The Buy-Side vs. The Sell-Side: The Worst Way to Categorize Finance Firms?

“Yo, you’ll make bank when you move to the buy-side! Screw this stupid investment banking job.”

“Yeah, I heard everyone at hedge funds makes at least $1 million and gets a castle as their signing bonus.”

“So when’s your interview?”

Ah, yes: that classic debate about the buy-side vs. the sell-side. Although the conversation above is fictional, similar exchanges are taking place in cubicles across the world as you read this.

You hear about the buy-side vs. sell-side distinction everywhere, whether you search online, browse through you message boards, or even (gasp) talk to people in real life.

The only problem is that “buy-side vs. sell-side” is the worst way to categorize financial services firms.

Debt Capital Markets 101: How You Break In, What You Do, and What You Do Next

This one has been a long time coming, but it’s finally here: the debt capital markets article you’ve been waiting for since this site began.

In this interview with a reader who works in DCM in Canada, you’ll learn:

• How recruiting differs in DCM.
• What an average day in a DCM group is like.
• How DCM is different from Leveraged Finance, and pros and cons for each one.
• Differences between DCM groups in the US vs. Canada.
• The culture, pay, hours, and exit opps in DCM.

This one’s a monster and might just be the most in-depth interview ever featured here, so let’s get started.

Pitch Anything: “The Game” for Investment Banking?

It’s 11 PM and you’re sitting down at a bar with a friend. You see 2 gorgeous blondes stroll over and sit down across from you (if you’re female, just imagine this from your perspective instead).

You strategize with your friend about what to say and who to approach, you think of the perfect opening line, and then you go up and make your move.

The first girl stops you in your tracks, glares at you, and says, “If you’re going to recite lines from that book, we’ve heard them all before – you can go away now.”

Ouch. What went wrong?

The problem is that it’s 2005 and Neil Strauss has just published The Game, detailing the secret society of pickup artists and the exact tactics they use to get beautiful women night after night.

It became so popular in New York that women learned all about it and instantly knew when a guy was using tactics from the book.

And now a new book by Oren Klaff, a capital markets banker based in LA, might just do the same thing for the world of business and investment banking.