.

I have heard of only a few of these key Chinese figures like Sun Tzu, who created the Art of War. He is often considered the inspiration for Machiavelli's "The Prince". His famous 13 chapters are now basic reading for many Japanese executives within major Keiretsu groups like Mitsubishi. The discipline needed for business has come from war. In Japan, business is today's modern war. 

Also described is San Bao, the Chinese sailor who discovered Africa, Europe and even America. All this back in 1421, well before Christopher Columbus ever landed in the USA. He is considered the actual figure from which "Sinbad the Sailor" was modeled after. The world's seven seas have been sailed by the Chinese sailors for a long time. He took huge ships as long as modern football fields in massive groups. His flotilla of Vast Red Ships sailed to Africa, Australia, Europe and even North & South America! His trips were documented in stone tablets left in all of these locations that were later authenticated. 

There are limited gold deposits within India, but there is plenty of gold within India today. This is mainly because of a long history involving Chinese trade. This gold story is well explained, one of many that makes your head shake in amazement from the author's clear description of events. When many visitors see theater they notice the make of the actors and can see the direct influence that originally came from Chinese opera in classical Indian live performances today. Trades brings people and cultures together is many amazing ways.

Sterling Seagraves, knows his subject well, perhaps too well. Some of the pages almost seem like text books crammed full of information you feel almost guilty about not fully absorbing right away. His ability to bring a complex observation and explain it so simply is a real skill. I did not know how Chinese dialects came about as so different to the ear, yet similar in a written form. His ability to explain this and connect it to the creation of the "Great Wall" was fascinating. 

I did not understand the kind of hometown connections that connect certain kinds of Overseas Chinese dominated businesses had. I did not know how politics compliment them, in one market after another, no matter what the country or region. So much, from this master storyteller was well explained. The most recent 60+ years since Mao, had less of an impact, as it was subject matter that was more modern and familiar. 

The Top 3 Takeaways from this book that really impact any reader are:

1) There is a very long history in China and the rest of Asia that has no comparison in Europe.

2) Business in Asia has been at the core of shipping and trade for much of the region that is connected by water.

3) Just like Europe, food and culture across Asia has widely spread all over and continued in the business attitudes used today.

No matter what level of Chinese history you may know or understand, this book will upgrade you. The traditions of Overseas Chinese and the businesses that they built are complex and very successful. It is not a smooth history, one full of challenges, and this book explains them well. You wish the book continued despite its more than 400+ pages. Very much worth a read, a nice pleasurable long one. Highly Recommended!

Please visit us for our Friday Feature Review where TMJ Partners will review books, movies, services and anything else with a financial theme. Follow us now for our free weekly updates, just click here. Thank you for reading and learning more about how money is made in finance!

If you are interested in Sales & Trading, Banking or FinTech focused roles in Asia or Japan then click here. Follow TMJ Partners on Linkedin Instagram or Twitter. We are the world's #1 recruiter on Twitter, with over 40,000+ followers globally! click here! 

あなたがアジアや日本のセールストレーディング,
バンキング、フィンテックの役割に興味がある場合は、こちらをクリックしてください。ティエムジェィパートナーズをLinkedin Instagram またはTwitterでフォローしてください！ 世界中のTwitterで第1位のリクルーター、40,000以上のフォロワーを既に持っています！クリックしてください。

For more Buy-Side and Sell-Side roles in Asia-Pacific, contact our TMJ Partners Japan & Asia Finance team.
Tokyo                                          Tokyo

      Mark  Pink                               Shinichi Nagasawa
Direct + 81 3 3505 3891              Direct + 81 3 3505 3891

Friday Feature Book Review: Japan Sales Mastery (Lessons from 30 years in Japan) : Dr. Greg Story 日本セールスマスター（日本で30年間のレッスン)： グレッグストーリー

 

Business only starts, when a sale is made, so this book is a nice surprise. It can be enjoyed in 2 main ways. If you need to learn how to sell as an entrepreneur or in a new role you take on, this is perfect. However, if you already sell, it also teaches you new ways to sell to customers or clients that you may not sell to well today. Can you sell to all 5 types of customers or clients, or just 1 or 2? Having been in sales for most of my career, learning new ways to recognize customers I was weak selling to, was a wonderful surprise. 

