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The single piece of advice that launched Michael Featherstone into crypto: "You can watch the space from the sidelines—but if you really want to understand it, you need to go do it." In our chat a few weeks ago, Mike explained his journey from "a traditional finance career" to leading the entire finance function at Flipside. His prior work history (regional sales manager, corporate finance, living and working abroad, and more) all play into his current work at Flipside—they make him into a better, broader CFO who can speak the language of other departments. 3 takeaways: - Go do things — max on experiences — to understand what you like/don't like. That's the only way. And you never know where it might lead. - Understand your own appetite for risk. - Intentionally work on different aspects of a business. You'll not only broaden your skillset, but you'll start to naturally "see things" (challenges/opportunities) from the perspective of another org — their incentives, their concerns, etc. All of which makes you a better, more helpful business partner.

While it's undeniably true that WatchMojo bootstrapped its way to profitability (after 6 years of losses!) & is one of the few profitable digital media companies to find product/market fit, build a community and brand that audiences are passionate about without a single penny in venture funding... let me share something that few know. About 4 years ago to the day, my long-time industry friend & advisor Peter Horan called me to see if I was open to bringing on a financial partner. After 100+ rejections (and a few offers) from VCs in the early days when I could have used the funding, by 2020 we had grown into a profitable machine that ran one of the largest channels on the dominant media & entertainment platforms of the 21st century, YouTube. Conventional wisdom was to pass, but in June 2020, Covid had effectively "Thanos'd" half the industries of the world (travel, restaurants, retail, etc) so with a bit of reflection, I decided it may be prudent to bring on a financial partner. Peter introduced me to Bruce Eatroff, Jonathan Barnes, Jonathan Grad and Brett Hickey from Star Mountain Capital and after six blissful months of due diligence, we formally brought them on as our partners, on December 31, 2020! They've been growing their differentiated private markets investment firm & now have several open roles, looking for new teammates to join them. I can attest that they have been great partners. With 85 full-time employees, they've grown prudently, but rapidly. With a culture that includes being 100% employee-owned, they're looking to hire in their Tampa, Florida office. 1) Analyst/Associate, Direct Credit Underwriting: an individual with 1-4 years of experience in private credit, private equity, investment banking, corporate finance, or a related field. 2) Financial Operations Analysts: individuals with demonstrated command over financial controls, fund accounting, reporting and analytics, and desire to interact directly with senior management, business owners, and other leading private fund managers. 3) Business Development Associates: individuals experienced in sales and client service eager to support senior Investor Relations Professionals as they build their distribution network. 4) Client Services Associate: an individual experienced in handling investor inquiries with a focus on exceptional service, attention to detail, and has a highly personable approach. 5) Executive Assistant: a highly qualified and tenured support professional to help a C-suite level professional. If anything stands out, you can find links to each role in the comments; and feel free to reach out to me and I can connect you to them... as well.

Do you ever hear 'fintech' and think acronyms and complicated jargon? If Open Finance is going to realize its full potential, we need people from industries outside of payments to get excited about it too. I just wrote my first blog post for Ozone API about expanding the talent pool through inclusive language. There's a link to our careers page in there too! https://lnkd.in/eSMzYiNN

What's your status? 1️⃣ Single 2️⃣ Taken 3️⃣ Looking for a Fund Manager? Let's talk about securing that financial future #FinanceGoals #SmartInvesting #WealthBuilding

"Why move from a cutting-edge big tech firm to the trading space?" This is a question we get all the time as recruiters for hedge funds and prop trading firms. It's also a move we facilitate frequently. Just yesterday, a tier-1 hedge fund client mentioned that most of their recent hires come from outside finance - specifically from Big Tech. Hedge funds and prop trading firms have attracted so many tech talent because they operate at the intersection of finance and technology. These environments are typically smaller, less bureaucratic, and present significant technical challenges, all while moving at a faster pace. The problems they're solving require skills that are highly transferable from tech, whether it's optimising latency down to the nanosecond, designing large-scale systems capable of ingesting and processing massive amounts of data, or building research platform to deploy ML algorithms at scale. If you're curious to explore how your skills could translate into the trading world, we're here to help. Get in touch to Alex Jouatte and Sacha Rinaudo for informal chat. Disclaimer: compensation packages can be quite attractive too.

