About this episode

This week I am joined by Patrick Curtis, founder of Wall Street Oasis. Wall Street Oasis serves more than 2 million people per month through its free discussion forums and its premium online courses all related to finance careers. Over the last decade, Patrick has built Wall Street Oasis into the largest online community focused on careers in finance.

Patrick built Wall Street Oasis as a safety net after he was terminated from his job. Wall Street Oasis began as a backup plan, but Patrick soon realized that there were many in the Investment Banking world who would find value in hearing what it was really like to work in the industry before committing their entire career to it.

Entrepreneurship takes courage because, like Patrick shared, there will be moments where your mission and goals seem so much greater than you think you are capable of pulling off. Sometimes that courage comes from someone else. That is the power of community, like the one Patrick built with Wall Street Oasis and what I hope to build here with The Startup Story.

Of course, every founder’s story has a beginning. And, for Patrick, it was crystal clear for him where his journey began… This is Patrick Curtis’ startup story.

In this episode, you’ll hear

• Looking back on Patrick’s youth and picking up the early breadcrumbs that would lead him to become an entrepreneur one day
• About how he didn’t really know what he wanted to do after high school, but how he was lucky enough to be surrounded by incredibly smart friends who taught him early on about work ethic
• How college allowed him time to figure out what he really wanted to do and to push himself academically; and how entrepreneurship was still NOT on his radar
• Why he decided to start his career in Investment Banking following college
• Some of the things he learned from being an investment banker and some of the hardships he endured followed by his decision to move to a career in equity banking
• About the time he thought he was going to get a $40,000 bonus and he got fired instead
• How getting fired became the catalyst for building Wall Street Oasis and where the initial idea spanned from
• When he recognized that Wall Street Oasis could be a bigger business and how he began to build and expand

“It takes a special breed to deal with the day-to-day grind to be an entrepreneur. I think anyone could be an entrepreneur, but I DON’T think everyone should be.”
—Patrick Curtis, Wall Street Oasis

Resources from this episode

Throughout the month of January we are highlighting the mission of Destiny Rescue. Visit thestartupstory.co/rescue to help today.

Wall Street Oasis: https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/
Patrick Curtis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickmanningcurtis/

The Startup Story is now on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/jamesmckinney
The Startup Story on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thestartupstory/

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The Startup Story community has been so incredible sharing our podcast with others, and we thank you! We do have more stories to tell and more people to reach. There are three ways you can help.

First, the most powerful way you can support this podcast is by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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With your support, we hope to further our reach in encouraging and inspiring the founders of today and tomorrow. Thank you!

EPISODE CREDITS

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment.

He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world.

Contact him today at https://emeraldcitypro.com/startupstory

Special Guest: Patrick Curtis.