Morgan Stanley

There are some very smart technologists at the firm. Learning from them and bouncing ideas off them is a very productive experience. The culture of most people is to be very hardworking (in a positive way). It's very infectious, and you constantly get the feeling of having accomplished something as the pace of work is fast.

As a corporation, we tend to make short-sighted decisions that seem to be made to please investors, but come at the cost of executing a longer-term strategy. A work-life balance is difficult to maintain since teams are spread globally and we have a "follow the sun" culture.

Try to be a little more forward-looking while making staffing choices.

Try not to focus on quarterly ROEs. Some quarters will be bad, and investors will punish the stock price, but don't let that deter you from your longer-term strategy.