Sunday, September 6, 2009

The Real Deal

Well it's 4:23am on a Tuesday morning and it's been at least 65 days since I had a day off. I guess this is banking. Since I last wrote I moved to New York, went through training, and started real work, did some deals, got a job in private equity, and am just starting into my second year.

I have to say that these are really interesting times to be doing investment banking. It seems like the M&A markets are starting to come back, and there's a lot of talk about IPOs making a comeback as well. It's by no means time to say that we're free and clear of all the mess we've been in (just look at the commercial mortgage markets!), but finally it seems like deals are starting to get done again.

I haven't written in so long simply because I've been too busy for it, but writing about my experiences is actually pretty enjoyable for me, and it's a good way to keep a record of what it's like in banking. It's pretty strange to think of all that's happened in the last few years since I started really getting serious about getting into the world of corporate finance.

Just today I was reflecting on everything I went through over the past three years to get here. It's amazing to think that I actually pulled it off, and it's clear that a lot of it wasn't at all because of my own abilities but just a factor of putting myself out there and being in the right place at the right time. I have noticed, though, that the harder you work, the more "luck" you seem to have.