Friday Feature Film Review: The Family Man (Finance Christmas Special!) : Nicholas Cage 天使のくれた時間 (金融のクリスマススペシャル！) : ニコラス・ケイジ

It is Christmas eve, and the M&A transaction must still get done, a deal close meeting is set on Christmas day, but the staff are not happy. Nicholas Cage plays Jack Campbell, a Wall Street Rainmaker with everything that money can buy, except love from a family of his own. If only he made a different choice, his life may be different. A former girlfriend calls his office out of the blue, and a new twist in his normal life begins.

He soon wakes up in suburban New Jersey, not New York City. He is in bed with Tea Leoni, his former flame and current wife with screaming children running around. How is that possible? A parallel universe shows him what could have been. He cannot believe he is now married with 2 kids and working as a tire salesman, but that is the life he now has. 

This is really a movie that questions the morality challenge of money & career vs family fulfillment. It is a fun film that tries to bring a mirror to the materialism that keeps many within finance happy in their possessions, despite the emptiness of a surrounding growing family and the ties that bind. Is this attraction to things just a temporary part of any human's emotional evolution? It is a timeless question with no clear answer.

For many early in their financial career, yet to marry and yet to start a family, you will find the story basic. Those more senior than 30 or even 40, with the internal need to breed, will see this story in a very different light. It may make one uncomfortable with the lack of depth that money can bring in a career. You question what wealth is worth without the family love and bonding that grounds many in the world today. It may be a movie to avoid for those not quite sure on their life choice. Those who wonder if they have sacrificed personal relationships for careers of cash, may wonder if they still have made the best choice. 

The opening of this movie is around the Christmas holiday and the work vs life balance around deals at this time. All members may want the deal to happen, but not all have as much to lose at home. The emotional price that each member pays to work on that day varies enormously. The younger the member, the lower that price when single. Time is money shows itself to have another price tag for those with families at home. It can be a very high price.

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

1) There is a lot to learn about how to be a long-term successful rainmaker, and no one answer will do. The more motivations you can find to close deals, the better. There is no single way to success, there are many, so learn them all.

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 get a decision 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.

Much of course depends on your personal definition of financial success, and the drive or core reason to pursue it in the first place. Beware to all those who may look at a financial career with less interest and more longing for the basics of life. Be warned of what you could really be feeling! A perfect movie choice for the Christmas holiday season. Highly recommended for all of the typical staff at an investment bank portrayed wonderfully by an excellent cast,  and deservedly so. Made back in 2000, is holds up well, and is still 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, conferences 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 50,000+ 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、50,000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.
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      Mark  Pink                               Shinichi Nagasawa
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Friday Feature Book Review: Lucky or Smart? by Bo Peabody (Start Up CEO) セレンディピティ―幸運を生むタマゴ: ボーピーボディ（ITスタートアップ）

Fortunes come and go in business, it is just a fact. However, which entrepreneurs kept their money after the first IT boom from 1997-2002? Who now in the FinTech & Social Media boom is still alive, and  doing well today? Were these first wave internet founders just lucky? or were they smart to make the money they did? Will FinTech or Social Media entrepreneurs follow the same pattern in future? This book answers this well, and goes well beyond. If you want to know what kind of personality it takes to be an Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg or Bill Gates, this will make it clear.

Bo Peabody started a company in 1994 with a wonderful bunch of "odd people". This was before many had even heard of "the internet". He sold Tripod in 1998 for US$58M which later became Terra Lycos. He was not able to sell his stock lock up for 2 years, which allowed the position to increase 10 FOLD. Was he lucky or smart? Clearly both is what you learn about him, a very keen balance between the two.

This is not a book about "why I am not a genius". It is more a very well-balanced account of what parts of his decisions were smart and which were lucky. The smart part of many of Bo's decisions were about when to realize that he gets some luck, and then stays out of its way. I like reading about how lucky people can be and recognize it. I too often meet people who find themselves lucky and feel it is mainly because of their own talent. That is just not the same attitude. He does not claim to be a genius, and you never get that message in any of the chapters.

He calls himself a "B-student" as does his mother, but he has "straight A insight" on more than one occasion. He also makes a great distinction about how B student types are often better overall business founders, while A students make better focused managers in those businesses that are founded. This recognition is not easy to make, and proves to me how smart he really was. That is not a widely known lesson for many.

He has since gone on to start a restaurant business, a venture capital firm, and continues to invest in other start ups. He knows the bigger picture, and knows what drives the results needed in a bigger picture result. He is a lot smarter than he leads us to believe in the first chapter. The more you learn, the more you realize, that perseverance is never easy and costs a lot in time and energy. There are no shortcuts, and you learn that without doubt. He even learns how to "cry" in order to deal with employee problems. 

This easy to absorb book reminds any reader today, of what has worked in the past, and may work in the future. The secrets of wealth creation are known, but not always the detailed execution of those same lessons. It is the will power needed especially after failure, or perseverance, that is core to success. Any reader will learn that he or she can be rich anywhere in today's FinTech world. 

