Smart companies fail because they do everything right. They cater to high-profit-margin customers and ignore the low end of the market, where disruptive innovations emerge from.
Clayton M. ChristensenRead
Investment banking is not a business; it is a personal service where bankers work hand in hand with their clients. And it is a service that must not simply be about making bigger and bigger deals that reap rewards for only a small group of executives.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Investment banking prioritizes personal relationships and ethical service over solely profit-driven motives.
In this quote, Felix Rohatyn emphasizes the essence of investment banking as a personal service that revolves around understanding and collaborating with clients, rather than merely focusing on closing larger deals that benefit only a select few. The quote critiques the notion of investment banking as solely a revenue-generating enterprise, highlighting the importance of values such as integrity, service, and client relationships within the industry.
Themes
Investment BankingPersonal ServiceClient RelationshipsEthicsBusiness Values
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of ethics in finance, you could reference this quote to underline the role of personal relationships in professional services.
Similar quotes
If you believe your product or service can fulfill a true need, it's your moral obligation to sell it.
Zig ZiglarRead
At Patagonia, making a profit is not the goal because the Zen master would say profits happen 'when you do everything else right'.
Yvon ChouinardRead
When we first started our internet company, 'China Pages', in 1995, and we were just making home pages for a lot of Chinese companies. We went to the big owners, the big companies, and they didn't want to do it. We go to state-owned companies, and they didn't want to do it. Only the small and medium companies really want to do it.
Jack MaRead
The concept of disruption is about competitive response; it is not a theory of growth. It's adjacent to growth. But it's not about growth.
Clayton M. ChristensenRead
The buyer is entitled to a bargain. The seller is entitled to a profit. So there is a fine margin in between where the price is right. I have found this to be true to this day whether dealing in paper hats, winter underwear or hotels.
Conrad HiltonRead