Many of these proven techniques originally come from Dale Carnegie. Principles that are over 100 years old, with over 50 years of success in Japan. If Warren Buffet, perhaps the world's most successful investor to date, claims his Dale Carnegie course changed his life, and upgraded his business skills, who am I to argue? Could this even be a basic core reason as to why he is a billionaire, and I am not, at least not yet. Although set in Japan, this is more about international sales. It easily can be a guide on how to sell to a buyer of a different nationality. This is mainly about how to assume less, and listen more, and then discover needs you can provide.

Sales is a process, and can be learned young or old, and the basic building blocks are explained in a very clear fashion. I thought this book would be about selling only in Japan, but I was wrong there too. It is more a guide on how to better perform within international sales of any kind. I learned how you can assume less, listen more, and really learn want your customer wants. That was the true value in this book. The author does a great job at giving clear examples on how many sales people fail to close deals. More importantly, you learn how to improve, get better and make more sales more often. 

I never thought about the 5 kinds of very different buyers described before, or how to best appeal to each of them. Each buyer has a preferred way of being sold to. Often one sales person tries only one or two ways only to sell to a wide variety of types. 5 are below, but there are many others.

1) Visual types => How does this look to you?
2) Audio types => How does that sound so far?
3) Tactile types => Can you get your hands around this?
4) Logical types => Does this seem logical to you so far?
5) Emotional types => How do you feel about this so far?

What you learn most out of this book, is what you may be doing wrong. If you can learn more about the types of buyers, you can adjust your style, and sell more often. For anybody who sells any amount, selling more is always the goal. Many of the tips help you realize where you may need to increase any weaknesses in your sales skills. You can always get better, but I never considered you could get better with customer types you never closed before. That is a great realization moment.

The Top 3 Takeaways from this book that impact any reader are:

1) For top sales results, there must be time to listen. Instead of first selling by speaking fast and overloading buyers with facts, listen to what buyers need first. Listen first, reply after.

2) The more you can listen, even as much as 80% of a conversation from a buyer, the more you can sell. You can be more clear with any solution if you know what the buyer needs. You can refine a much better sales solution more often & more quickly.

3) The mindset you need to sell requires work. Any top sales person needs to find ways to keep any sales effort improving. This can be by finding better satisfaction from proposing worthwhile solutions for buyers.

The amount of solid ideas on how to improve your selling ability, or start a solid process for the first time is excellent. It performs both types of sales instruction very clearly. No matter how good you are at sales, there is always something to learn. If already learned, then maybe tweaked in a new way for a new kind of buyer. As a process, sales does evolve, and the best sales people evolve along with it. 

Please visit us for our Friday Feature Review where TMJ Partners will review books, movies, services and anything else with a financial theme. Follow us now for our free weekly updates, just click here. Thank you for reading and learning more about how money is made in finance!

If you are interested in Sales & Trading, Banking or FinTech focused roles in Asia or Japan then click here. Follow TMJ Partners on Linkedin Instagram or Twitter. We are the world's #1 recruiter on Twitter, with over 40,000+ followers globally! click here! 

あなたがアジアや日本のセールストレーディング,
バンキング、フィンテックの役割に興味がある場合は、こちらをクリックしてください。ティエムジェィパートナーズをLinkedin Instagram またはTwitterでフォローしてください！ 世界中のTwitterで第1位のリクルーター、40,000以上のフォロワーを既に持っています！クリックしてください。

For more Buy-Side and Sell-Side roles in Asia-Pacific, contact our TMJ Partners Japan & Asia Finance team.
Tokyo                                          Tokyo

      Mark  Pink                               Shinichi Nagasawa
Direct + 81 3 3505 3891              Direct + 81 3 3505 3891

Friday Feature Book Review: Swimming with Sharks (A Hedge Fund Journey): Joris Luyendijk なぜ僕たちは金融街の人びとを嫌うのか? (ヘッジファンドの物語): ヨリス ライエンダイク

 

This is an excellent overview of the World of Finance and its unique culture. The author started the project knowing nothing about anything financial. Via interviews he figures out as a true beginner how all of the parts fit together. This was a blog project started by the UK newspaper "The Guardian" and gained a lot of popularity. Many in the public started bashing bankers of all types. We learn that, "it is not the people that are bad, it's the culture". One defense was curious. Saying that all bankers are bad is like saying "all athletes are bad because a few are caught for doping". I can see the logic now with that observation.

