David Heacock: Managing and Marketing a $250M Business [The Knowledge Project #215]

Shane Parrish: You said you felt like an outsider at Goldman. Why did you stay so long?

David Heacock: Well, I’m stubborn, and honestly, I had manifested my job at Goldman in a way. It’s something that for years I had idolized, and then made happen in my life. I didn’t go to an Ivy League school; I didn’t come from a rich Northeastern type of family that had family and private equity and all the traditional feeders that lead to a finance career normally. I went to George Washington University, and in about my sophomore or junior year, I decided I wanted to go into finance. The premier place to work was Goldman Sachs, so I became very obsessed with working at Goldman Sachs. There was no pathway from George Washington University to Goldman Sachs, at least not at the time. It’s just not how they hired and recruited.