Tower Research Capital

The people when I joined were the pros of the company. You could see the leaders resonate with ideas and act on them. They would listen to their lowest rung. The free lunch, breakfast, zen-like office space and snacks were the cherry on top.

Technology is a double-edged sword, you have to have the best hardware and a team to build software to support that. Having said that, it is challenging yet exhausting... constantly. If you are from front-end, back-end, a cool startup or a bank it won't prepare you much for what Tower is. That's a good thing. You will be learning with the support of strong leaders. They will recognize your efforts and you will be rewarded.

The past is the dream. The present is the reality of different leaders, and a generation of new challenges coming to the HFT space. That reality is there is a dwindling support of strong leaders whether through numbers or priorities.

Whether through mediocrity or exemplary efforts, compensation remains stagnant. The work and those constant challenges continue to grow and if you swim in this low morale with your peers, there is very little desire to remain.

The reality of what Tower must be do to remain competitive versus how an employee can remain faithful are sometimes not on the same path.

The eventuality will be distant teams that could care less to get the job for others but for themselves.

You want motivated thinkers and that was most effective with happy teammates and supportive leaders.

When they are gone, there will be a very long term cost to build that back.

Support the team, not the individual employees through good times and bad.