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Monkey Business: Swinging Through the Wall Street Jungle
Animal House meets Liar's Poker in this hysterically funny, often unbelievable, and absolutely, positively true account of life at DLJ, one of the hottest investment banks on Wall Street."Like most other young business school graduates, John Rolfe and Peter Troob thought that life in a major investment banking firm would make their wildest dreams come true -- it would be fast-paced, intellectually challenging, glamorous, and, best of all, lucrative.They were in for a surprise. For behind the walls of Wall Street's firms lies a stratum of stunted, overworked, abused, and in the end, very well-compensated, but very frustrated men and women. Monkey Business takes readers behind the scenes at Donaldson, Lufkin, and Jenrette (DLJ), one of Wall Street's hottest firms of the 90s, from the interview process to the courting of clients to bonus time. It's a glimpse of a side of the business the financial periodicals don't talk about -- 20-hour work days, trips across the country where associates do nothing except carry the pitch book, strip clubs at night, inflated salaries, and high-powered, unforgettable personalities. Monkey Business provides readers with a first-class education in the real life of an investment banker. But best of all, it is an extremely funny read about two young men who, on their way towards achieving the American dream, quickly realized they were selling their souls to get there."
300 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2000
About the author
John Rolfe
44 books9 followersJohn Rolfe graduated from Virginia Tech, The University of Florida, and Wharton Business School. At Wharton, he was the editor of the Wharton Vulgarian. Following his sentence with DLJ, he spent several years working at a private investment fund. In 2001, he co-founded an equity-oriented money management firm, and today manages the firm from a top secret location deep in Vermont. He lives with his wife and two children, and is currently attempting to learn how to produce maple syrup.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 194 reviews
February 4, 2021
A very candid and hilarious insider's tell-all (or at least something).
The sad part is that today the money is less and the work hard part is as hard as ever.
Love how the associates in question established that the copy center and the formatting guys are the most important and routinely underavlued (and unpredictable) part of the deal. Yeah, too often how you work with them is the baseline for whenever your materials are ready (and if they are any good or all messed up).
All the pitch materials edits non-stop - triple LOL. That's what happens pretty much throughout the industry. Some people definitely need to learn to govern their thriving for perfection (or at least for producing as many edits as possible).
The sad part is that today the money is less and the work hard part is as hard as ever.
Love how the associates in question established that the copy center and the formatting guys are the most important and routinely underavlued (and unpredictable) part of the deal. Yeah, too often how you work with them is the baseline for whenever your materials are ready (and if they are any good or all messed up).
All the pitch materials edits non-stop - triple LOL. That's what happens pretty much throughout the industry. Some people definitely need to learn to govern their thriving for perfection (or at least for producing as many edits as possible).
May 28, 2013
This is an incredible book written by 2 Associates who used to work at DLJ back in the day and is the most accurate book I have ever come across for anyone to get a full understanding of what the life of an investment banker consists of. This is one of those books I wish I would have read in college as would have made me even that more excited about what the life was like, but after a few years in the industry, reading it now really allowed me to appreciate everything these guys went through and see everything in a completely different perspective. The 2 came from Wharton Business school and Harvard Business school and the book starts from when they are a 1st year in business school all the way through to them finishing up their 2nd year as an Associate at DLJ. Anyone working within investment banking will be able to relate to this book and will make you feel like you are just reading about your life / job so I actually highly reccommend this book for anyone not working in the field as opposed to anyone working within the field. However, despite the 2 Associates (Peter Troob and John Rolfe) end up both burning out and leaving the firm to go to the buy side at hedge funds, it made me realize that you don't leave investment banking neccessarily because of the work, but you leave investment banking if you burn out. These two describe in the book countless stories of personal sacrifices that they had to make on a nightly basis and consistently over the course of several years which led to almost a breakup with one of their long term girlfriends. Yes they also bash the work and the downsides of the job that we all have heard countless times, but the key thing in my mind that stood out was the continued personal sacrifices these 2 were forced to make for their job. I still believe the job itself is a great overall job whenever you think about things such as learning / compensation / security / etc., but what this book makes you realize that is no job is worth the personal sacrifice. They speak of countless people who have moved up the ranks at DLJ who just had all the money in the world, but so little personal happiness and lives that were an utter mess who they never wanted to be like. Again, highly reccommend the investment banking field for anyone for 2 years and then after that it is only worth staying in the field and moving up the ranks if you can find a situation whereby you are able to have a good work / life balance.
January 20, 2017
A conversation with some juniors over lunch today reminded me of this book which I've read a long time ago when I landed myself into a front-line banking role. Strangely enough, it was my boss then who loaned this book to me.
A brutally honest and startlingly eye-opening account, I'll recommend any newbie into the investment banking world to read this book. The landscape of investment banking has changed a lot since the Lehman's crash in 2008. But there are enough similarities to be drawn on what the life of an associate is like working in an investment bank, or even the investment banking division of a commercial bank. Quite fun to read but also quite sobering (and a bit offputting) at the same time.
