I worked in finance (as a trader). And I left. But I loved it. Most people didn't, but I did; I found the history and the mission captivating and I was not shy about showing that passion.

I left because they fired my charismatic manager and the firm's culture grew neurotic as the scandals and random terminations piled on. I saw the over-worked, sociopathic, misanthropic archetypes. But I saw the same personalities in Silicon Valley.

The capital markets are a critical piece of our modern world. We're still figuring out how these fascinatingly complicated machines work - they act differently in different cultures, in different sentiments, and under different geopolitical constraints. When they work...it's magical. The philosophical dimension of a weighted democracy doing better what kings and emperors through antiquity failed to do is a powerfully individualist statement. And there is so much more that has to be done. There are literally not enough hours in a lifetime of lifetimes to see all the implications and interactions and human potential waiting to be unlocked.

Do I sound like a crackhead? Probably. But I love the idea of taking what is not understood, considered "random" or "exogenous", and building something to bring it from the unknown to the known. I understand the historical struggle these resource allocation machines (how I think of them) have faced and why we need people to carry the flag, even if it means being hated and misunderstood by the public.

A lot of people go into finance for the wrong reasons. I feel sorry for them. A lot of them are held there by a fear, not of losing the cash flow, but of losing the prestige or business card. These people need help, not derision. But concluding the entire industry is corrupt is like looking at JustFabulous and a handful of overworked founders and concluding Silicon Valley a blight on humanity.

P.S. I don't expect a huge salary just for working at a bank. But if I'm coming up with original ideas, I will do the calculation of what I could earn if I went out on my own, and if the bank figure doesn't line up with that figure (it didn't) it makes sense to arbitrage. This is classic entrepreneurship and there is nothing more sinister about JPMorgan having to compete with a star player launching their own fund than there is Google having to pay out to top performers who may otherwise do well launching a start-up.