We learn a lot about the functions of different people with a bank versus a securities company versus a regulator. We learn about how front office traders (the tigers) differ from those within middle (the type B personality chimpanzees) or back office function (the worker bees). All are considered "bankers" but only a few seem to be the ones who the media go on about, the top 5% of earners. I like the saying, " this job involves selling your soul for a good salary", that does seem correct.

How did the financial crisis begin in 2008 anyway? Who was responsible? Why hasn't anybody gone to jail? This was a basic starting point of the blog, but many layers of the financial world are explored. It was important to understand how it worked, or didn't in many key cases. The first thing the author discovers is the "unspoken understandings" that exist within any bank. As an outsider, the author finds out what you can ask about and can't very quickly. he also finds out that no single person, or entity can really be pointed out as uniquely responsible for the crisis.

For anybody already working inside a financial institution, it all rings very true. For anybody looking to get into finance or switch careers, this can be a big eye opener. It really explains what the culture is like, who the people are, and what types seem to do well in certain kinds of roles. As far as a bigger picture on finance though, other thoughts are insightful. Are investment banks "too big to fail" or are now just "too big to save". Are they in fact "too big to manage" anymore? When too many in senior roles do not know what others in the bank are really doing, isn't this a bad sign? 

The Top 3 Takeaways from this book that impact any reader are:

1) There is no single person or small group who was responsible for the Great Financial Crisis of 2008.

2) A globally integrated system of finance with weak laws & guidelines was the true root cause of the crisis.

3) Nothing major has changed within this financial system, and a new trigger like an IT glitch could start a bigger crisis.

I come away with more questions on what "should be done by the end. It seems that even for an outside, the system has grown out of control by management and the regulators. How can this be fixed or improved? The amoral nature of the shareholders who now own most of these publicly listed firms, have no real interest in changing the system today. The whole worldwide financial system is interconnected and works in ways it was never intended to. A kind of global evolution gone wrong. It does not matter if Quants, Artificial Intelligence or any other FinTech innovations develop in future. 

The core foundation of global finance seems to need a big re-think. The biggest question is will the world make the changes in time, or will a meltdown in a bigger future crisis force this change only later? Investment Banks, Private Banks, Asset Management, Insurance or any other part of the financial system may need to be redone. I do not have all of the answers today, but after reading this book, I certainly feel that know what issues need to be addressed. Highly Recommended!

Please visit us for our Friday Feature Review where TMJ Partners will review books, movies, services and anything else with a financial theme. Follow us now for our free weekly updates, just click here. Thank you for reading and learning more about how money is made in finance!

If you are interested in Sales & Trading, Banking or FinTech focused roles in Asia or Japan then click here. Follow TMJ Partners on Linkedin Instagram or Twitter. We are the world's #1 recruiter on Twitter, with over 40,000+ followers globally! click here! 

あなたがアジアや日本のセールストレーディング,
バンキング、フィンテックの役割に興味がある場合は、こちらをクリックしてください。ティエムジェィパートナーズをLinkedin Instagram またはTwitterでフォローしてください！ 世界中のTwitterで第1位のリクルーター、40,000以上のフォロワーを既に持っています！クリックしてください。

For more Buy-Side and Sell-Side roles in Asia-Pacific, contact our TMJ Partners Japan & Asia Finance team.
Tokyo                                          Tokyo

      Mark  Pink                               Shinichi Nagasawa
Direct + 81 3 3505 3891              Direct + 81 3 3505 3891

Friday Feature Movie Review: Arbitrage: Richard Gere (Hedge Fund Thriller!) キング・オブ・マンハッタン : リチャード・ギア (ヘッジファンドのスリラー！)

Money, Sex and Power are all here. Our hero is a hedge fund manager wanting to sell his business. Nothing wrong with that, but he has to sell. That is never an easy place to be. Life is good at the top, but when a mistress ends up dead, and the police start asking questions, life even at the top of finance, gets complicated.

