It started in early 1991: an ad in the printed edition of Die Bank, the monthly journal every overambitious Azubi subscribed to, promoted a new form of academic education – the Hochschule für Bankwirtschaft (HfB). A private institution, charging fees, no accreditation, no graduates. All just one paper-based application, an assessment center, and a job search away. And so, the journey began!
Several first-time experiences at HfB followed: a stranger at the workplace (part-timer, 8 years younger than the next junior), lectures in English, organizing a seminar about the newly opened Eastern Europe, picking up the Polish Finance Minister in a tiny Peugeot at the airport, the first student council, first term abroad, writing my thesis in Mexico during the Peso crisis—this range of unconnected experiences became a concept.
Opportunities are there to be found, particularly outside the predefined, highly admired fast-track career programs. Right after graduation, we formed the alumni association, which grew to be very decent. The professional journey accelerated: moving to the Treasury Department, where Prof. Heidorn’s Bankbetriebslehre was most applicable; transferring the concepts to the bank’s subsidiary in Madrid, managing the peseta by day and spending the same at night. Returning to Frankfurt for a 2-year voluntary slavery as a “Vorstandsassistent,” before finally moving to the city of my dreams and home since 2001—New York.
To understand the next phase in my career, watch The Big Short—both crazy and real. To keep my sanity and to stay true to my ideas of altruism, I started a program in Bolivia which, for 20 years now, has annually served up to 3,000 children and their families with education, healthcare, and community development. What I learned: change takes time and requires much more than money. I also opened a second professional focus by engaging in advisory work for impact finance. When my regular bank job came to an end in 2013, this sector fully captured my mind and heart, counting engagements with over 120 institutions across 60+ countries, including Board Chairman positions in Kyrgyzstan and Nigeria.
Drawing from the learning effects of this work, I took a critical review of the wonderfully sounding world of impact finance. The enemy of “good” are “good intentions,” and the execution of the work is frequently haunted by systemic flaws and wrong incentives. That explains the most recent move: running a company, based in Rwanda, India, and New York, providing technology and solutions for banks in developing countries for fundamentally better risk management and SME lending. Change has a bigger chance for success when it’s desired from within, so we work with a full cultural understanding of our markets.
Blog articles are supposed to be entertaining and useful, so let me try to come up with three shareable lessons learned from my journey so far:
Nothing replaces a solid education. Know the basics of your profession. Be passionate about true subject matter expertise. It will help you assess, understand, and categorize new information. In the FS environment, this is likely around finance. Understand concepts of (un)expected losses, risk-adjusted returns, debt and equity investments, and what differentiates taking risks from gambling. Handle spreadsheets and data; be on top of AI developments. This will help you understand the next bubble and identify the charlatans/no-brainers in our business. New developments, no matter how disruptive they seem, will always happen bottom-up by skilled people.
With tools in place, experience will be the differentiating factor. Since it’s difficult to have decades of experience at the beginning of your career, learn from others. It’s a key selection criterion for a new job. Being an assistant opened my eyes to quality, perfection, strategic decision-making, and politics. When you have the opportunity, suck up all these impressions. As you advance, continue looking for teams where you can grow—as a person and as an expert. Don’t shy away from confrontational creativity. Translate the spirit of competitive sports into your profession. Even the best stars have coaches and continue to train hard.
With tools and experience at hand, it’s time to venture out to new experiences. Life starts outside the comfort zone. It’s the space of phrase-mongering, but it is true—you will never leave your own footprints if you only step in other people’s shoes. This is what drives me. Finding my way through business life in new topics and other countries can be very humbling. As the foreigner in a team, you are the underdog. The lack of confidence will make you more effective. The learnings and the experiences are invaluable. The respect you create is authentic, and the impressions will be the spice of your career.
Stay humble, stay hungry and never stop running. That’s at least the path that I feel most comfortable with!
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