A brutally honest and startlingly eye-opening account, I'll recommend any newbie into the investment banking world to read this book. The landscape of investment banking has changed a lot since the Lehman's crash in 2008. But there are enough similarities to be drawn on what the life of an associate is like working in an investment bank, or even the investment banking division of a commercial bank. Quite fun to read but also quite sobering (and a bit offputting) at the same time.
September 4, 2010
This is an absolutely honest and hilarious look into the lives of Associates in i-banking. I read it while I was an analyst and couldn't stop laughing (poop does roll downhill, trust me). This book is filled with true Wall Street war stories and I highly recommend to anyone who wants a glimpse of that world. If you lived it like I did, you are probably already trying to figure out how to monetize your own experiences :-P
September 14, 2007
I started reading this book because I was seeing a finance guy at the time, not quite the typical i-banker but stil had no life working for Citigroup. I subsequently was relieved it didn't work out...not sure I ever really want to be involved with an i-banker after reading this...
June 6, 2013
Really good read. A bit a crude at times but very interesting to get an inside perspective of banking when you're lowest on the totem pole. It was unfortunate that they didn't talk much about WHAT they did, but the culture was interesting.
May 2, 2012
De un tiempo a esta parte me ha dado por los libros de inversiones, bancos y delitos monetarios en general. Quizá sea porque una vez yo estuve a punto de entrar en el negocio de las opciones y futuros, aunque finalmente me quedé como estoy, pobre pero haciendo física.
Este libro narra la historia de dos junior associate bankers (= esclavos) de la empresa DLJ (Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette). Cuando salieron de su MBA en Stanford (¡cuidado, Raquel!) y fueron contratados por una de los mejores bancos de inversión, nuestros protagonistas creían que se iban a comer el mundo. El sueldo medio para el primer año en una empresa de Wall Street es de seis cifras (sin contar los decimales). Pero descubrieron que la realidad es siempre mucho peor de lo que la imaginamos. En el libro se relatan historias de terror sin fin acerca de los métodos de trabajo de los bancos, de las horas que hay que echarle, de cómo nadie valora tu trabajo aunque te paguen cientos de miles de dólares al año por él, y de cómo casi nadie puede soportarlo y acaban dejando la empresa. A mi me sorprendía bastante que alguien quisiera dejar un trabajo en el que gana cuatrocientos mil euros al año sólo porque "hay que trabajar mucho y luego nadie te lo agradece". Conozco trabajos así por quince mil euros al año. Luego ves que, en realidad, son muchos los factores que hacen que la vida media de un asociado en una empresa de Wall Street no llegue a los dos años. Cito un pasaje:
El libro es entretenido, y el lector se siente muy identificado con los protagonistas. No está mal escrito y acaba uno creyendo al menos que sabe más sobre el funcionamiento de los bancos de inversión. Al principio del libro hay una cita que me encantó (y que pongo porque se le puede aplicar a CPI, aunque, obviamente, estemos en desacuerdo con ella):
Este libro narra la historia de dos junior associate bankers (= esclavos) de la empresa DLJ (Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette). Cuando salieron de su MBA en Stanford (¡cuidado, Raquel!) y fueron contratados por una de los mejores bancos de inversión, nuestros protagonistas creían que se iban a comer el mundo. El sueldo medio para el primer año en una empresa de Wall Street es de seis cifras (sin contar los decimales). Pero descubrieron que la realidad es siempre mucho peor de lo que la imaginamos. En el libro se relatan historias de terror sin fin acerca de los métodos de trabajo de los bancos, de las horas que hay que echarle, de cómo nadie valora tu trabajo aunque te paguen cientos de miles de dólares al año por él, y de cómo casi nadie puede soportarlo y acaban dejando la empresa. A mi me sorprendía bastante que alguien quisiera dejar un trabajo en el que gana cuatrocientos mil euros al año sólo porque "hay que trabajar mucho y luego nadie te lo agradece". Conozco trabajos así por quince mil euros al año. Luego ves que, en realidad, son muchos los factores que hacen que la vida media de un asociado en una empresa de Wall Street no llegue a los dos años. Cito un pasaje:
La mayoría de la gente tiene jornadas de trabajo que pueden dividirse en dos partes: antes de comer y después de comer. Antes de comer se hace gran parte del trabajo duro del día, y cuando vuelves de comer sabes que, aunque tengas trabajo, lo que te queda antes de irte a casa será coser y cantar. Nosotros, en cambio, teníamos una jornada que podía dividirse en antes de comer, después de comer, antes de cenar, después de cenar, antes de la media noche y después de la media noche. Todos los días del año. Incluidos muchos fines de semana. Y era imposible dormir desde dos noches antes de la entrega de una oferta. Siempre llegabas a las reuniones como un zombi, tras haber estado las últimas 48 horas trabajando.A lo anterior se suma que, por ejemplo, a Troob le anularon tres veces las vacaciones cuando ya iba camino del aeropuerto con 15 días de vacaciones en Grecia por delante. Estuvo a punto de costarle el matrimonio. Los vicepresidentes y los asociados senior eran todos divorciados, muchos de ellos alcohólicos, sin tiempo libre, que vivían por y para el trabajo, sin tener una vida propia fuera de él. Rolfe, que es normalmente quien narra la historia, repite constantemente "no quiero ser así dentro de 10 años, no quiero ser así dentro de 10 años", cada vez que narra una anécdota relacionada con los que llevan más tiempo en la empresa.
