Why Investment Bankers Are Not Good Artists!

Investment Bankers with MBA's are taught to maximize profits. We get better grades the more we maximize profits. We get better jobs. We get promoted.

I have an MBA. Here is what I was taught. Focus on three things.

Land. Minimize the cost. Environment be damned. (And get the Fed to give your bank free money or securitize your debt and sell it someone else).

Labor. Minimize the cost. Remember they are units. Not people. With lives.

Capital. Minimize the cost. Leverage. More leverage. Use someone else's money. Let someone else take the risk.

Can we add humanity to the list? Please.

Could we have a goal to minimize human suffering.

As an artist I see things differently. I care. About people. At least I hope I do. I care about killing. I care about fresh water.

Maybe now its easier to comprehend why I left the business world.

There's another reason I left the business world and maybe this story (I was recently reminded of this) will help you understand.

There's an artist who paints and blows up art all day, enjoys his art, eats with his family, hangs out with his friends and listens to music, goes to sleep.

A Harvard MBA comes up to him and says, "you have incredible art here. We can expand and sell art into all the different galleries, we can add products, franchise and manage a big business."

The artist says, "Why would I want to do that?"

The Harvard MBA says, "well then in a few years you can have an IPO."

The artist says, "Why would I want to do that?"

The Harvard MBA says, "well then you would have millions of dollars. Imagine what you could do with that money!"

So the artist did imagine: he would wake up early, he would paint all day and blow it up, he would enjoy his art, and then he'd go out and listen to music with his friends.

Boom!

Stick Vega is the American Gunpowder Artist. He creates modern, primitive, explosvie art and blogs from Stick Vega Studios in Madison, WI and Bucktown, Chicago, IL. Follow Stick at Facebook and/or Twitter.