Kevin Tawil

Not only did they have a culture where they would chew up employees as much as they could or use them as much as they could, and they weren't really into developing or nurturing or building a real culture.

It was really all about driving near-term results.

It was also a time when Wall Street was declining precipitously.

You were coming into a recession.

Drexel blew up in the middle of it.

And you've got people being laid off.

And during my second year, their mergers and acquisitions group collapsed.

probably contracted to about half its original size in less than a year.

And you got to see all that happening to the point where when I was being interviewed upon my exit en route to Stanford Business School, I remember the MD asking if I'd consider coming back after

business school and I just wasn't expecting that question.

And I just answered honestly and naively.

And I said, well, I suppose if I don't have any other offers, I'd come back.

It was just intuitive.

It was just like, no, it was a reaction.

I would never want to work in that culture if I didn't have to, but I learned a lot.

That's for sure.

The thing I take away most from that era was the importance of getting it right, of doing work at a high level and checking your work, making sure it's perfect.

And I took that with me out of that experience.

And so then you go to Stanford, to the GSB.

Went to the GSP.