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My Side of the Street: Why Wolves, Flash Boys, Quants, and Masters of the Universe Don't Represent the Real Wall Street
On a sticky summer morning at the end of the Eighties, 19-year-old Jason DeSena Trennert-a bright, unconnected Georgetown undergrad with big dreams and an even bigger power tie-set out for Wall Street. Mustering the perceived panache of the bigwigs, he burst through the doors of America's oldest financial firms.
He was roundly rejected. And entirely undeterred.
Trennert accepted a position as a cold-caller and charged ahead with the blind zeal of inexperience, finding in the process a genuine affinity for the customs and history of his work. Clinging to his dream from humble beginnings in financial sector Siberia-Morgan Stanley's Brooklyn outpost-and enduring the villainization of a respectable profession across two boom-bust cycles, he opened his own boutique company, now one of the world's leading research firms.
Part memoir, part love letter to an institution popularly viewed as a necessary (or as just plain) evil, My Side of the Street delivers the long-overdue defense of the investment banking industry critiqued by Michael Lewis and others, illuminating the ethical and decent majority who take the subway, worry about mortgages, and keep the entire enterprise on its feet. Introducing the general reader to captains of finance, famous on The Street but invisible to outsiders, Trennert lays on display the absurdity and unbridled joy of big business-a comic tale of unlikely success in America's most notorious industry.
He was roundly rejected. And entirely undeterred.
Trennert accepted a position as a cold-caller and charged ahead with the blind zeal of inexperience, finding in the process a genuine affinity for the customs and history of his work. Clinging to his dream from humble beginnings in financial sector Siberia-Morgan Stanley's Brooklyn outpost-and enduring the villainization of a respectable profession across two boom-bust cycles, he opened his own boutique company, now one of the world's leading research firms.
Part memoir, part love letter to an institution popularly viewed as a necessary (or as just plain) evil, My Side of the Street delivers the long-overdue defense of the investment banking industry critiqued by Michael Lewis and others, illuminating the ethical and decent majority who take the subway, worry about mortgages, and keep the entire enterprise on its feet. Introducing the general reader to captains of finance, famous on The Street but invisible to outsiders, Trennert lays on display the absurdity and unbridled joy of big business-a comic tale of unlikely success in America's most notorious industry.
- GenresNonfictionBusiness
224 pages, Hardcover
First published May 26, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 28, 2020
There we're some interesting nuggets in this book. As one who worked in the investment industry in NYC-I can account for the adolescent fun of working with a bunch of young guys. Also, I realize how money and prestige can cause these folks to be churlish and arrogant.
But mostly, this book is a mess. It's hard to tell if it's an autobiography or an advice book-it seems to do a poor job at both. As an autobiography, the order of his career isn't chronological. As a how-to book, it doesn't seem to offer any solid advice. And far from coming across as likable, the author, with quotes from poets and elders, come off as a pompous jerk. He seems to look down on his parents who we're teachers. He reminds me of Charlie Sheen's character from Wall Street-telling his working-class dad "There is no nobility in poverty"
But mostly, this book is a mess. It's hard to tell if it's an autobiography or an advice book-it seems to do a poor job at both. As an autobiography, the order of his career isn't chronological. As a how-to book, it doesn't seem to offer any solid advice. And far from coming across as likable, the author, with quotes from poets and elders, come off as a pompous jerk. He seems to look down on his parents who we're teachers. He reminds me of Charlie Sheen's character from Wall Street-telling his working-class dad "There is no nobility in poverty"
December 28, 2017
This was an odd book. As a memoir, it mostly succeeds, in that it tells a fairly interesting story of the author's at times scrappy career in finance. The story is very focused on the trajectory of the author's career, with very few personal details aside from the occasional mention of a wife or kids...... with all the hours he works, it is amazing that he found time to have kids. They just sort of popped up in this book, so maybe that is how it really happened!
As a defense of people who work in finance and of Wall Street in general, this book fails. Frankly, the author seems like kind of a d***, and his friends seem even worse. There are a few people who he crosses paths with that seem decent, but they are all really old now.
As a defense of people who work in finance and of Wall Street in general, this book fails. Frankly, the author seems like kind of a d***, and his friends seem even worse. There are a few people who he crosses paths with that seem decent, but they are all really old now.
July 27, 2019
interesting to a point, but not a lot of drama, and not a lot of lessons learned by the author - i'll keep it on the shelf, though
January 28, 2025
It’s a feel good book, written for people like me
July 9, 2015
I think any book written about Wall Street is fascinating. It's kind of like baseball books... the fans in the stands want to hear the inside story! To appreciate this book, however, I think you need a fairly good working knowledge of the financial world and its terminology.
The author assumes the reader will know what he's talking about, as even the most basic concepts aren't defined or described -- buy side, sell side, foreign exchange trading, institutional investors, etc. Who's buying and who's selling? What are they buying and selling? Who's the client? And why are Wall Street types seemingly forever flying into the heartland for their meetings? And if you get lost early on, you're not likely to get back on track when he starts talking about bulge brackets, hedge funds and ETFs. Mr. Trennert doesn't ever describe in layman's terms the Wall Street jobs he's held -- researcher, foreign exchange trader, strategist. He loves early-morning research meetings, apparently, but how do they inform the work of his day?
