Damn, it Feels Good to Be a Banker is a satirical account of life as an investment banking analyst in New York at a top tier bulge bracket investment bank. The book is written by Leveraged Sell-Out, the author of the Leveraged Sell-Out blog. One disappointment is that Leveraged Sell-Out was not actually a banker, but rather a strategy consultant that lived with many banking analysts. Still based on my industry experience, this book contains a few underlying truths.

Damn, it Feels Good to Be a Banker is an antithesis to other insider accounts of banking such as Monkey Business that deglamorize the investment banking industry. Damn, it Feels Good to Be a Banker reglamorizes the investment banking world. The elitist content parental advisory on the cover really summarizes this book.

Underneath the heavy satire, the book outlines all general aspects of the job and life of investment banking analysts. Damn, it Feels Good to Be a Banker is split into four main sections: business, people, culture, and entertainment.

Business
The business section outlines the general structure of investment banks and the roles of all members of a banking deal team. For people who have not been exposed to banking, I think this section provides a decent general overview of the industry and the roles of different groups within an investment bank. For example, Leveraged Sell-Out differentiates between bulge bracket investment banks and boutique banks like Rothschild. The book’s continuous elitist satire is present throughout this section. When discussing the 100 plus hour work weeks that investment banking analysts typically work, Leveraged Sell-Out states, “If I wanted to sleep, I’d have been a surgeon.”

People
Covering schools, the interview process, girls, race, and back office support staff, the people section paints a comedic picture of the employees that drive investment banks. Surprisingly, the race section is quite politically correct, but the girls section does not portray female bankers in the best light. I especially enjoyed the recruiting chapter where Leveraged Sell-Out prepares a friend for interviews. Incase the interviewer asks for a joke, Leveraged Sell-Out provides the following. “What is the best part of the Playboy Enterprises (PLA)’s IPO? The pitch book.”

Culture
The culture section of Damn, it Feels Good to Be a Banker centers on fashion, compensation, and geography. In the fashion section there is a great picture depicting fashion progression from an intern wearing a hand-me-down tie, to the managing director wearing a $6,000 Hermes tie. The geography section provides numerous reasons why New York is the superior investment banking city.

Entertainment
The entertainment section covers all aspects of the glamorized investment banking lifestyle, including clubbing, dancing, and music. The dance chapter contains critical moves that all bankers should know including the excel modeler, raise the capital, on a call, the and the private chopper.

Conclusion
If you want a quick overview of life as an investment banking analyst, this book is a good source. The elitist satire is very funny, and if you strip out this satire the book is somewhat informative. Life as a banking analyst is not this glamours though, and I think Damn, it Feels Good to Be a Banker also stands as a contrarian indicator marking a peak of the recent financial “bubble.”

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