El libro es entretenido, y el lector se siente muy identificado con los protagonistas. No está mal escrito y acaba uno creyendo al menos que sabe más sobre el funcionamiento de los bancos de inversión. Al principio del libro hay una cita que me encantó (y que pongo porque se le puede aplicar a CPI, aunque, obviamente, estemos en desacuerdo con ella):
Nunca he comprendido cómo dos personas pueden escribir un libro juntas; para mí es lo mismo que tres personas intentando tener un hijo.
Evelyn Waugh
Mi nota: Muy entretenido.
June 7, 2013
Mediocre writing but catchy at times. Definitely should be taken with a grain of salt. It's not that I believe that the stories are grossly inflated, it's that I'd like to believe that there is some goodness in this world and maybe some of that goodness is found among some investment bankers. Otherwise, the read will be thoroughly illuminating and make you realize how terribly bloated, inefficient, and unjustified the whole investment banking domain is.
January 4, 2021
An entertaining read that does a good job of offering a layman understanding of the world of investment banking in a candid and lively, easy to read manner. Even if taken with a grain of salt, it struck the perfect balance between being outright hilarious and engaging, but also very informative and a form of a mid-late 20's/early career coming-0f-age story for the authors.
March 24, 2020
A good “investment banking for dummies” book that takes you start to finish through the inter-workings of an investment bank. Good personal narratives of the pros and cons of IB and a humorous look at what really happens in big banks.
May 16, 2020
Ah yes - this takes me back! And I am still ambivalent if that is a good, bad or laughable thing,
This memoir written by two ex-investment bankers / associates was written in 2000, so well before the financial crisis of 2008. They are also contemporaries of mine in that I was also starting out in IB banking at the same time so this struck home.
The finance world has changed since the writing of this but a lot of the behaviours persist. I hope that it was changed for the better but I am not holding my breath. As a result, despite the jocular tone of the memoirs, I am not sure I would call this book funny - brutal and a little depressing, especially in hindsight.
🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️
The book is told in the “funny” manner which focus on the futility of the work and the lack of work-life balance. There isn’t much awareness of the sexism, waste, lack of respect that the entire culture demonstrates. As a result, this book is less Liar's Poker, which was more critical of the industry, and more an exasperated break-up tale told to friends.
This is not necessarily a bad thing but I mention this since it set expectations as to what you are picking me. For me, this worked given that anything more acerbic would have depressed me and made me less likely to want to work instead of being a timely reminder not to take corporate life too seriously.
All in all, this was an amusing reminder which I needed to cut through some of the corporate speak and back-patting I see in the private sector after following its response to COVID-19 (if I hear the phrase unprecedented times again from consultants I will scream).
The book did peter out in little in the end and became more of the more of the same. You can only read about stupid people and their bad life choices so much before questioning you own value.
This is a fast read which made me thankful for my own escape from IB. Nothing new here so three stars for the memoir and 1 star added for the sheer relief that I don't have to do pitchbooks any longer.
This memoir written by two ex-investment bankers / associates was written in 2000, so well before the financial crisis of 2008. They are also contemporaries of mine in that I was also starting out in IB banking at the same time so this struck home.
The finance world has changed since the writing of this but a lot of the behaviours persist. I hope that it was changed for the better but I am not holding my breath. As a result, despite the jocular tone of the memoirs, I am not sure I would call this book funny - brutal and a little depressing, especially in hindsight.
🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️
The book is told in the “funny” manner which focus on the futility of the work and the lack of work-life balance. There isn’t much awareness of the sexism, waste, lack of respect that the entire culture demonstrates. As a result, this book is less Liar's Poker, which was more critical of the industry, and more an exasperated break-up tale told to friends.
This is not necessarily a bad thing but I mention this since it set expectations as to what you are picking me. For me, this worked given that anything more acerbic would have depressed me and made me less likely to want to work instead of being a timely reminder not to take corporate life too seriously.
All in all, this was an amusing reminder which I needed to cut through some of the corporate speak and back-patting I see in the private sector after following its response to COVID-19 (if I hear the phrase unprecedented times again from consultants I will scream).
The book did peter out in little in the end and became more of the more of the same. You can only read about stupid people and their bad life choices so much before questioning you own value.
This is a fast read which made me thankful for my own escape from IB. Nothing new here so three stars for the memoir and 1 star added for the sheer relief that I don't have to do pitchbooks any longer.