What the author does dwell on is the periphery of Wall Street -- the power lunches, the expense account dinners, the drinking binges, the enervating travel, the hotel rooms, the witty banter, the designer suits. The book's overall theme is that ambitious Wall Streeters are too eager for the trappings of wealth and privilege, but at the expense of ever accomplishing anything of worth. It's a good point, but I found this focus on the trappings repetitive.
The author is well read, so he does introduce some interesting thoughts. He quotes everyone from Erasmus to St. Teresa of Avila to Wordsworth to Turgenev. But the book is all over the map; there are chapters on 9/11, women on Wall Street, the questionable worth of an MBA, balancing family and work, the author's family and more. Too many chapters are bullet points, as if they were power point presentations: he gives tips for success on Wall Street, his thoughts on long-accepted financial maxims, a prescription for getting America's economy back on track, and the lessons he's learned in his career, from his beginning as a cold-caller to the owner of his own firm.
The biggest puzzle of the book, though, is why Mr. Trennert considers himself a "good guy" on Wall Street. Why is what he does the "real" Wall Street, as the subtitle suggests? How is he different from the Gorden Geckos of the Street? What value is he creating? Who is profiting from his efforts? Perhaps if he had gone into more depth about what he does, this would be more clear to the reader. "Most Wall Streeters are honest professionals, ethical and decent men and women," he says. "That's what I'm writing this book to prove." I'm willing to be convinced, but unfortunately, I finished the book on the fence.
The author assumes the reader will know what he's talking about, as even the most basic concepts aren't defined or described -- buy side, sell side, foreign exchange trading, institutional investors, etc. Who's buying and who's selling? What are they buying and selling? Who's the client? And why are Wall Street types seemingly forever flying into the heartland for their meetings? And if you get lost early on, you're not likely to get back on track when he starts talking about bulge brackets, hedge funds and ETFs. Mr. Trennert doesn't ever describe in layman's terms the Wall Street jobs he's held -- researcher, foreign exchange trader, strategist. He loves early-morning research meetings, apparently, but how do they inform the work of his day?
What the author does dwell on is the periphery of Wall Street -- the power lunches, the expense account dinners, the drinking binges, the enervating travel, the hotel rooms, the witty banter, the designer suits. The book's overall theme is that ambitious Wall Streeters are too eager for the trappings of wealth and privilege, but at the expense of ever accomplishing anything of worth. It's a good point, but I found this focus on the trappings repetitive.
The author is well read, so he does introduce some interesting thoughts. He quotes everyone from Erasmus to St. Teresa of Avila to Wordsworth to Turgenev. But the book is all over the map; there are chapters on 9/11, women on Wall Street, the questionable worth of an MBA, balancing family and work, the author's family and more. Too many chapters are bullet points, as if they were power point presentations: he gives tips for success on Wall Street, his thoughts on long-accepted financial maxims, a prescription for getting America's economy back on track, and the lessons he's learned in his career, from his beginning as a cold-caller to the owner of his own firm.
The biggest puzzle of the book, though, is why Mr. Trennert considers himself a "good guy" on Wall Street. Why is what he does the "real" Wall Street, as the subtitle suggests? How is he different from the Gorden Geckos of the Street? What value is he creating? Who is profiting from his efforts? Perhaps if he had gone into more depth about what he does, this would be more clear to the reader. "Most Wall Streeters are honest professionals, ethical and decent men and women," he says. "That's what I'm writing this book to prove." I'm willing to be convinced, but unfortunately, I finished the book on the fence.
February 1, 2016
If Author Jason DeSena Trennert was seeking to prove that Wall Street is not populated by, as he notes in his title, "wolves, flash boys, quants, and masters of the universe," he's not accomplished his task here. In fact, the portrait he paints of his days on Wall Street and those of his friends and colleagues, for the most part, depict exactly the stereotypes that turn off so many average investors.
Trennert claims to be an average Wall Street employee, showing that not everyone is the type of Gordon Gekko shown in the movies and the media. Then, he turns around and talks negatively about having to take Homer-esque voyages to Iowa (heavens, so far from home?) or visit the Northwest during a snowstorm in February (and yet, others live there year-round!). Oh, and the terrible airline service. Oh, and when he owns his own company, he's grateful for free breakfast at the hotel (prior to which he dined exceptionally well on the investor dollar). Welcome to middle America, Trennert, We are not impressed.
He happily criticizes the Occupy Wall Street movement and government regulation of the industry, but lauds Donald Trump's bid for the White House, and then wonders why we have such a negative opinion of the Street? He also expects his readers to pity the poor Wall Streeter with kids in private school living in Manhattan who can't live on $350,000 a year. Frankly, Trennert does himself no favors in this book, nor offers much alternative to what's already been said by those on the Street many times before him.
What I can say in his favor is that his book is easy to read, although it tends to ramble from topic to topic, particularly in the last few chapters. He drifts from solutions to the US economic crisis to poetry by his father to memories of 9/11 among friends and back again. In short, there's nothing in this book that hasn't already been presented in the financial industry's favor and found wanting by those of us in middle America.
