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Monkey Business: Swinging Through the Wall Street Jungle (平装)
by John Rolfe, Peter Troob
| Category:
Wall Street, Finance, Stock market, Speculation |
| Market price: ¥ 168.00
MSL price:
¥ 158.00
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| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
Sad but true memories for those who've been there and done that, this book is a must read before you consider a career in Investment Banking. |
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AllReviews |
1 2   | Total 2 pages 13 items |
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Fortune Magazine, USA
<2006-12-24 00:00>
Deadly accurate, appealing honesty… (a) no-holds-barred take on associate life. |
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The Standard Magazine, USA
<2006-12-24 00:00>
The Net Economy is infatuated with boy wonders. Fawning magazine stories report the musings of obscure research analysts like PaineWebber's Walter Piecyk, 28, who managed to boost Qualcomm's market cap by $25 billion in one day last December. And Vanity Fair chronicles the harrowing road shows of baby-faced CEOs.
But there's a dark side to the story: the legions of hungry, young investment bankers who make it all happen behind the scenes. Wall Street's young turks attach themselves to anything and everything that generates fees. In the late 1980s it was junk bonds and mortgage-backed securities. In the greedy 1990s and onward it's Internet stocks.
Now thanks to two recent defectors from Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette, we can peek behind the curtains of these money-making machines. Their book, Monkey Business, is the funniest read since Michael Lewis' Liar's Poker, and it should give pause to anyone who comes in close contact with this rare species.
Two young MBA hopefuls, John Rolfe and Peter Troob, got sucked into Wall Street right out of Wharton and Harvard, respectively, soaked up the local color and left to tell all a short while later. The scenes are straight out of movies like Wall Street or The Boiler Room: The young associates nurse their supersize egos while their bosses try to crush them; they curse profusely and live large on four hours of sleep a night; they subsidize the strip clubs of Manhattan before Mayor Giuliani took the perk away from Wall Street.
But what do they really do for $200,000 a year? "It took our mothers six months to realize that we weren't stockbrokers, working the phones to sell crappy public offerings to unsuspecting investors," they write. "It took us another six months after that to realize that we were, in fact, selling crappy public offerings to investors." The only difference was that these two associates were shoveling the smelly deals to institutional investors, who then passed the bucket on.
Dave Barry couldn't have written a more schizophrenic tale. In a freewheeling narrative that alternates between the two men, Monkey Business lays out in exquisite detail how pitch books are developed (collaborative yet futile chaos dictated by hierarchy); how an investment bank arrives at a company's valuation (mostly guesswork driven by the desire to prove a company's march toward world domination); how to read a prospectus that an army of lawyers, bankers, accountants and managers have fought over in mind-numbing "drafting sessions" (skip everything except the financial statements). Then there's the story of a fruitless "due-diligence" trip for the junk-bond offering of an unnamed multinational wireless company, a wild goose chase over 12,000 miles through seven countries that yields little substance.
A year into their banking careers, both authors decide to chuck it all and get a life, leaving behind what they call a jungle full of commandeering baboons, dung beetles and busy monkeys. These days they work for a hedge fund, go home at 8 p.m. and toy with a Web site (www.streetmonkey.com) that pokes fun at anything Wall Street, from the relaxed dress code at Goldman Sachs to the demise of the Tiger Manage- ment hedge fund. The duo isn't working on a pitch book to take themselves public - yet.
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P. Emma, USA
<2006-12-24 00:00>
This book is spot on about the life of a junior person at an Investment Bank. As they said, you can change the name on the door but the stories are the same. My wife read the book first and I basically laid out for her practically every topic they'd be touching on before she'd get to it.
For anyone considering investment banking as a career, you really must read this book to understand EXACTLY what you are getting into. (The same is true for the spouse/perspective spouse of an associate.) Although, I should warn you that by reading this book before getting into the business, it'll remove one of the main self-motivational tools that we all used to deal with it day in and day out, the "They Really Need Me Here Because I'm Essential to the Organization!"
Both authors realized as many of us did that you aren't. Once you have that epihany, you either buy into the life 100% and drink the Kool-Aid, or you say thanks for the training and experience and move on. (BTW, the authors lay out for you where the real power center of the bank is. Hint for those entering the business, learn a little something about the local sports teams in order to effectively BS with the copy room guys. You REALLY, REALLY want them to like you. Pay particular attention to that chapter and lose the "I'm an MBA from Wharton/Harvard/et al" attitude.)
