Top all-time · #3412
The Epicurean Dealmaker
Personal blog · epicureandealmaker.blogspot.comeconomicscareer
The Epicurean Dealmaker is a personal blog at epicureandealmaker.blogspot.com about economics and career. Since 2008, 23 different Hacker News readers have linked it 26 times, most often “Why LinkedIn Wasn't Scammed”. The last post was in 2015, but the archive is still widely read.
Too few sampled comments (15) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link this investment banker's blog to explain finance topics such as IPO pricing, junior banker hours and Chesterton's Fence. Commenters praise its elegant prose and clear, approachable explanations.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 15 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
An occasional review and commentary on Wall Street, global finance, markets, and their participants, by a pseudonymous investment banker. Sometimes we will venture out into the broader landscape of society, culture, and politics to poke and peer at their curious denizens and bring back
Most-linked posts?
- /2012/03/chesterton-fence.html4 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2012-08-20
- Why LinkedIn Wasn't Scammed2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2011-05-22
- How IPO Pricing Works2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2013-09-17
What Hacker News says?
There is never justification for abusive treatment of others at work, but there are business reasons for the prevalence of overnight and weekend work by junior bankers. This post has an insider’s perspective explaining how the daily flow of the business in corporate finance and M&A requires a lot of the work done by junior bankers to be completed at night or on weekends: http://epicureandealmaker.blogspot.com/2014/0…
Comment linking /2014/01/a-fine-disregard-for-rules.html
on “Young Goldman Sachs bankers ask for 80-hour week cap”Submitted First, Let's Shoot All the Philosophers as a story · 72 points
HN discussionhttp://epicureandealmaker.blogspot.com/2012/03/chesterton-fe... This paradox rests on the most elementary common sense. The gate or fence did not grow there. It was not set up by somnambulists who built it in their sleep. It is highly improbable that it was put there by escaped lunatics who were for some reason loose in the street. Some person had some reason for thinking it would be a good thing for somebody. And u…
Comment linking /2012/03/chesterton-fence.html
on “Why don't they just..?”Submitted Why LinkedIn Wasn't Scammed as a story · 8 points
HN discussionIf you're a fan of elegant prose, I can't recommend Epicurian Dealmaker[1] enough. Sadly, the blog hasn't been written to in 8-ish years now. But I suspect that most of the information is still probably reasonably accurate. --- 1. https://epicureandealmaker.blogspot.com/2013/02/table-of-con...
Comment linking /2013/02/table-of-contents.html
on “GitHub Actions as a time-sharing supercomputer”Submitted Graveyard Spiral as a story · 3 points
HN discussionCheck out the 'Lindy Effect.' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_Effect Also read about 'Chesterton's Fence.' http://epicureandealmaker.blogspot.com/2012/03/chesterton-fe...
Comment linking /2012/03/chesterton-fence.html
on “The Effects of Intermittent Fasting on Human and Animal Health”Submitted The School of Hard Knocks (2014) as a story · 2 points
HN discussionThis kind of article doesn't address the issue known as Chesterton's fence [1]. If so-called "low power" poses are so bad for you, why have they survived evolution? Why do we have such strong ingrained impulses to assume them in the first place? "Experts" need to give a very, very convincing answer to this question before urging us to abandon such poses. Anecdotally, I've often been with groups of engineers where ev…
Comment linking /2012/03/chesterton-fence.html
on “The secrets of body language”Submitted Nerd Intersectionality as a story · 2 points
HN discussionThere is a method behind this madness (... or rather title inflation). This webpage explains it pretty well (it is a bit tongue in cheek but it is Friday). https://epicureandealmaker.blogspot.com/2013/03/curriculum-v...
Comment linking /2013/03/curriculum-vitae.html
on “What Is a Staff Engineer?”Submitted A Rational, Informed Response to LNKD's IPO as a story · 2 points
HN discussionHere’s a good discussion of IPO pricing, and why it’s not so simple as “set the price wrong”: http://epicureandealmaker.blogspot.com/2011/05/jane-you-igno...
Comment linking /2011/05/jane-you-ignorant-slut.html?m=1
on “Dropbox jumps more than 40% in trading debut”Submitted Can't buy me love as a story · 1 points
HN discussionI would recommend two articles by the same author as well-written, approachable discussions of how public markets work in this respect: http://epicureandealmaker.blogspot.com/2013/09/go-ask-alice.... http://epicureandealmaker.blogspot.com/2011/05/jane-you-igno...
Comment linking /2011/05/jane-you-ignorant-slut.html?m=1
on “Dropbox jumps more than 40% in trading debut”Submitted How IPO Pricing Works as a story · 1 points
HN discussionAnd a counterpoint: http://epicureandealmaker.blogspot.com/2015/03/uncle-warren-... Accept no one's argument at face value, especially when it's coming from a man who has spent the last 50 years exploiting market inefficiencies.
Comment linking /2015/03/uncle-warren-explains-it-all-to-you.html
on “Chip Makers Will Merge in Deal Worth $11.8B”Submitted Anonymous Investment Banker's Analysis of the Political Landscape as a story · 1 points
HN discussionThe Epicurean Dealmaker's thoughts (he's an MD for some big shot bank): http://epicureandealmaker.blogspot.com/2014/07/you-go-first....
Comment linking /2014/07/you-go-first.html
on “Wall Street Banks and Private Equity Firms Compete for Young Talent”Submitted Let a hundred investment banks bloom as a story · 1 points
HN discussionYour comment reminded me of Chesterton's Fence http://epicureandealmaker.blogspot.com/2012/03/chesterton-fe... It has been written about a few hundred times in various blogs. Basically, if you don't see a reason, before you make changes think harder until you do.
Comment linking /2012/03/chesterton-fence.html
on “Bram Cohen: I have a question for the version control experts”Would you care to elaborate on how exactly this "scam" works? The job of the underwriter is to guarantee that a certain amount of stock is sold at the point of IPO. They are paid to canvas their clients and market the IPO. That is what they do. I would strongly recommend you try and understand how IPOs work and how capital is raised before you bring out the pitchforks. If you are curious, I would recommend reading t…
Comment linking /2011/05/jane-you-ignorant-slut.html
on “Facebook IPO To Raise $5B, Filing Wednesday, Morgan Stanley In Lead”The Epicurean Dealmaker wrote a fantastic post a while back, and I will endorse but not repeat his entirely correct explanation of why IPOs are supposed to price at a discount; just go read it. http://epicureandealmaker.blogspot.com/2013/09/go-ask-alice....
Comment linking /2013/09/go-ask-alice.html
on “Price Cost Twitter Cash but Gave It Credibility”I got into this debate with some finance friends this weekend. This essay I've seen linked gives a rebuttal: http://epicureandealmaker.blogspot.com/2009/05/you-realithe-... "Think about it. The political stakes for the Obama Administration in the Chrysler fiasco are monumental... This leads to my second point. The negotiations over carving up claims to Chrysler Corporation prior to bankruptcy were just that: negotia…
Comment linking /2009/05/you-realithe-of-courth-thith-meanth-war.html
on “An offer you can't refuse”Good lord, this article is inane. For a rebuttal (and many, many clarifications) please see: http://epicureandealmaker.blogspot.com/2012/11/goodwill-hunt...
Comment linking /2012/11/goodwill-hunting.html
on “Hewlett-Packard’s Explanation Just Makes No Sense”
