INVESTMENT BANK CLUB 2- by Marija

“Doing investment banking is like doing drugs: on your good trips you dance in clouds of marshmallows, surrounded by beautiful women (or men) serving you fruit in canopies.On your bad trips you scratch your eyes out and jump off buildings.” – Brian DeChesare

 

Interesting definition from an interesting man. Brain deChesare is the Founder of Mergers & Inquisitions, the biggest investment banking blog in the world, with nearly half a million monthly visitors and tens of thousands of subscribers.

Every story is different depending on a person telling it. And still, it seems, that everybody says the same story about investment bankers: “People who work a lot, people who earn a lot” This time I read the site of somebody who has no years of experience, but certainly has passion for finance and investment banking-Dino Bilankov. Dino Bilankov is a graduate of the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota and is currently working as an investment banking analyst at a major investment bank in New York City. He created a website to pass on his knowledge and experience to students with similar career goals who may not know where to start. On his way he was not alone, he  has been writing this guide with the assistance and feedback of experienced professionals who have advised him.

Work

Dino claims that as an investment banking analyst you will be expected to create financial models and pitch books day in and day out.  Dino points out that in your everyday work you will need to conduct industry research, develop financial valuation models, prepare presentation materials, identify structure and execute public and private market transactions for corporations and institutional and private investors. He explains that you will be often asked to do simple but time-consuming tasks, which you may think is not in your job description. However, as Dino mentions,  “I’m-to-smart-for-this” attitude  won’t help you progress.

 

Skills

People think that they have to be extremely good at math, that they have to be able to do financial models and analyses before they enter the job. Dino opposes this and states that only skills you need are: discipline, responsibility, you need to be detail oriented, hard working, and excited about learning new things.

One can also develop skills while working as an analyst. Deep knowledge of finance is guaranteed. Moreover, Dino persuades as that with experience, you will know what crucial things in financial statements to look for, learn how to create a story about the company and how it is positioned within its industry.

Compensation

Dino believes that the compensation is great and he has number to show it. If you work in New York, this is the amount you might expect:

• Signing bonus: ~$10,000
• Base salary: ~$50,000 – $70,000
• Year end bonus: ~$30,000 – $60,000

Dino is honest and admits that he is  paid more than any other peer working in any other industry. However, that has  a price. Long working hours are inevitable, as many before Dino have claimed.

Listen to your Body by Martin

“Learn to let your intuition (gut instinct) tell you when the food, the relationship, the job isn’t good for you (and conversely, when what you’re doing is just right).” – Oprah Winfrey

You should hear your gut or listen to it. An upset stomach can have a deep influence to your lifestyle. At least 20% of the people in Germany have disorders after drinking milk, or eating whip cream, and rolls with cheese. That is a overwhelming number.

Most people don´t have to suffer. There are treatments and different lifestyles. But there is a lack of information.

When food is not digested properly, then it begins to ferment in the stomach. After that, the upper intestine begins to produce carbon dioxide, organic acid, and hydrogen. That doesn´t help you digest, but it produces a lot of gas, and stomach pain. Specially foods with a high amount of carbohydrates, like gains, cause indigestion. Some people that are gluten sensitiv get diarrhea, throw up, and feel weak.[1]

An abnormal intestinal flora (candida), food allergies, alcohol, chemicals, and drugs can also be in charge for indigestion. As well as psycological stress.

There are several ways to improve the digestion. The act of chewing is one, because the digestion begins here. In the mouth. The mouth signals the rest of the system what is going down and what we need to split it off.[2]

For best digestion results you have to care of your water consumption. The best is alkaline water, and you should drink it between your meals. The reason why you shouldn’t drink during your meal, is, that the hydrochloric acid, which is for the digestion, gets diluted.[3]

Another way to improve digestion is to eat the right enzymes, and fiber rich food. The fibers are in fruits, and veggies. So when you like papaya, then that´s good, because it contains fibers and papain, which is a digestion enzyme, just like the bromelain in pinapples. You can also add probiotics to you diet. That will be a blowout.