Overall, a quick and interesting read and highly recommended for those who invest, are contemplating the business as a career, or those who've left and just want to laugh at the insanity we went through. |
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A reader, USA
<2006-12-24 00:00>
One of the things I find so interesting about this book is that when reviewers who either still work in investment banking (or who cite friends who do) undermine the veracity and extremity of the authors claims, they become living proof that Troob's revelatory conclusion in the final chapters is absolutely true.
The problem with I-banking seems to be that its culture brainwashes its practioners into thinking that they are indeed Masters of the Universe - the world revolves around them. The extraordinary recruiting pitches delivered by the senior bankers and described by the authors were just the beginning of the process - reinforced by the unlimited expenses, enormous bonus checks and ego-bolstering (and not quite honest) appraisals. As M&A bankers at an elite firm, Troob and Rolfe sat at the top of a pyramid of self-perception, viewing and often treating everyone below them in a pretty insulting way. Below them in this pyramid were were M&A bankers at other firms; then, their own colleagues in other departments at CSFB, such as the equity traders and salesmen, then probably just below that, the clients. Ranking even further down the pecking order came lawyers and CPAs, and then right at the bottom the real dregs: the financial printers, photocopiers, PR people, lap-dancers. It was more or less unthinkable to any self-respecting egotistical i-banker to voluntarily leave these ranks, or even worse, move down the pyramid, except occasionally when offered huge financial enticement to defect to do the same job at a more prestigious M&A firm.
Why? It's like a mirage. I-bankers don't live on top of any pyramids, and aren't really superhuman: they're just suspended in a web of self-persuasion that they are, because otherwise why would or could any human tolerate such unpleasant working conditions? They don't usually realize that the planet would keep on rotating without the activities of their M&A department until they leave the rat race, the mirage dissolves, and they can see their former life from a normal person's perspective - apart from Troob, that is. What was so cool about this book was the extreme circumstance which led Troob to his moment of revelation - while he was still working at the bank. While extreme, it perfectly captured the unique self-centeredness of the i-bankers world in a way I don't think any similar book has done to date.
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A reader, USA
<2006-12-24 00:00>
Monkey Business is humor first-reality later. If you are looking for a real unflinching look at life as a Junior I-banker this isn't the book for you. If you want a few good laughs at the expense of the I-banking world then you have come to the right place. They were several times that I laughed out load when reading about the trials and tribulations of Rolfe and Troob as they swung through the I-banking Jungle.
This book is about the authors John Rolfe and Peter Troob and their experiences in I-banking. What some reviewers don't seem to understand is that this book is meant to be humorous. If Monkey Business was really 'a must read for every potential investment banker', then nobody would go into banking.
I have a lot of friends who are investment bankers and they complain about the hours and the work, but not like Rolfe and Troob. What the authors are doing is humorously discussing the feeling of frustration that accompanies working on pitch book that goes nowhere, the seemingly endless abuse from superiors, and the complete lack of a social life. They wrote about these feelings they are funny and because at some level they are part of starting off in any job not just investment banking. Another book that captures these feelings is Robert Grossbach's "A Shortage of Engineers."
While funny at most times, the banal locker room tone and hackneyed expressions at times take away from this book. Although this book is meant to be humorous, it is fairly decent introduction to investment banking to a complete novice. It explains common industry terms like 'pitch books', 'prospectus', and 'road shows.' Troob and Rofle explain the hierarchy of most I-banks from Managing Directors, to senior VP's, to VP's, to Senior Associates, to Associates, and finally Analysts. In sum, Monkey Business is a caricature, not a photograph, of I-banking, and like a caricature it makes some of its defects and flaws more noticeable than they actually are.
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A reader, USA
<2006-12-24 00:00>
Written by John Rolfe and Peter Troob, the book recounts their journey from MBA school (Wharton and HBS) to Wall Street. Rolfe is the career switcher jumping to investment banking and Troob is the former Kidder Peabody analyst returning because he didn't want to be a consultant and couldn't get a job in private equity. While their interview processes were divergent, their lives ultimately converge with their summer intership at Donaldson Lufkin Jenrette (now merged with Credit Suisse First Boston), securing a full-time job offer, and finally finding redemption in the world of hedge funds.