March 16, 2024
Morsom skildret bok om finansbransjen, mer presist, «Investment Banking» i tidlig 2000-tallet sett fra to «Associates» (nyutdannede med MBA, nivået etter Analyst).
Selv om ting har forandret seg noe siden den tid er det fortsatt flere ting jeg kan kjenne meg igjen i, hvor skildringene i bøkene fikk meg til å le stadig vekk, blant annet:
- Lange arbeidsdager hvor alle måltider spises på kontoret, og ofte også på plassen. Han ene i boken bestilte samme måltid hver dag (jeg hadde mer variert kosthold, men klarer fortsatt ikke alltid å bestille sushi den dag i dag).
- Korrekturlesing/reviews av editors som ikke alltid får nok kreditt for arbeidet de gjør, og uendelige omskrivninger fra kollegaene frem og tilbake.
- Kopimaskinen: Uansett hvor tidlig du er med et utkast så vil alle de over deg sjeldent lese før kvelden før, noe som betyr at du alltid har dårlig tid til å sende det til de som skriver ut presentasjoner, rapporter og lignende (du kan ikke gjøre det selv, siden de må bli skrevet ut i riktig papir, cover og spiral). Utrolig morsomt hvordan forfatteren bestakk de som jobbet der for å få en god relasjon for å komme først i køen.
En bok verdt å lese hvis du vil få en liten innsikt om livet som ny i finansbransjen, og at enkelte ting fortsatt kan kjennes igjen den dag i dag.
Selv om ting har forandret seg noe siden den tid er det fortsatt flere ting jeg kan kjenne meg igjen i, hvor skildringene i bøkene fikk meg til å le stadig vekk, blant annet:
- Lange arbeidsdager hvor alle måltider spises på kontoret, og ofte også på plassen. Han ene i boken bestilte samme måltid hver dag (jeg hadde mer variert kosthold, men klarer fortsatt ikke alltid å bestille sushi den dag i dag).
- Korrekturlesing/reviews av editors som ikke alltid får nok kreditt for arbeidet de gjør, og uendelige omskrivninger fra kollegaene frem og tilbake.
- Kopimaskinen: Uansett hvor tidlig du er med et utkast så vil alle de over deg sjeldent lese før kvelden før, noe som betyr at du alltid har dårlig tid til å sende det til de som skriver ut presentasjoner, rapporter og lignende (du kan ikke gjøre det selv, siden de må bli skrevet ut i riktig papir, cover og spiral). Utrolig morsomt hvordan forfatteren bestakk de som jobbet der for å få en god relasjon for å komme først i køen.
En bok verdt å lese hvis du vil få en liten innsikt om livet som ny i finansbransjen, og at enkelte ting fortsatt kan kjennes igjen den dag i dag.
April 14, 2011
This was an amusing read, for the glimpse you get into I banking culture. Spot on? Workload wise, I'm sure it is. Being tricked by the money and prestiege into giving up any semblance of a reasonable life? I'm sure that was too (not for all but still many, I'm sure) How am I sure? I'm surrounded by them on Wall St. It was a story to tell and they told it simply, humerously, and hopefully to the benefit of some prospective B school student.
But let's be serious, a large number of people go into B school in the hopes of landing this kind of job. Their eyes and ears should be open before they even apply to B school. If they were blinded by $$$, well then they deserve to be thrashed until the chaff falls away. Every business is set up as a pyramid. There are only so many that do rise to the top and there is not room for everyone to, there never will be. What they learned was that for them, $$$ couldn't make up for not having a life, for being so overworked and abused that they themseleves changed into horrible people that urinate on floors, jack off in the office, and lie through their teeth. I hate to say it, but they got exactly what they signed up for. Did they truly believe that they were so great they deserve to be paid like kings and treated like royalty for no work and no abuse? Why not line up at the lotto machine, instead? The payouts won't be nearly as frequent but at least the bums in line are generally nice to you. Or they could get about the same amount of money if they were hot girls at one of their clubs, they'd only have to put up with groping bankers like them every evening but at least they could go home and sleep afterwards.
It sounds like these boys just learned the prices they had to pay just weren't what they were being paid, to them no amount was. For some, they fully know what they are getting into and the money is what keeps them in. I hate to say it, but they should have thought about that before signing up for it. Everything in this life is a trade-off or comes with strings attached. I'm surprised they didn't learn those adult lessons before they started on this journey. But again, it was a quick, amusing and relatively accurate portrayal of life on the Street. Now I'm going to ask some of my current bosses (who were at DLJ to the end) what they thought about the book (and hope it doesn't hit me in the head, if it was impertinant for me to ask!) :)
But let's be serious, a large number of people go into B school in the hopes of landing this kind of job. Their eyes and ears should be open before they even apply to B school. If they were blinded by $$$, well then they deserve to be thrashed until the chaff falls away. Every business is set up as a pyramid. There are only so many that do rise to the top and there is not room for everyone to, there never will be. What they learned was that for them, $$$ couldn't make up for not having a life, for being so overworked and abused that they themseleves changed into horrible people that urinate on floors, jack off in the office, and lie through their teeth. I hate to say it, but they got exactly what they signed up for. Did they truly believe that they were so great they deserve to be paid like kings and treated like royalty for no work and no abuse? Why not line up at the lotto machine, instead? The payouts won't be nearly as frequent but at least the bums in line are generally nice to you. Or they could get about the same amount of money if they were hot girls at one of their clubs, they'd only have to put up with groping bankers like them every evening but at least they could go home and sleep afterwards.