I know they taste really good, but try to avoid fried, fatty, and refined food. It makes you fat and sick.

Start exercising how to combine the right food. Mixing proteins with starches is like mixing broccoli and banana. Do not consume milk meals. Sugar carrier like fruits and carbohydrates shouldn´t get mixed up with protein or starch.

If you are interested in easy digestible food combos, then checkout the link below.

Healthy food combinations

---

[1] www.focus.de

[2] www.kbs.de

[3] www.medizinfo.de

FairPhone

Hey!

When I surfed the Internet about new technology or new innovative products that are out there to write about, I found the “Fairphone“.

The developers say it is a high-performance smartphone made as fairly as possible with a transparent supply chain. It is a smart phone out of ethically-sourced materials. Using minerals mined in areas without human rights abuses, and bolted together in factories that have a good record for employment conditions.

FairPhone was looking for 5,000 pre-orders before it could commence production, and has smashed that target. Right now they received almost 10.000 pre-orders.

Ordering is limited to Europe and a FairPhone costs 325€.

The FairPhone shines a light on the issues of where mobile components are sourced from. The project admits its not there yet, saying, “We are not 100 per cent conflict free. We have never said that and we cannot say that, because we use 60 different suppliers and those suppliers have suppliers. That’s the main issue for the mobile industry — that the supply chain has become so difficult.”

Iam really looking forward to see how this project is going to develop!

Clemens

The mystery revealed- investment bank club-by Marija

Investment banks are often considered as something powerful, sometimes mystical and most of the time out of the range of regular people. Moreover when you ask people: “What does  an investment banker do? “, the answer is: “I don’t know, but I am sure he/she earns outrageous sum of money.”

As a person who is interested in finance, I decided to research more about investment bank jobs. I hope this will make it more clear who are Financial Gods and maybe after this article you will be interested in becoming one of them, or maybe not…

Carrier service-Ross School of Business, University of Michigan

 

American Universities are famous for providing their students not just a pure knowledge but also guide lines for their future carriers.  Carrier Service of Ross School of Business, University of Michigan gave their students an insight in investment bank carrier. They explain that good salary is a result of 80 to 100 working hours per week in very stressful and competitive environment.

Work environment

Carrier Service reminds us that conception of investment banking work environment may differ from person to person, depending on our own expectations and lifestyle.  Some people describe work environment as fast-paced, stressful, competitive, and generally unbearable over the long term. Others claim that work environment is collegial, cooperative, friendly, and enjoyable.

Advantages and Disadvantages

 

Carrier Service states that a carrier at investment bank will give you knowledge, information and insight about corporate finance and the financial markets, you will be challenged to take great responsibility, and gain different skills.

On the negative side, they mention that job at investment bank means stress, working even on weekends, and more risk.

Characteristics of employees

 

Carrier Service also explains that people working in investment banking sector should possess high stamina levels and a hunger for learning.  They inform us that energetic, confident, poised people are more luckily to get job in investment banks.

 

In conclusion, if you are ready to sacrifice your personal life and work hard you are ready for the job in investment banking.  Moreover, it is really important that you really like finance, otherwise this job will be a hell even with great pile of money.

 

 

THREE IDEAS THAT MIGHT HELP YOU! by Mandy

Do you remember where we left off?? Correct! I am publishing my investigations to finance your new small business, and I come todya with 3 ideas you could use depending on your necesities.

 

So.. you all ready have your business idea and you have all ready work on it to make it true, right? Well as promised, I have worked on my research and came up with several ideas that can help you start with your own idea! But be carefull since every choice has its ups and downs. Only you can decide what is better in your own personal case!

 

1. Family and Friends

 

 

Family and Friends.Starting up with money from family and friends is the most common way for enterpreneurs o start their business.
 