Richard Gere plays the patriarch of a family owned investment firm. It is large and well established like the Gabelli Funds, but without the brightness of a younger generation. We first see the public face on CNBC and other channels, but his life behind the scenes is not for public viewing. Manhattan is full of flash and affluence, but the people serving the rich, are also part of the same world. Good people you need to rely on. Loyalty from long-term staff can never be overestimated. It can even be life saving.

There seems to be a hole in the balance sheet, not a stolen money hole like Madoff, but more a funding hole caused by Russian markets. It is a big gap that needs to be filled by a Ultra HNWI loan. Help that gets frustrated when the 2 week period takes longer longer than expected to repay. When trying to pass a final audit, that kind of loan is the type that is best not found.

How can you sell after an audit investigation when the accounting books are questionable? Drama and tension continue all through this story, and never seems to let up much. It may look wonderful from the outside, but the life of this hedge fund manager, at the center of the story, is far from comfortable, and never easy.

Susan Sarandon plays the wife, poor in the early days like her equally hungry husband, but monetary success came ultimately. She was tolerant of affairs as the money came, but everything has a limit. When cash flow trouble over a medical charity donation gets delayed, a backup plan begins. 

It is every money manager's worst nightmare, a divorce lawyer, with no pre-nup, enters the story. That is true fear when you are over 60, a founder trying to sell, looking at a retirement exit, and not getting much room to maneuver. Major markets can be scary when you need to make money, not just desire to do so. Emerging markets can also be the most scary due to unexpected events. Every experienced market player knows those risks, and often has the scars to prove it.

The Top 3 Takeaways from this book that really impact any reader are:

1) There is a lot to learn about how to be a long-term successful rainmaker, and no single profit stream with last forever.There is no single way to success, so keep open to every new trading opportunity.

2) The best rainmakers know how to make money and keep doing what they do best by observing key decision makers and possible patterns. Knowing what buttons to press to close a deal at the best price is the EQ magic that many lack, not IQ, that only gets you to the table.

3) When becoming a successful rainmaker, your emotional strength from family at home, may help you perform on deals at work. Every person has a personal life, so the more empty or fulfilling it is, the more that can creep into personal performance. It cannot be denied.

The police detective played by Tim Roth, is spot on. He brings the most raw and tasty character to this big screen movie. There are many curious moments in this New York financial story when he is on camera. The old style face to face sale of the firm and how it goes down, is classic and very much old school. If you get a chance to watch it, it is worthwhile viewing. Highly recommended for all staff at an investment bank, hedge fund or asset manager. It is all realistic, and portrayed wonderfully by an excellent cast. An amazing movie that is perfect for the holidays, highly recommended!

Please visit us for our Friday Feature Review where TMJ Partners will review books, movies, services and anything else with a financial theme. Follow us now for our free weekly updates, just click here. Thank you for reading and learning more about how money is made in finance!

If you are interested in Sales & Trading, Banking or FinTech focused roles in Asia or Japan then click here. Follow TMJ Partners on Linkedin Instagram or Twitter. We are the world's #1 recruiter on Twitter, with over 40,000+ followers globally! click here! 

あなたがアジアや日本のセールストレーディング,
バンキング、フィンテックの役割に興味がある場合は、こちらをクリックしてください。ティエムジェィパートナーズをLinkedin Instagram またはTwitterでフォローしてください！ 世界中のTwitterで第1位のリクルーター、40,000以上のフォロワーを既に持っています！クリックしてください。

For more Buy-Side and Sell-Side roles in Asia-Pacific, contact our TMJ Partners Japan & Asia Finance team.
Tokyo                                          Tokyo

      Mark  Pink                               Shinichi Nagasawa
Direct + 81 3 3505 3891              Direct + 81 3 3505 3891