More Money than God – Book Review

I picked up this book about a week ago, but hadn’t been able to read it. Today, once I started reading it, I wasn’t able to put it down. It is probably one of the best books I’ve ever read.

It tracks the history of hedge funds right from the very beginning, and lists the most successful ones in every decade or so. It is the most fascinating accounts of how hedge fund managers became more and more powerful over the years, eventually becoming powerful enough to move entire economies.

More Money than God covers all the hedge fund legends I knew of, and even more: George Soros, A. W. Jones, Michael Steinhardt, Julian Robertson, John Paulson, Paul Tudor Jones II, John Meriwether etc.

Ever since the financial crisis, the public sentiment has been against financial institutions like hedge funds and investment banks which indulge in proprietary trading.

But Sebastian Mallaby, rather than writing in a populist fashion, underlines the fact that just because hedge fund moguls make insane amounts of money, it doesn’t automatically make them evil. Hedge funds are probably the best way to keep a capitalist economy stable, because of their contrarian nature.

After the recent backlash against them, reading a book about hedge funds which is factually correct and doesn’t pander to the general pubic is very refreshing.

Totally recommended. 10/10.

Buy More Money than God: Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite – Flipkart

All these movies have been really awesome. Comic book movies used to be a joke. But since Nolan rebooted the Batman franchise, all studios are taking comic book movies seriously, knowing that there are scores of fans waiting to watch them.

Iron Man was brilliant. Thor was good. And Captain America was really good. The Hulk wasn’t as good as the others, but then it was released way back before the studios got serious.

Scarlett Johansson is going to be the Black Widow. Guaranteed hotness.

Hawkeye seems to be the only weak link here. There hasn’t been a Hawkeye movie, and it’s unlikely there ever will be one. Because seriously, who gives a shit about Hawkeye? I don’t. Always hated him.

Combine all of them in one movie, and you get The Avengers. I can bet that it’s going to be a spectacular fucking geekgasmic blockbuster.

And that, my friends, is why I cannot wait to watch The Avengers. May 4, 2012, you couldn’t come sooner.

PS: I forgot to mention, Joss Whedon is directing The Avengers. If there is anyone after Nolan I would want for the job, it’s him.

I hope DC gets its act together, releases The Man of Steel soon, and starts working on a Justice League movie.

BTW, go watch Captain America. It’s fucking awesome.

An awesome speech by the head of an investment bank / broking firm in the movie “Boiler Room”. One of the best I’ve ever heard.

>> Ben Affleck in Boiler Room – Speech – Video

Text Transcript

Okay. Here’s the deal.

I’m not here to waste your time. I hope you’re not here to waste mine.

So I’m gonna keep this short.

If you become an employee of this firm, you will make your first million within three years.

Okay? I repeat that:

You will make a million dollars within three years of your first day of employment
at J.T. Marlin.

There is no question whether or not you’ll become a millionaire here.

The only question is how many times over.

You think I’m joking?
I am not joking.

I am a millionaire. It’s a weird thing to hear, right?

I’ll tell ya. It’s a weird thing to say.

I am a fucking millionaire.

And guess how old I am. Twenty-seven.

You know what that makes me here?
A fuckin’ senior citizen.

This firm is entirely comprised of people your age, not mine.

Lucky for me, I’m very fucking good at my job, or I’d be out of one.

You guys are the new blood. You’re gonna go home with the kessef.

You are the future big swinging dicks of this firm.

Now, you all look money hungry, and that’s good.

Anybody tells you money is the root of all evil doesn’t fuckin’ have any.

They say money can’t buy happiness? Look at the fuckin’ smile on my face.

Ear to ear, baby. You want details? Fine.

I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet.

What’s up? I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork.

I have every toy you could imagine, and best of all, kids…

I am liquid.

So, now you know what’s possible. Let me tell you what’s required.

You are required to work your fucking ass off at this firm.

We want winners here, not pikers. A piker walks at the bell.

A piker asks how much vacation you get in the first year. Vacation?

People come and work at this firm for one reason: to become filthy rich.

We’re not here to make friends. We’re not savin’ the manatees, guys.

You want vacation time?
Go teach third grade, public school.

Okay. The first three months at the firm are as a trainee.

You make $150 a week.

After you’re done training, you take the Series Seven.

Pass that, you become junior broker and you open accounts for your team leader.

You open 40 accounts, you start workin’ for yourself. Sky’s the limit.

Word about being a trainee.

Friends, parents, other brokers, they’re gonna give you shit.

It’s true. $150 a week? Not a lot of money.

Pay them no mind.

You need to learn this business, and this is the time to do it.

Once you pass the test, none of that’s gonna matter.

Your friends are shit.

Tell them you made 25 grand last month, they won’t fucking believe you.

Fuck them! Fuck ‘em!

Parents don’t like the life you lead?
“Fuck you, Mom and Dad.”

