The Way of the Wall Street Warrior. Dave Liu

and humor help take a complex subject and turn it into an entertaining read! Dave is an Asian American who spent time in both Hong Kong and Houston. So think Asian with a British accent and southern twang!”

       Spencer Wang, Former Chief Investment Officer of Seasons Capital and former Credit Suisse and Salomon Brothers banker

      “This book's irreverent humor will keep you laughing throughout, but the lessons inside should be taken very seriously. I've spent half my career in finance, the other half in tech, and Dave's practical, no-BS advice on what it actually takes to succeed and rise through the ranks is broadly applicable to any high-powered, competitive industry.”

       Eric Hu, Director of Corporate Development at Twilio and former Jefferies banker

THE WAY of the WALL STREET WARRIOR

      CONQUER THE CORPORATE GAME USING TIPS, TRICKS, AND SMARTCUTS

       DAVE LIU WITH ADAM SNYDER

Copyright © 2022 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

      Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

      Published simultaneously in Canada.

      No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone], or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

      Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

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       Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Names: Liu, Dave, author. | Snyder, Adam, author.

      Title: The way of the Wall Street warrior : conquer the corporate game using tips, tricks, and smartcuts / Dave Liu, Adam Snyder.

      Description: Hoboken, New Jersey : John Wiley & Sons, Inc., [2022] | Includes index.

      Identifiers: LCCN 2021037401 (print) | LCCN 2021037402 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119811909 (Hardcover) | ISBN 9781119811916 (ePDF) | ISBN 9781119811923 (ePub)

      Subjects: LCSH: Success in business. | Executive ability.

      Classification: LCC HF5386 .L739 2022 (print) | LCC HF5386 (ebook) | DDC 650.1—dc23

      LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021037401

      LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021037402

      COVER DESIGN: DAVE LIU

      COVER ART: PAUL MCCARTHY

       This book is dedicated to my mother, Vicki Liu, who showed me through hard work and determination that anything is possible. She also taught me not to take crap from anyone—from jerk customers at Safeway to narcissistic CEOs. Thanks, Mom!

Acknowledgments

      This book would not have happened if it were not for the heroic efforts of me, myself, and I. So first, I'd like to thank myself for a job well done and pat myself on the back. I honestly thought I wouldn't be able to write enough to fill a postcard, but it looks like I have plenty to say!

      I'd like to thank those people who allowed me to waste an hour or more of their precious Netflix time by sharing their stories. Extra kudos for letting me use their real identities. That includes Juan Alva, Frank Baxter, Herald Chen, Joanne Chen, Paul Clausing, Edward Fu, Eric Heglie, Michael Henkin, Gina King, Chris McGowan, Harry Nelis, Bret Pearlman, Sreene Ranganathan, Jon Seiffer, Spencer Wang, Dave Wargo, and Lauren Wu.

      The feedback from those who read early manuscripts of this book was also tremendously helpful. Thanks for helping me eliminate the mindless drivel that would have sent this book straight into the discount pile. In particular, I'd like to thank Gad Allon, Bing Chen, Shubhan Dua, Brian Flynn, Tomoko Fortune, Bjorn Hovland, Eric Hu, James Liu, Tina Longfield, Leda Nelis, Mas Siddiqui, and Katherine Stevenson.

      I'd like to thank the team at Wiley for their support and making me change the title more times than my underwear. And to my agent, Kevin Anderson, and his team, for taking a chance on me—a first-time author who was more anonymous than Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto.

      I'd like to give a big high-five to my co-writing partner, Adam Snyder. Thanks for keeping me on track, fixing all the mistakes, and making this book readable. Without your help, my Mom would've been the only one to read it.

      Last, but certainly not least, I'd like to thank my family. To my wife, Lauren Wu, for encouraging me to write a book to share my love of storytelling. To my older son, Logan, who convinced me that it was time to press the eject button out of the Wall Street rat race and devote my life to being a great dad. And finally to my younger son, Lucian, who's convinced I'm writing a book about working at Wal-Mart and managing my way out of paper bags. Thanks to all of you for constantly reminding me that there's much more to life than making a ton of money!

       Dave Liu

About the Author

      Dave Liu is a seasoned veteran of Wall Street where he worked for almost 25 years. He started his investment banking career working for Goldman Sachs and then joined the fledgling investment bank Jefferies when it had less than 200 employees. Today, Jefferies is a multi-billion-dollar public company and one of the world's leading investment banks. During his 25-year career at Jefferies, Dave progressed from the proverbial janitor level of analyst to managing director, co-running all digital media and Internet investment banking activities.

      As one of the firm's only managing directors of color, and among its youngest, Dave successfully rose the ranks by not only working his ass