Like Jeff Bezos did in 1994, these ‘quantreprenuers’ ditched Wall Street to apply their skills to real life problems — from reducing greenhouse gases to developing safer eye surgery.
The year was 1994, and D.E. Shaw, one of the earliest hedge funds to specialize in computerized, algorithmic trading, was about to lose a key employee.
A headhunter had placed him at the fund only four years prior, but he’d made a quick impression on founder David Shaw and risen to senior vice president. Walking through Central Park, Shaw tried to convince him to stay — he’d be giving up millions in compensation and a significant role at the firm.
It didn’t work. He got on the phone with Rick Wastrom, the Smith Hanley headhunter who’d placed him at the hedge fund, and explained he was headed west to start his own company and “sell things over the internet,” according to notes Wastrom still has from the call that he shared with Insider.