It sounds like these boys just learned the prices they had to pay just weren't what they were being paid, to them no amount was. For some, they fully know what they are getting into and the money is what keeps them in. I hate to say it, but they should have thought about that before signing up for it. Everything in this life is a trade-off or comes with strings attached. I'm surprised they didn't learn those adult lessons before they started on this journey. But again, it was a quick, amusing and relatively accurate portrayal of life on the Street. Now I'm going to ask some of my current bosses (who were at DLJ to the end) what they thought about the book (and hope it doesn't hit me in the head, if it was impertinant for me to ask!) :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 12, 2017
Interesting read. But the book at times tries to hard to sound scandalous.
March 12, 2019
"One entire wall of my office was glass. It looked out onto two adjacent office buildings. At 3 A.M most of the offices in my building were dark. Any offices that were still lit up at 3 A.M demanded the attention of anybody who happened to be looking out a window of one of the adjacent buildings. To break it down, I was spanking off on a Broadway stage and everybody in the two adjacent buildings was my audience. Did any of my neighbors watch my performance? Was it worthy of a Tony? I don't know. If they did, their image of investment bankers must have been permanently disfigured"
- Graduating from uni, the path to guarantee an interview with the most elite banks on the Streets isn't easy nor the path to survive through that jungle of the corporate world. The book provides a surprisingly truthful story about 2 MBA elite grad students, ambitious enter the world of Investment Banking. All those stories of ass-kissing, four season hotel, private plane, excessive working hours, not to mention sexual obsession, were very much fascinating and daunting at the same time. Highly recommended.
- Graduating from uni, the path to guarantee an interview with the most elite banks on the Streets isn't easy nor the path to survive through that jungle of the corporate world. The book provides a surprisingly truthful story about 2 MBA elite grad students, ambitious enter the world of Investment Banking. All those stories of ass-kissing, four season hotel, private plane, excessive working hours, not to mention sexual obsession, were very much fascinating and daunting at the same time. Highly recommended.
August 10, 2011
This is an entertaining look into the life of post-mba investment banking associates. this book will discourage most people that value some sort of social life from attempting to enter this field despite the outrageous salary packages. I was pretty amused at some of the bawdy aspects of these bankers lives and how they attempt to cope with the long hours (such as trips to strip clubs in the middle of the night). it definitely has demystified and exposed a field which is often painted as glamorous. i was surprised as to the amount of prepackaged baloney that went into the creation of proposals, presentations, and prospectuses. i was also surprised at the sheer amount of financial manipulation that investment bankers use in painting new offerings in a positive light.
September 10, 2015
This book is a great illustration of the life of an investment banking analyst ... in the 1990's. DJL is now part of Citigroup and what remains of the team in this novel has largely been absorbed and digested. In 2015, very few bankers will live so wildly as Rolfe and Troob do in their novel.
That being said, this book is a great look into the heydays of banking. It does a great job of fast-tracking the reader through two terrifying years as an investment banking associate. It's a great read for students looking to work in IB, and a humorous take on Wall Street for anyone not in finance.
That being said, this book is a great look into the heydays of banking. It does a great job of fast-tracking the reader through two terrifying years as an investment banking associate. It's a great read for students looking to work in IB, and a humorous take on Wall Street for anyone not in finance.
November 15, 2018
I expected this book to be a collection of funny stories and profanities but to my delight it is surprisingly educational. The authors did a great job explaining the intricacies of capital markets and telling their life stories while keeping the reader engaged.
It's also filled with great aphorisms and proverbs. The only things that felt redundant were their excessive attempts to draw parallels between investment banking and idiocy.
It's also filled with great aphorisms and proverbs. The only things that felt redundant were their excessive attempts to draw parallels between investment banking and idiocy.
September 9, 2007
You can understand the work of analysts at an investment bank.
January 4, 2009
Now I understand what i-bankers do...
June 28, 2009
Fascinating glimpse at the lives of investment bankers on Wall Street--I feel like I actually have a sense of what life looks like for them now. Makes me glad that I'm a quant, instead. :)
January 4, 2021
Recommend reading this if you want to understand the day to day life of junior investment bankers.
July 7, 2022
This book is hilarious! While it is full of vulgarity, I just love how honest and down to earth the two authors describe their experience of the banking world. The book is written from the first-person point of view of two former Wall Street associates that eventually quit their jobs after spending two years living the life where you get average 4 hours sleep everyday and risk ruining all the important relationships in your life due to constant absences while continue to dream that one day you will be able to the achieve the banking dream of being rich and important. Unsurprisingly, they quit because while they were getting handsomely rewarded financially (making $200,000 in your 20s) the lifestyle is simply unsustainable.