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

1) This is the story of very special people in various businesses with talent that finds a way to true wealth. The pattern shows how drive and perseverance often wins the way to immense wealth, especially in tech.

2) The ability to work with "odd" co-worker friends, needs to be learned in life. Only once you start to find a balance of lifestyle and career drive, do you find out all of the new skills you need to succeed long term. 

3) This is never about somebody happy to be average or just OK. The common pattern shows that there is always a deep driver or just luck to push any rich person to a level few others ever reach. The question I still wonder is if you need to be smart in order to be in the right "lucky" place.

The author Bo Peabody knows his limits. He also knows what is needed in a variety of situations more than many get a chance to observe. If you have tried anything new and challenging, this is worthwhile. You will find his opinions can be re-used for restaurants or any other business as they are very deep & profitable. Perfect for a few hours over a weekend or on a commute. This book is highly recommended and very easy to read. 

Please visit us for our Friday Feature Review where TMJ Partners will review books, movies, conferences 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 50,000+ 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、50,000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: The King of Capital: Blackstone' s Rise to LBO Power ブラックストーンのプライベートエクイティストーリー : デビッド・キャリー ジョン・モリス & 土方奈美

Blackstone is a name that means money and success. They run over US$30Billion+ in assets today. This book does not disappoint in explaining how it got to that peak of power. However, like the tip of an iceberg, the image on the surface masks a harsh reality. It did not come quickly or easily. Success rarely does. Billionaires like its founder Steve Schwarzman, are self-made, know how to work hard and take risks. It is ultimately pure and simple. The full background story is what the book explains very well. You get an authentic sense of the hard struggles and hurdles any new firm needs to overcome. Blackstone was no exception, and paid its hard fought dues like many others. Nobody got rich by just "showing up" at the right time with the right product. The early days clearly were not easy or silky smooth.

This is not just about one founder, or one firm. In many ways, it explains the full picture of how LBO(Leveraged BuyOut) deals got started. It further explain how the billions in profits made from them, have grown over the last 40 years. If you wondered how the whole industry started, this is a great place to begin. We find out that private equity guru Steve Schwarzman, did not even study finance at Yale, but an arts degree! He started at DLJ and found that despite a lack of financial background, he had talent and was a quick study. 

After 3 years, he went for an MBA at Harvard, and then he perfected this talent for finance at Lehman Brothers, before starting Blackstone. Being an entrepreneur is not all about having a "big idea" one day to start a firm either, there was a logical clear process. One thing you learn about the head of Blackstone, is that he always tries to minimize risks, and follows a process. He takes calculated risks, and never just "throws the dice". We learn there is nothing he hates more than losing money. The most interesting aspect about Steve though is his creative side for finance. 

To close the most difficult deals he often needed to come up with "outside the box" style solutions. What you learn the most is that standard operating procedures with various LBO and M&A deals, grew faster because of Steve's efforts. Do you want to sell more junk bonds to finance the debt? OK, then offer bondholders reset caps, in case the bonds fall in value to ease their sale. Do you want to figure out the true price of real buyers? OK, then set up a blind sealed bid auction for takeovers. These are just two of the many LBO industry innovations that Steve came up with, the market did not. The market has grown to make them now standard. Most are basic procedures now, but in Blackstone's early days, they were often new and very innovative at the time.

If you can see KKR founder Henry Kravis, as the Bill Gates of corporate finance, Steve seems more like a Steve Jobs. He seems nicer too, highly innovative and a different in type. Both of these titans are driven & very successful, but for different reasons. Blackstone as a firm was built a certain way, and it was built properly with a lot of innovation. The drive needed to be very successful in the business takes a lot of time and total persistence. High energy, financial creativity over new products, and finally a bit of luck, were also key. 

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

1) Surprisingly, there is never a best time to start a business. No matter when you start, the beginning can take time before gaining any traction, even years.

2) Motivation seems to be a very strong motivator for many entrepreneurial actions to achieve wealth goals. The higher the motivation, the longer the time possible needed to achieve any ambitious goals.

3) Boot strapping startups with your own funds is fine, but success is not instant. When you pitch to borrow funds from financial institutions, it is never quick. Even for Blackstone, the early days of capital raising was long and difficult.

This is no overnight success story. There are no signs of champagne on day one. In the beginning, it was hand to mouth for 2 years and a difficult early road. Like many who spin out on their own, there is comfort in size and a reputation that clients prefer. Personal loyalty can be forgotten when a deal needs to be signed with a new firm. Major clients prefer an established name. When Blackstone started out, there was no easy welcome with open arms. New entrepreneurs learn this reality the hard way, and Steve was no different. He survived, built the firm into an industry legend, and lived long enough to enjoy the rewards. This book is Highly Recommended!

Please visit us for our Friday Feature Review where TMJ Partners will review books, movies, conferences 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 50,000+ 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、50,000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