This is a must-read for anyone seriously thinking about investment banking as a career. This book will help job candidates understand the process for getting hired (e.g. culture and fit) and the mascochism that is involved once employed (e.g. late nights, no social life unless strip clubs count) for what is ultimately "monkey work". Associates are paid ridiculous amounts for that does not require reason and/or creativity and for the heaps of abuse piled on from the vice presidents and managing directors. While this book obviously focuses on life at DLJ in the 90s, this book is in my opinion a fairly accurate portrayal of life at all investment banks no matter what insiders at other firms may say...
Stylistically, the authors take turn writing about their experiences and though with different fonts allowing the reader to easily differentiate the author's thoughts. This is useful in helping you understand which author is offer his thoughts. Overall, it is written in the colloquial manner typical of a men's locker room conversation. Expect numerous references to bodily functions (e.g. farting, defecation) and sex.
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Derek, USA
<2006-12-24 00:00>
First, a confession. Another reviewer posted a scathing review of this book and said it was so bad he would send it for free to anyone who wanted it. I took him up on his offer and promised to write a similar review if I felt the same way. The problem is... I really liked this book!
I wanted to read Monkey Business as I used to consider investment banking as a career and wondered if the tremendous investment of time and money was worth it. The answer, according to authors Rolfe and Troob, is a resounding "NO." You will probably make a lot of money once you do get in. But ultimately it's not worth it, not by a long shot.
Written during the height of dot-com mania, the authors pull no punches in proceeding to lambaste almost every aspect of the house of money formerly known as Donaldson, Lufkin, and Jenrette, as well as the entire investment banking industry. It's an episode of "Behind the Music - Wall Street", that strips away the Hollywood notion of the wealthy, jet-setting investment banker and exposes the underbelly of tedious boredom, bureaucracy, posturing, and incompetence that make up this awful work environment. The book is so strong in its criticisms that I'm surprised Rolfe and Troob weren't sued for libel. Given all the Wall Street scandals making the headlines lately, they'd probably get their money back.
Colorful language is an understatement. By the end of the book, the guys are doing calculations to determine the "expected value" of attempting to bed a banking assistant at the holiday party versus the "present value" of a sure thing at the local strip club. The chauvanism, vulgarity, racism and anecdotes comparing co-workers and bosses to everything from dung beetles to excrement might lead you to believe they're exaggerating just to trash their former employer. However, the numerous reviews on this site exclaiming, "Yes! This IS life at (-insert investment bank here-)" could indicate they may not be far from the truth.
Ironically, my latest read, Frank Partnoy's F.I.A.S.C.O., describes the investment banking division (IBD) as follows: "In IBD, young associates spent twenty-four hour days preparing 'books,' the bound presentations senior bankers flipped through during meetings with corporate executives. You took a job there at your peril. After several years preparing these flip books, you would either be fired or promoted, assuming you were still alive. After several more years you would be allowed to carry the books to meetings, and at some point you might even be permitted to speak... I wanted to steer clear of IBD."
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A reader, USA
<2006-12-24 00:00>
Anyone who thinks this book is untrue or is in any way an exaggeration obviously has not gone through the experience of being a junior investment banker. I have spent the past two years as an analyst (pre-MBA) at an investment bank and can honestly say that this book is an accurate representation of what goes on in investment banking. When the book came out, many junior bankers (analysts and associates) immediately picked up copies of the book and thoroughly enjoyed it as it summed up what makes banking such an awful work environment in a fast reading format. The book gave comfort to us bankers as it demonstrated that the type of things that happens at DLJ happens at other banks as well. Investment banking is truly a dysfunctional place to be with senior bankers having absolutely no concern for what happens to the junior bankers. I would highly recommend this book as it is very entertaining and very accurate and I would also recommend anyone thinking of working at an investment bank to do something else, as the money is really not worth all of the (...) you have to deal with on a daily basis. |
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A reader, USA
<2006-12-24 00:00>