September has seen a strong uptick in hiring, particularly within the dynamic world of Asset-Based Finance, which is certainly proving itself to be the 'next frontier of Private Credit'. My team and I are working with several exciting spec fin investment platforms keen to grow their IP teams. In addition, we have a few senior fundraising roles with private credit funds looking to diversify into the ABF market. Please see a few of the roles we're working on below and if of interest, please reach out! ⚫ Principal CRE Originations & Sourcing - a rapidly growing spec fin platform - New York 🔴 x6 Asset-Based Finance Investment Associate or VP Openings - several different ABF platforms based in the New York Metro Area 🔵 x3 Principal/MD Specialty Finance Investment Professional - New York, San Francisco and/or Dallas 🟣 Structured Solutions & Fund Finance Associate - leading asset manager in New York 🟠 Private Credit Fundraising Managing Director - scaling private credit fund - Dallas or New York #securitization #privatecredit #ABF #assetbasedfinance #assetbackedfinance #specialtyfinance #hiring Sebastian Whitlock Jed Kelly Stavros Zangoulos

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Many #CA's aspire to join the #fund accounting industry. So let me give you a little background of this growing sector. The Fund industry globally is now clearly segregated into * Fund Management * Fund administration and accounting ** Fund management includes : 1. Setting up the fund 2. Signing the partnership agreement/s between General Partner and Limited Partners 3. Setting up the Research and Analysis Team to design asset allocation strategies 4. Hiring Traders to trade in equities, bonds, forex, commodities 5. Hiring fund managers to invest in private equity/ REIT's etc. 6. Generating Profits for the firm and LPs But the above activities can be executed with perfection only with the assistance of a rock-solid back end team for accounting and administration **Fund accounting and administration of the largest hedge funds, #REIT's, pension funds, private equity funds are handled by outsourced agencies. 1. Calculation of #NAV (Net Asset Value) 2. Calculation of MTM (Mark to market) of investment portfolio 3. Calculating investor allocation/s for hedge funds. 4. Processing Corporate Actions 5. Calculation of #management Fees and #performance Fees Fund administration is distinct from Fund management and its important that candidates know these facts before they appear for an #interview with a fund accounting firm. Keep Learning Keep Growing

I wish i knew all these before i start my fund management company. My boss asked me to stay on in the job. My investors encouraged me to venture into the new career pathway. Reason: I was their trusted advisor and handle their investments well in both up and down time. I decided to give it a shot as when i did my pro forma statement, it was working well. I am glad I make the decision to start my fund management company. Never did i know the pathway was not easy to start. ➡️Visited more than 10 over management consultant company. ➡️Googled and read up directives but was confused ➡️Switch corporate sectary, auditors, fund administrator before i submit my application ➡️Prime broker unable to deliver the counters I require for my portfolio ➡️Was rejected from opening account with the bank ➡️Have to ask my business partner to leave when discovered he was not interested in the business. And many other issues. 3 main events that could have change my career path: Event 1) I listened to my boss and stay on in the job. Event 2) I failed my exams and decided fund management is not for me. Event 3) I met with the challenges during set up and in between that I gave up. I took the unconventional way out, striving to be better, I got lucky and became a fund manager. It was a risky career journey. These are the career advice i will give to myself before I kick start my fund management company. 1) Network - attend more networking sessions to speak with industry leaders to find out how. 2) Seek mentorship - find someone who has done it, both set up and close down successfully to guide you. 3) Community support - join a community of like-minded individuals to support your journey Here's a list of 12 items that i will prepare before starting: 1. compliance officer, operation officer 2. prime broker 3. 3rd party administrator 4. Onshore fund lawyer 5. offshore fund lawyer 6. corporate lawyer 7. mgt co. bank account 8. fund auditor 9. fund custodian 10. tax officer 11. software vendor 12. data providers What career advice would you tell your younger self? Mike Sim #careerbigquestions #whatinspiresme #assetmanagement #fundmanagement #entrepreneurs