On the bus back ( randomly organized thoughts)

On Tuesday 12 pm and blogging.

I got a class later at 5 pm ,but I figured I should go home because I never have a productive time in school anyway.

I just got back my FIIM mid terms. I got 32.75, which is probably is second highest in class, behind Vince. ( Prof said highest was 32, but prob made a mistake)

Set me thinking.

Am I really that good in finance? I didn’t even really study for it, but I seem to be able to grasp the concepts pretty fast. I don’t read the Financial Times like the people in class do. Everyday they seem to pick up that almost unreadable newspaper and read it.

But my heart is not in fiancé. I may be good at it. But my heart’s not here. They say the best way to figure out your passion, or calling is to observe yourself in your free time. What do you do on your free time that could possibly be ‘monetized’?

Well I find it exciting to actually read on entrepreneurial strategies, marketing strategies for small business. I read everyday on these things. I buy those books.

I guess you could say I got a head for Finance but a heart of an entrepreneur.

I was thinking that being an entrepreneur is very much like being a Christian.

There’s no rest day for you. There’s no such thing as taking a break from your business or from being a Christian. You are either a Christian 24/7 or you’re not. You’re either working on or thinking about your business( esp for start-ups) or you’re screwed.

We can’t approach entrepreneurial business with a 8-5 and rest on weekends mindset. We can’t think to ourselves that we have ‘arrived’. If the business ever stops improving, it’s only a matter of time that it gets taken out by competitors.

Maybe that’s why I wanna become an entrepreneur instead of going into the finance world. It’s more exciting and risky to be an entrepreneur. There’s more passion in your life. More thrill.

I figured, seriously speaking, I can live on less than 300 bucks a month. So why worry about putting food on the table now. I think can leave that concern till after marriage, house, car and kids.

I think I’m too young to go into the corporate world. I don’t feel I’m made for it. I can’t imagine myself doing something 8-5 ( or more in the banking industry which everyone seems to want to go into in SMU). Especially if it’s anything to do with valuation, discounting cashflows, and things which I think are a little well… no value add to a society in general.

I know I might cause a small debate here, but really what kind of true value do we give to society in our financial analysis? I look at our financial analyst report for our Corp Reporting Project. It’s purpose is to tell rich people where they can park their money. And where did we get our assumptions and final valuation of the stock? From other financial analyst reports. Abit duh. Our assumptions are tuned in such a way that it gives the stock a ‘nice uncontroversial’ value. Meaning people won’t go and argue about it being too high or too low, but just take it as it is. But back to the point.

I ask myself: What kind of value do I really create if I were a financial analyst? Is someone’s life going to be better because of my existence? Am I an asset to someone? Well maybe a rich individual who wants to know if he can get 12% or 10% on his million.

But then again, if it were a certainty, I would have created a value to him. But the thing is financial analyst reports are NEVER accurate. The markets are really unpredictable.

So what I am creating in society? Well given the fact that the banking industry is not just made up of financial analyst. But still,…

I want to be someone to creates value. The whole financial market is really a ‘derivative’ market in the sense that it builds upon businesses. Without businesses, the financial markets won’t exist. Okay, maybe the foreign exchange markets can still exist, but even the currencies’ value are built upon businesses in the country.

I’m not too well versed on the financial terms to say this, but I find being in the business realm to be more interesting than the financial market realm. Granted, the financial markets exist because there’s trillions to be made daily, but I would rather be a person that builds that value, who builds that company..

Than the person who trades, invests, bets on that company.

To the society in general, I believe that a person with the ability to build a business from the ground up is more valuable than one who say, knows how to trade money and make profits from it.

Well. So in summary…

I just want to justify my change from a Finance Major which EVERYONE is going into, to a Management Major.

Sure. No 6000 dollar job from bank. But would I sell the opportunity cost to live my life to the fullest, my time for God every night, my ministry in church, the fulfillment of knowing that I’m doing what I love EVERYDAY of my life, for even $20,000 a month.
Nah.

Money comes and goes.

Time runs out.