It reveals a lot of the discrepancies between what people think the banking jobs are and what they actually are – instead of engaged intellectually to come up with good investment ideas, you spend most of your time copying pasting and reusing previous writings to create pitch books that no one really reads, instead of “living large” you’re barely living – getting no sleep, no sex, no meaningful social life just doesn’t fit the definition of a good life no matter how much money you’re making, so on and so forth with many other examples of how reality departs from expectation, ranging from the corporate travelling experiences to meeting with clients (the ideal would be to meeting with clients around the world to understand their business, but the crazy schedule only makes you so tired that no information can get in you head, and you learn nothing about the business, and visiting 7 countries in 5 days shouldn’t be called travelling.)
In the end, as both Troobie and Rolfe quit their jobs, there’s this realization, which I believe applies to all young professionals starting out in their career (it’s not just banking), that while their original thought was that as long as they put in the hard work (and they knew it was hard starting out), they will have a good life – which they were trying to capture with this metaphor of crossing a desert – the hard works – to reach an oasis – the dream life. But what they found out halfway was that (these are just my interpretation of their metaphor of how the banking world is more like a jungle rather than a dessert, and again I think this really applies to any field) while they had expected difficulties (the dessert), the real difficulties and their unexpected varieties and intensities may still surprise them. Both Troobie and Rolfe graduated from Ivy. They probably both possess the typical quality of a good student – hardworking and smart. But hardworking and smartness is simply not enough in the professional world – it might be sufficient for school, but the real-world work environment requires many more skills that were not emphasized in school education and many good students lack – the skills to manage one’s own life and health, to understand your own quality and thereby define what’s important and meaningful to you personally, to navigate the complex human relationships in a corporate system. But maybe they are already doing all these. It just that the banker life really does not allow anyone to manage it well.
In a sense, your expectation and preparation for difficulties will simply not be enough – the professional life, and human life in general, is much more than just being smart and hardworking. And on top of that, your definition of a dream life will also be reshaped, redefined, refined, and made concreted – a dream life is much more than money, but the precise definition of that only becomes clearer as individuals grow and mature with these professional experiences.
It reveals a lot of the discrepancies between what people think the banking jobs are and what they actually are – instead of engaged intellectually to come up with good investment ideas, you spend most of your time copying pasting and reusing previous writings to create pitch books that no one really reads, instead of “living large” you’re barely living – getting no sleep, no sex, no meaningful social life just doesn’t fit the definition of a good life no matter how much money you’re making, so on and so forth with many other examples of how reality departs from expectation, ranging from the corporate travelling experiences to meeting with clients (the ideal would be to meeting with clients around the world to understand their business, but the crazy schedule only makes you so tired that no information can get in you head, and you learn nothing about the business, and visiting 7 countries in 5 days shouldn’t be called travelling.)
In the end, as both Troobie and Rolfe quit their jobs, there’s this realization, which I believe applies to all young professionals starting out in their career (it’s not just banking), that while their original thought was that as long as they put in the hard work (and they knew it was hard starting out), they will have a good life – which they were trying to capture with this metaphor of crossing a desert – the hard works – to reach an oasis – the dream life. But what they found out halfway was that (these are just my interpretation of their metaphor of how the banking world is more like a jungle rather than a dessert, and again I think this really applies to any field) while they had expected difficulties (the dessert), the real difficulties and their unexpected varieties and intensities may still surprise them. Both Troobie and Rolfe graduated from Ivy. They probably both possess the typical quality of a good student – hardworking and smart. But hardworking and smartness is simply not enough in the professional world – it might be sufficient for school, but the real-world work environment requires many more skills that were not emphasized in school education and many good students lack – the skills to manage one’s own life and health, to understand your own quality and thereby define what’s important and meaningful to you personally, to navigate the complex human relationships in a corporate system. But maybe they are already doing all these. It just that the banker life really does not allow anyone to manage it well.
In a sense, your expectation and preparation for difficulties will simply not be enough – the professional life, and human life in general, is much more than just being smart and hardworking. And on top of that, your definition of a dream life will also be reshaped, redefined, refined, and made concreted – a dream life is much more than money, but the precise definition of that only becomes clearer as individuals grow and mature with these professional experiences.
February 4, 2023
What are your favorite quotes from the book?
"In an investment bank, the managing director figures out what reasonable valuation number he is going to need to tell the client in order to win the business. It then becomes the associate's job to work backward to figure out a way to display analysis that will validate the target value. In the process, associates try to convince themselves that what they're doing is solid analysis and not simply pure pretzel logic or high-level finance magic tricks."
"Another key weapon for the creative banker is the discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis. The DCF is the granddaddy of all crocks of shit."
