College Grads – Looking for new Algorithms for the Future, None left at Wall Street

Start up companies and biotech engineering is making a big calling as nobody wants or likes the formulas that crippled Wall Street any longer. There’s a lot of work in R and D though where formulas and scientific study are needed to cure diseases, that is for sure.

Hopefully all our well educated college graduates too can find a place before too much of the R and D processes, which includes developing medical devices and pharmaceuticals, before too much of our technology moves to other developing countries. BD

Early in his college career, Tyler Bosmeny assumed that after graduating, he would do what hundreds of other self-respecting Harvard University engineering, math, and science students do: take a job on Wall Street. "I had done a summer internship in investment banking, and part of me always figured that I'd be working in finance after Harvard," says Bosmeny, an applied mathematics major. But on graduation in June 2009, Bosmeny will work instead for an Internet startup he founded with five undergraduates from top schools who, like him, were on student newspapers. Called PaperG, the startup sells online advertising to local businesses.

Another Duke student, Vinay Lekharaju, says his dream since childhood has been to become an investment banker. He believed that a solid education in engineering and mathematics, combined with courses in financial management, would position him well for this career. He says he has been applying to every financial service company he can, but unlike previous semesters, when peers would get multiple job offers, he hasn't even been called for an interview. So Lekharaju is looking for a job in information technology.

The venture capital community appears to have taken note of the newfound disillusionment with finance. First Round Capital, an early-stage VC firm based in New York City, launched "Leave Wall Street, Join a Startup," a Web site that lists job openings at its portfolio companies and encourages financiers to jump to tech startups. The campaign got heavy play—and approving mentions—in the blogosphere.