Family will always be there for you, they will support your decisions and will always want the best for you. Financing your start up idea with family and friends has the benefit that you know they won’t take advantage of you and therefore you can get to an agreement where both of you are comfortable with the settled decisions.
 
Of course financing with family has its down as well. When you contact close people to you to help you support your ideas you are risking their financial future and personal relationships.

 

To avoid it, you should supply formal financial projections, as well as an evidence-based assessment of when your relatives will be able to see their money back. This lets your investors know you take their money and your future plans seriously. You also need to seriously consider how the arrangement will be structured. Are you offering equity? Or will this be a loan? it is very important to talk about the risk innvolved and let them freely decide their minds!

 

Read more on raising money from family and friends.

       2. Crowdfunding

 

Wait…. What id crowdfunding??

 

Crowdfunding is an online community designed to help artists, musicians, athletes, inventors, and filmmakers raise small sums of money from a large number of helpers to help them fund their projects.

 

A famous crowdfunding page is Kickstarter.com. Lots of bands, filmakers and small business start their ideas this way! This is very usefull is you wish to have a certain amount of money for a certain date. 

 

But keep in mind, this isn’t about long-term funding. It is only supposed to facilitate the asking for and giving of support for single, one-off ideas. There’s no long-term return on investment for supporters  and that hasn’t stopped 100,000 people from donating to Kickstarter projects. 

To see more about Kickstarter go to using Kickstarter for business.

 

       3.  Credit Cards

 

In my opinion about what I have researched credit cards are not the best option, but read ahead so you can make your own decision!

 

About half of all small businesses finance their formation or expansion with credit cards, according to a survey by the National Small Business Association.

 

Credit cards are extremely risky. Interest rates can be exorbitant, and there are several penalties for those who fall behind to make their payments.

 

But don’t worry everything is possible if you want it to be! Here are somet tips if you are thinking in using credit cards for your start up idea.

 

• Be sure to use different cards for business and personal expenses. The credit card interest on items you charge for your business is tax deductible, and mixing business and personal expenses on the same card inevitably creates headaches come tax time.

 

• Pay your bills on time!!! This will help you establish a solid credit history as a business that will make it easier to graduate to a corporate small-business card, such as those offered by Visa, American Express, and MasterCard.

 

 

So now the choice is yours! Keep reading to see my new investigations in funding your new ideas!

PREPARE FOR THE BATTLE by Marija

 

Hmm…Seems like last time we made some connection, right?

Do you remember what was our thing….

Let me help you…Starts with I…

Yes, that’s the right ! Interview.To be more precise body language at the interview.

Yesterday, I had a presentation. You know how it goes, you prepare your speech, slides, everything is prepared days before, if you are responsible. However, there is only one final touch, the thing that we usually do the morning before presentation-what to wear? We always balance between too formal or too casual. And it’s not always easy. Hey, it takes me at least 45 min…That’s a lot…

So, you might be wondering, why the hell I need to know how much time she needs to dress up. And in fact it is not of importance to this article, but it made me think… Interview is not just a body language, isn’t it? In fact it’s much more…

WHAT TO WEAR ON THE INTERVIEW?

Many tried to answer this question and it seems that everybody agrees on one thing: it is always better to overdress for an interview than to un(der)dress. Kat Griffin,  who founded Corporette.com-a site for professional women, suggests to spy on people working for your potential company.  “People working in the same building  often dress in sync” states Kat.

Frank Bernieri, PhD, associate professor in the psychology department at Oregon State University  explains that a well-tailored outfit suggests that you’re conscientious and detail-oriented in other areas.

Another thing,something can look nice when you are standing…but what happens when you sit down? Take a test.Bring a chair near to mirror and see what happens.

Do you want to find more about this …Check this site http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/25/living/oprah-wear-to-interview The woman working for Oprah gives you some tips based on answers from some successful people.