"My father taught me many years ago not to believe my own bullshit. Well, we didn't heed this sage advice, and we were so deep in our own garbage that we were suffocating underneath its weight. All of us, as associates, made ourselves believe that we were different and special, We would soon learn the real truth., But until then, we felt great about ourselves and our choice to careers."
What is a specific real world application that you will be able to make from what you learned in this book?
The one part of a prospectus that should always be read is the "Use of Proceeds" section the authors pointed out: "Not too many people pay attention to this section, but they should. A careful reading of the section will tell you where the hell all the money from the offering is going. lg it's not going into the company coffers to help grow the company, but instead is going to pay out existing owners
and management, then stay away. If the owners are cashing out, there's no reason for you to be cashing in." With this knowledge, I will always look for this section of the prospectus to see where the proceeds are going.
What is the one thing that you think you will do differently or think differently about since you read the book?
After reading about Rolfe's due diligence tour it's hard to ever put any weight on a prospectus as he put it "I was now the sole fount of DLJ's institutional knowledge on GWA;s operations. I'd slept through a few diligence sessions and zoned out trough almost all of the others. All I had to show for the eight days' work was a page and a half of notes and a headache. DLJ was going to attempt to sell GWA's equity to their best institutional accounts based on my assertions that the deal was a good one. I hoped that somebody, somewhere, had their fingers crossed."
What is one point you disagreed with, or at least questioned, in this book?
"The capital markets aren't prefect. Those who need money, and those who have the money, can't
always identify each other. The buyers of businesses don't always know the sellers. Independent third parties are sometimes needed to confirm business value. What many of the bankers don't grasp, though, is the tenuous nature of available information sources continues to proliferate, and access to that information becomes less proprietary, the bankers' ability to extract excess fees from the information will inevitably dissipate. It may happens slowly, but the bankers' value will diminish and melt away as surely as the Wicked Witch of the West in a South Florida rain shower." They must have figured out something to sell as the investment banking business is still going
strong. On the HR side it would be interesting to know if the intensity of the culture has been reduced with additional HR over site or if the banks have continued with this dog eat dog culture.
"In an investment bank, the managing director figures out what reasonable valuation number he is going to need to tell the client in order to win the business. It then becomes the associate's job to work backward to figure out a way to display analysis that will validate the target value. In the process, associates try to convince themselves that what they're doing is solid analysis and not simply pure pretzel logic or high-level finance magic tricks."
"Another key weapon for the creative banker is the discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis. The DCF is the granddaddy of all crocks of shit."
"My father taught me many years ago not to believe my own bullshit. Well, we didn't heed this sage advice, and we were so deep in our own garbage that we were suffocating underneath its weight. All of us, as associates, made ourselves believe that we were different and special, We would soon learn the real truth., But until then, we felt great about ourselves and our choice to careers."
What is a specific real world application that you will be able to make from what you learned in this book?
The one part of a prospectus that should always be read is the "Use of Proceeds" section the authors pointed out: "Not too many people pay attention to this section, but they should. A careful reading of the section will tell you where the hell all the money from the offering is going. lg it's not going into the company coffers to help grow the company, but instead is going to pay out existing owners
and management, then stay away. If the owners are cashing out, there's no reason for you to be cashing in." With this knowledge, I will always look for this section of the prospectus to see where the proceeds are going.
What is the one thing that you think you will do differently or think differently about since you read the book?
After reading about Rolfe's due diligence tour it's hard to ever put any weight on a prospectus as he put it "I was now the sole fount of DLJ's institutional knowledge on GWA;s operations. I'd slept through a few diligence sessions and zoned out trough almost all of the others. All I had to show for the eight days' work was a page and a half of notes and a headache. DLJ was going to attempt to sell GWA's equity to their best institutional accounts based on my assertions that the deal was a good one. I hoped that somebody, somewhere, had their fingers crossed."
What is one point you disagreed with, or at least questioned, in this book?
"The capital markets aren't prefect. Those who need money, and those who have the money, can't
always identify each other. The buyers of businesses don't always know the sellers. Independent third parties are sometimes needed to confirm business value. What many of the bankers don't grasp, though, is the tenuous nature of available information sources continues to proliferate, and access to that information becomes less proprietary, the bankers' ability to extract excess fees from the information will inevitably dissipate. It may happens slowly, but the bankers' value will diminish and melt away as surely as the Wicked Witch of the West in a South Florida rain shower." They must have figured out something to sell as the investment banking business is still going
strong. On the HR side it would be interesting to know if the intensity of the culture has been reduced with additional HR over site or if the banks have continued with this dog eat dog culture.
March 6, 2018
The ideal time to read this book would probably be when one is still in B-School or about to enter one. It is a classic, no-holds-barred account by a couple of Ivy League investment bankers about their journey to and through the "glamorous" world of banking on Wall Street that culminated with each of them finding the exit door just in time to salvage their sanity. The book is an absolute laugh riot at places and the colourful language throughout keeps the reader engaged and is perhaps required to do justice to the high-adrenaline, stressed universe the authors are attempting to describe.