See how it feels when you’re makin’ their fuckin’ Lexus payments.

Now, go home and think about it.
Think about whether it’s really for you.

If you decide it isn’t… It’s nothing to be embarrassed about.

It’s not for everyone.
Thanks.

But if you really want this…

you call me on Monday and we’ll talk.

Just don’t waste my fuckin’ time.

Okay. That’s it.

-

Here’s another awesome speech by Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross

There comes a point in every entrepreneur’s life, when he needs some inspiration to keep moving forward. What’s more inspiring than a movie about a startup, about startup life and the harsh realities, as well as the joys of being an entrepreneur?

In this post, I will try to compile a list of all the best startup movies I’ve seen. I’m adding those movies which are about tech startups, as well as some which aren’t. If you think I have missed any good ones, do mention it in the comments. I will try to update this list as frequently as I can.

Best Movies About Startups

The Social Network – 8.2/10

The best startup movie ever, and possibly the best movie of 2010. A chronicle of the founding of Facebook, the social-networking Web site.

Startup.com – 7.0/10

A documentary which traces the birth and failure of new media company govWorks.com

Code Rush – 7.4/10

Code Rush follows the people of Netscape Communications during an intense period in 1998, when it was all but certain that Microsoft had already won control of the Internet user’s desktop.

Riot On! – 5.9/10

The year is 2000 and investors are going crazy about a new mobile phone company called Riot Entertainment. Many high profile companies, like Nokia, invest millions on this unknown firm. Two years later, when all the money has been spent and the company is bankrupt, the fun is over. What happened?

August – 5.4/10

August centers on two brothers fighting to keep their start-up company afloat on Wall Street during August 2001, a month before the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Movies about the History of the Computer Industry

The Triumph of the Nerds – 8.7/10

The Triumph of the Nerds: The Rise of Accidental Empires – An irreverent history of the PC industry.

Pirates of the Silicon Valley – 6.9/10

The history of Apple vs Microsoft, Jobs vs Gates.

Revolution OS – 7.3/10

A documentary about the open source movement. Starring Linus Torvalds, Richard Stallman and Eric Raymond.

Tangential Movies about Startups

Wall Street – 7.3/10

A young and impatient stockbroker is willing to do anything to get to the top, including trading on illegal inside information taken through a ruthless and greedy corporate raider whom takes the youth under his wing.

Boiler Room – 6.9/10

A college dropout gets a job as a broker for a suburban investment firm, which puts him on the fast track to success, but the job might not be as legitimate as it sounds.

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room – 7.7/10

A documentary about the Enron corporation, its faulty and corrupt business practices, and how they led to its fall.

Glengarry Glen Ross – 7.9/10

An examination of the machinations behind the scenes at a real estate office.

If you know of any more, let me know in the comments.

Also, check out this list of the Best Startup and Entrepreneurship Blogs

Here’s a list of what I think are the top 10, best animated Hollywood films of all time. Though I haven’t included very old movies, just the new ones – those made in the last 10-20 years.

WALL.E

In the distant future, a small waste collecting robot – WALL.E – inadvertently embarks on a space journey that will ultimately decide the fate of mankind.

How to Train Your Dragon

A hapless young Viking who aspires to hunt dragons becomes the unlikely friend of a young dragon himself, and learns there may be more to the creatures than he assumed.

Ratatouille

Remy is a young rat in the French countryside who arrives in Paris, only to find out that his cooking idol is dead. When he makes an unusual alliance with a restaurant’s new garbage boy, the culinary and personal adventures begin despite Remy’s family’s skepticism and the rat-hating world of humans.

The Incredibles

A family of undercover superheroes, while trying to live the quiet suburban life, are forced into action to save the world.

Up

By tying thousands of balloon to his home, 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen sets out to fulfill his lifelong dream to see the wilds of South America. Right after lifting off, however, he learns he isn’t alone on his journey, since Russell, a wilderness explorer 70 years his junior, has inadvertently become a stowaway on the trip.

Finding Nemo

A father-son underwater adventure featuring Nemo, a boy clownfish, stolen from his coral reef home. His timid father must then travel to Sydney and search Sydney Harbour to find Nemo.

The Lion King

Tricked into thinking he killed his father, a guilt ridden lion cub flees into exile and abandons his identity as the future King.

Monsters, Inc.

Monsters generate their city’s power by scaring children, but they are terribly afraid themselves of being contaminated by children, so when one enters Monstropolis, top scarer Sulley finds his world disrupted.

Toy Story

A cowboy toy is profoundly threatened and jealous when a fancy spaceman toy supplants him as top toy in a boy’s room. Also see: Toy Story 2

Shrek

An ogre, in order to regain his swamp, travels along with an annoying donkey in order to bring a princess to a scheming lord, wishing himself King. Also see: Shrek 2, Shrek 3