This is a great book. By far the funniest that I've ever read about Wall Street, and I've read plenty. A lot of the reviews that have been posted compare Monkey Business to Liar's Poker, so I'll make a couple of comments in that regard. First, Monkey Business is about banking while Liar's Poker is about trading. Bankers and traders are completely different animals. The general perception is that the bankers are the buttoned-up guys, and the traders are the free-for-all neanderthals. This makes Monkey Business' revelations much more interesting than Liar's Poker's - I mean, we already knew that the trading emperors had no clothes but the bankers? Gracious! Second, Michael Lewis' tone in Liar's Poker is clearly that of somebody who doesn't want to ruffle too many feathers...he paints the traders in a light that they love (big time swashbucklers, blah, blah, blah). The butt-kissing gets a little annoying. Lewis clearly idolizes Meriweather, which in retrospect is amusing given Meriweather's subsequent fall from grace. Monkey Business takes no prisoners. Rolfe and Troob spend plenty of time poking the bear in the eye, and make it clear that they could care less what the consequences are. Advantage: Monkey Business. Lastly, Liar's Poker was unique when it was first released but let's be honest, it's getting kind of outdated. Monkey Business is fresh. The less-than-flattering light which Monkey Business paints DLJ in has proven to be to be remarkably accurate in retrospect, given the utter failure of the CSFB/DLJ merger. It's clear that Rolfe and Troob were saw the business for what it was, a bunch of preening money-grubbing financial fascists. March on, brothers! |
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Greg Feirman, USA
<2006-12-24 00:00>
I started reading Monkey Business last night and I just couldn't put it down. I work in consulting so I don't have firsthand knowledge, but as far as I can tell this book presents a pretty good account of what Investment Banking is and what Junior Investment Bankers do.
The book talks about preparing pitch books that are used in selling firms on acquiring other companies, selling a part or all of their company, or issueing stocks or bonds to raise capital for the firm. It talks about valuation, which is at the heart of investment banking (you have to value the other company in an acquisition or the company itself in a stock offering), giving a brief account of the Comparable Transaction and Discounted Cash Flow methods. It talks about the endless revisions that more senior I-Bankers make to every document that a client is going to see. This part is hilarious when they relate tales of more senior bankers changing the color on charts and then changing it back or wanting to change the phrasing of a sentence, all of which Rolfe and Troob have to do. It talks about the copy center, where multipe (14 or so) copies of the pitchbooks are made. It talks about drafting the prospectus for an offering with the lawyers and the company's CFO and accountants, and the Printer where the prospectus gets printed on some really fancy paper. Rolfe gives an account of due diligence in the chapter called "Travel". He travels to so many different countries in such a short period of time that he is too exhausted to stay awake during company's presentations and further, he doesn't know anything about the product so is in no position to judge if the business is sound or not.
All along, however, the emphasis is on the EXTREME HOURS and the ENDLESS WORK. These guys are just working all the time: at night, on the weekends. They are not sleeping. They are jacking off at work because it's the only time they get a chance. They frequent strip clubs because that way they know they'll at least get some play whereas trying to start a real relationship carries inherent risk and they just don't have the time to mess around with flirting.
In the end, they decide that investment banking just IS NOT FOR THEM. Other reviews mention how some people really enjoy investment banking and these guys can see that some of the Senior Bankers might be enjoying themselves, but it is just not for them. Rolfe stayed about a year and a half as a full time (plus his summer) and Troob about a year. For that first year each of them made over $200,000. But still, it was not worth it for them.
I've been working full time in consulting for 14 months now, and while the hours are nothing like what they describe, I certainly understand the Tension Between Work And Leisure, Money and Time, which is the central theme of the book. How do you balance work and leisure? How do you balance your desire to make good money and enjoy your work with other aspects of your life? If you are one of those people who loves to work, loves working 11-12 hours/day, 6 days/week, then I-Banking, Consulting, whatever is gong to be a good fit. But if you have other interests, if the work wears you down and takes its toll, then maybe these jobs are not for you. Rolfe and Troob have second thoughts about their decision, "Sometimes we wonder if we should have continued swinging... it's tough not to secondguess your decision at times... Rolfe and I think about what we may have left behind. We wonder, are we missing out on something?" (pg 275) Had they stayed the path, they would have become VPs in another 3 years, Senior VPs another 2-3 after that, and maybe even MDs. Their salaries would have incrased from $200,000 per year to $500,000 as VPs, to $700,000-$800-000 as Senior VPs, and into seven figures as MDs, had they made it. Additionally, they would have taken on more responsibility in advisory and capital raising work, interacting with CEOs of companies and having a huge impact on important business in the American Business landscape. It's always a tough choice: the Money, the Power, the Interesting Work, versus more Balance, more Time.
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