The unrelenting, nearly 24X7 donkey work that junior level investment bankers are supposed to immerse themselves in with nary a care for food or sleep is enough to send the sanest to the madhouse. While once may already have read enough accounts of how I-banking looks and feels like, the vivid and gory details in the book are enough to fill one with absolute horror. In the end, while the authors find their salvation by jumping to the buy-side, not everyone is able and/or willing to do it.
Personally speaking, as a corporate banker, I could relate to a lot of the brain-dead nature of stuff the authors had to plod their way through day in and day out. Having (hopefully) finally found salvation on the buy-side where I'm moving to in a couple of weeks, the escape of the authors was completely relatable.
The unrelenting, nearly 24X7 donkey work that junior level investment bankers are supposed to immerse themselves in with nary a care for food or sleep is enough to send the sanest to the madhouse. While once may already have read enough accounts of how I-banking looks and feels like, the vivid and gory details in the book are enough to fill one with absolute horror. In the end, while the authors find their salvation by jumping to the buy-side, not everyone is able and/or willing to do it.
Personally speaking, as a corporate banker, I could relate to a lot of the brain-dead nature of stuff the authors had to plod their way through day in and day out. Having (hopefully) finally found salvation on the buy-side where I'm moving to in a couple of weeks, the escape of the authors was completely relatable.
August 26, 2017
Overall a quick, light informative and entertaining read. As someone who had only heard stories of the highs of investment banking before reading this book it was quite an eye opening experience to read a first hand account of the field. Found the book did a good job of providing background information on what exactly one does as an investment banking associate, both in terms of the theoretical job description and the realities of what each aspect of the job practically entailed. Appreciated the generally light hearted tone of the book making it easier to connect with the experiences of the authors. Also enjoyed the style of flipping back and forth between the authors with the font change a semi effective way of distinguishing between the two authors though I still often found myself forgetting which was which at times, may have preferred a sort of legend at the start or end that could easily be referenced to whenever one wanted to check. Learned a lot about one take on a career in the investment banking industry and added a new perspective to my decision making regarding my career ambitions.
October 11, 2020
Monkey Business: Swinging Through the Wall Street Jungle is candid, hilarious and ridiculous. A collection of humorous stories from their birth at Harvard and Wharton into a world of greed and hazing at DLJ. Authors Peter Troob and John Rolfe's clever prose adequately explain general banking principles and roasts the whole institution all at the same time. The stories lay bare the depravity of investment banking in the early 2000's as Rolfe and Troob romp through the hierarchical forest.
December 23, 2022
This book presents the chaotic and shitshow-y side behind the thick walls of investment banks.
From an outsider’s perspective, I’ve seen a rather humorous and empathetic view of the 80-hour work weeks, constant stress, verbal and mental abuse at the workplace.
Coming from a self-build background of moderation and somewhat work-life balanced existence - it was definitely a cultural shock to read about the infinite grind culture of Monkey Business over the ocean.
Rather than seeming like a boring whine for 200 pages, the authors kept me engaged with action, commentary and bitter jokes.
The vulgar language thrown here and there, in my perspective, works really well to reflect the culture in the environment.
Though there are many subjects and ideas I disagree with and the perspective of the authors may definitely be incredibly subjective, it was a good read for a boring train ride.
From an outsider’s perspective, I’ve seen a rather humorous and empathetic view of the 80-hour work weeks, constant stress, verbal and mental abuse at the workplace.
Coming from a self-build background of moderation and somewhat work-life balanced existence - it was definitely a cultural shock to read about the infinite grind culture of Monkey Business over the ocean.
Rather than seeming like a boring whine for 200 pages, the authors kept me engaged with action, commentary and bitter jokes.
The vulgar language thrown here and there, in my perspective, works really well to reflect the culture in the environment.
Though there are many subjects and ideas I disagree with and the perspective of the authors may definitely be incredibly subjective, it was a good read for a boring train ride.
March 11, 2018
Very funny account of life in investment banking from two former associates, Rolfe and Troob. the authors let all of their frustrations about the investment banking world. The book is full of commentary on IB business as a machine where the top of the class compete for ethereal top positions, as well as some pretty laugh out loud moments of how their sanity broke down throughout the high pressure trip of IB. This is a fun read and provides a lot of insight about what it feels like to be in the IB rat race, but offers little useful information on the business, and completely omits the benefits of working in banking. I don't think this should dissuade anyone from banking, but it should help at least as a warning.
September 4, 2019
Many say that those who work on Wall Street, investment bankers get payed handsomely because of how good their job is but the real reason they get payed so much money is because of how bad the job is. Money Business by John Rolfe and Peter Troob is an autobiography about there time at DLJ, an investment bank and about how investment banking really works. I loved that the writers were extremely genuine in what they said about their previous jobs which showed that they really cared about telling readers the truth of Wall Street. Even though some may not be interested in investment banking, they can really learn a lot about the field by reading this book. Any reader who likes to learn about new things will enjoy this book and I 100% recommend it.
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