One last dunk on Cal, just because I’m salty for the WHOLE chapter on how many people try to STEAL HIS TIME FOR FREE. I went to Cal’s blog to get a vibe for it. I came across this story. Basically Credit Suisse had a loan to a hedge fund, They figured out that the fund was effectively in Margin Call and went back and forth via email for two weeks without resolution until it all went south and Credit Suisse lost $5.5Bn.
Cal’s key takeout from this was:
I couldn’t think of a better case study for the illusory, performative pseudo-value generated by the hyperactive hive mind. The players in this story were for sure feeling very productive: furiously typing on devices, messages moving back and forth, bases being touched, plates spun, their industry palpable.
Cal – my dude, I think you are intentionally missing the wood for the trees here. Credit Suisse is a $892Bn company that trawls the worlds best universities recruiting some very smart people. Reading the Bloomberg article there were many other facets to the story but its seems to boil down to CS not wanting to ask for more margin for fear of losing the business. If they can lose $5.5Bn purely because a customer doesn’t respond to an email, I’d suggest there is a much larger issue with corporate governance & risk management. But by all means Cal, build your straw-man as you see fit i guess.
Notes from a small Life 