WHAT TO BRING TO INTERVIEW?

Oh noooo…I forgot… Happened to you?  Happens to me too often.

However, when you go for an interview you are already stressed enough, and realizing that you forgot something won’t help you feel more relaxed. When you prepare for a vacation you always have a checklist, at least for most important things? Why don’t you make one for the interview?

Let’s see if anybody has already done that… There is a list of 12 things you should bring on interview:10 copies of resume, bottle of water, references, name,spelling and title of interview, photo ID…Here is 5 out of 12.Are you interested in what are the 7 other things? Check this http://www.jobacle.com/blog/2011/5/26/12-things-to-bring-to-an-interview.html

Body Language

Last time we talked about DO’S and DON’TS as far as body language in interview is concerned.So that means- you have already basics. Congratulation! If you want more I have something for you.Would you like to  meet Mr and Mrs Body Language and hear what they have to say about golden rules on interviews? Here is your chance

https://mmc2013berlin.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/allan_and_barbara_pease_-_body_language_the_definitive_book.pdf

More than 70% of all diseases are caused by the wrong food. By Martin

Everybody should know it, but most of them don´t. It´s official that most diseases in the western industrial countries, are caused by our lifestyle. Which means eating wrong, sedentary, overweight, the use of nicotine- and alcohol. Such a lifestyle can cause cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancer. Last year, 43% of all deaths in Germany where caused by cardiovascular diseases.

The doctors say that you cannot just have malnutrition, because of eating wrong stuff. It can also happen, when you damaged your intestinal flora by taking medical drugs. By the way, the most important immune system is found in our gut.

So how does it come, that people life like that?

-Because they don´t know. Or they don´t want to know.

If you are interested, then you can get information’s everywhere. Just search on Google for “diseases wrong food” and you will receive more than 86 million results.In the table below you can see how many entries you can find in Google by different search terms, so that you see that there are tons of information’s.Sources: www.gesundheit.de  www.med.de

You are what you eat? By Martin

Topic: I want to research about, what kind of benefits food has, what kind of eating food is the most healthy one, and if a healthy food can cure diseases.

Question: I want to give the people a better understanding about health, and a better understanding about alternative medicine.

Practical Signification: The food and the health market is one of the biggest. So if people get more knowledge about a healthy living, then it will create new trends.

Nutrition scientist say that your daily eating should made out of 55-60% carbohydrates, 15-20% proteins, and 15-25% fat. And you have to fill up all your vitamins and minerals also. So if you don´t eat right, then you will have a lack, what you should not take serious, if it´s for just a short period of time.

When you take care of you carbs, proteins, and fats, you should take a look, what kind of nutrition you eat.

But first we have to know what are carbs, proteins, and fats.

What are carbohydrates?

Your body uses carbohydrates (carbs) to make glucose which is the fuel that gives you energy and helps keep you body going.

Your body uses the glucose or stores it in your liver and muscles for the time when you need it.

Carbohydrates are in the following:

• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Breads, and cereals
• Milk and milk products
• Foods with added sugars (almost all industrial produced foods).

Healthier carbohydrates contain fibers and whole grains.

What is Protein?

Proteins are part of every cell, and organ in our bodies. The proteins are getting broken down and replaced in the body. The protein in the foods we eat is digested into amino acids that are later used to replace these proteins in our bodies.

Protein is found in the following foods:

• meats, and fish
• dry beans and peas
• tofu
• eggs
• nuts and seeds
• milk products
• vegetables, and friuts

What is fat?

Monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats are known as the “good fats” because they are good for your heart, your cholesterol, and your overall health.

Saturated fats and trans fats are known as the “bad fats” because they increase your risk of disease and elevate cholesterol.

Appearance-wise, saturated fats and trans fats tend to be solid at room temperature (think of butter or traditional stick margarine), while monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats tend to be liquid (think of olive or corn oil).

For more information’s click here!