Trennert claims to be an average Wall Street employee, showing that not everyone is the type of Gordon Gekko shown in the movies and the media. Then, he turns around and talks negatively about having to take Homer-esque voyages to Iowa (heavens, so far from home?) or visit the Northwest during a snowstorm in February (and yet, others live there year-round!). Oh, and the terrible airline service. Oh, and when he owns his own company, he's grateful for free breakfast at the hotel (prior to which he dined exceptionally well on the investor dollar). Welcome to middle America, Trennert, We are not impressed.
He happily criticizes the Occupy Wall Street movement and government regulation of the industry, but lauds Donald Trump's bid for the White House, and then wonders why we have such a negative opinion of the Street? He also expects his readers to pity the poor Wall Streeter with kids in private school living in Manhattan who can't live on $350,000 a year. Frankly, Trennert does himself no favors in this book, nor offers much alternative to what's already been said by those on the Street many times before him.
What I can say in his favor is that his book is easy to read, although it tends to ramble from topic to topic, particularly in the last few chapters. He drifts from solutions to the US economic crisis to poetry by his father to memories of 9/11 among friends and back again. In short, there's nothing in this book that hasn't already been presented in the financial industry's favor and found wanting by those of us in middle America.
June 12, 2015
Trennert may live on the other side of the street, but he still lives on the same street.
Going in to this, I had an open mind, hoping to find something different from the likes of the "Wolf of Wall Street". While Trennert doesn't brag about drugs, money or women, he doesn't really offer up any alternative to the way "Wall Streeters" think or act. He tries really hard to make it known that he represents his customers and puts their needs first. Of course he's going to say that, he still owns a financial services company.
The book offers the same underlying themes of other Wall Street books; chauvinism, arrogance, elitism and a lack of true understanding of those of us that don't live or work near Wall Street. I was more or less on board with his points, until I got to the chapter that deals with how he would "fix" our economy. Truth be told, Trennert owns a financial services company (as noted earlier), works on Wall Street and is not an economist. Therefore, I really don't think he's in the best position to recommend changes to "fix" our economy. Unless that position directly benefits him and his clients, of course.
Overall, the book does nothing to offer a different view from someone who has only worked on Wall Street (by his own admission, "I have never had a full-time job in any other industry" p. 195). It's the same view, just packaged a bit different and without the debauchery or bragging.
I received this book through a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.
Going in to this, I had an open mind, hoping to find something different from the likes of the "Wolf of Wall Street". While Trennert doesn't brag about drugs, money or women, he doesn't really offer up any alternative to the way "Wall Streeters" think or act. He tries really hard to make it known that he represents his customers and puts their needs first. Of course he's going to say that, he still owns a financial services company.
The book offers the same underlying themes of other Wall Street books; chauvinism, arrogance, elitism and a lack of true understanding of those of us that don't live or work near Wall Street. I was more or less on board with his points, until I got to the chapter that deals with how he would "fix" our economy. Truth be told, Trennert owns a financial services company (as noted earlier), works on Wall Street and is not an economist. Therefore, I really don't think he's in the best position to recommend changes to "fix" our economy. Unless that position directly benefits him and his clients, of course.
Overall, the book does nothing to offer a different view from someone who has only worked on Wall Street (by his own admission, "I have never had a full-time job in any other industry" p. 195). It's the same view, just packaged a bit different and without the debauchery or bragging.
I received this book through a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.
July 4, 2015
I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
This book was a combination memoir and advice book for those in the Wall Street industry or enthusiasts.
It is well-written in a conversational style, and follows Mr. Trennert's humble beginnings and rise to his current position in the financial sector, along the way covering a number of points in Wall Street's history from the eighties through the fall of 2014.
Mr. Trennert does ramble a bit; sometimes he will be trying to make a point, then launch into a story that is tangential to the subject. While it is entertaining, I found myself sometimes grimacing, as I wanted him to GET TO THE POINT!
But I guess that's not what this book is about.
Mr. Trennert often came back to the central struggle that the financial sector is undergoing; he insists that the finance industry must be more than just about money in and of itself, but kept focusing on monetary gains as the only important yardstick of Wall Street employees.
If you're pursuing a career in the financial sector, you should read this book.
This book was a combination memoir and advice book for those in the Wall Street industry or enthusiasts.
It is well-written in a conversational style, and follows Mr. Trennert's humble beginnings and rise to his current position in the financial sector, along the way covering a number of points in Wall Street's history from the eighties through the fall of 2014.
Mr. Trennert does ramble a bit; sometimes he will be trying to make a point, then launch into a story that is tangential to the subject. While it is entertaining, I found myself sometimes grimacing, as I wanted him to GET TO THE POINT!
But I guess that's not what this book is about.
Mr. Trennert often came back to the central struggle that the financial sector is undergoing; he insists that the finance industry must be more than just about money in and of itself, but kept focusing on monetary gains as the only important yardstick of Wall Street employees.
If you're pursuing a career in the financial sector, you should read this book.
June 14, 2015
A good read if you are in the business or considering entering the business.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews