Weekly Wrap-up

February 15, 2025

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Hey WSO Monkey,

Some solid debates on the forum this week—like whether PE weekends are a lost cause and why VPs seem universally insufferable. Plus, some real talk on drawdowns and managing a family windfall. Check it out!

-Patrick

Top Discussions

  1. Being a Mediocre IB Managing Director Is Paradise - "I stare at the ceiling, contemplating how I’ve dedicated my entire existence to formatting slides and moving logos half an inch to the left. I reach for my phone, but my wife, already annoyed, mutters, "Jesus, can you just exist for one second without checking your emails..."

  2. Is There a Way to Do PE Without Weekends? - "The simple answer is no, there isn’t. The way you solve it is to go to a less competitive (ie less lucrative) career path. Your coworkers think it’s worth working weekends because if they can convert the projects you’re spending your weekend time on, it will mint very lucrative carry and pave their longer term careers, which is worth 10s of millions of dollars. So a little bit of weekend work in pursuit of that end is a no brainer. Can it wait until Monday? The rest of the market isn’t waiting until Monday, so the short answer is no. Every day you’re taking off, is a day everyone else in the market is getting further ahead of you..."

  3. Recovering From Drawdowns in MM/Pods - "I'm curious how experienced PMs usually come back from 3-5% drawdowns under heighted pressure (from being fired, or constant surveillance by risk teams). My experience is once this happens at a firm, the psychology of the trader becomes somewhat impaired because you're always more concerned with damage control (preventing further losses) rather than being aggressive and going after more gains..."

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Top Discussions (contd.)

  1. Helping Family Manage ~$3-4.5m RE Inheritance - "I would not put work into the building, you don't know what you are doing, you don't know how to supervise a general contractor. You could likely sell your properties and exchange them into properties which have been renovated clipping coupons. Or you can buy NNN properties, like a Wendy's which takes care of all the work for you. If you keep the properties, hire a property manager. Walk around the neighborhood and look at all the plaques on the buildings that say "management'. then write them down and contact them."

  2. Are All VPs Insufferable? - "Don’t agree with the sentiment that analysts or associates evaluate a VP solely based on their ability to make one’s life less miserable. Kind of a myopic and oversimplified view of the point of this post. A truly competent VP can and should cut through the shit, reduce unnecessary iterations, and be open to feedback and suggestions. The consequence of this is often that the analyst or associates lives are easier, but it need not be the intent. Sometimes slaving away is unavoidable. Sometimes things really do need to be perfect. But in a busy market, good enough should suffice especially on early turns, or things won’t get done and business will be lost. A lot of VPs miss the bigger picture. Don’t let perfection be the enemy of progress."

  3. What Sports Would You Have Your Kids Train? Or if You Have Children, What Do They Train (Sports)? - "Somethings to keep them well rounded and active, without the CTE that I expect to have from college football. Also somethings they can do into old age..."

WSO Alpha: Latest Updates 📈

We uploaded the December brokerage report for those of you curious how we did.

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On Deck - Training 🎓

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Stay Strong,
Patrick Curtis
CEO and Founder, WallStreetOasis.com

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