8 Reasons Investment Professionals Need Mental Math

Most MDs share this "dorky" skill. Here are eight reasons it's worth picking up this summer.

Business development happens away from your computer.

Conferences, lunches, drinks, golf course, ski trips = no computers.

Manage Deal Volume.

Don't build 10 models a day (even with Claude's help) when you can size up each deal in real time focusing on estimated value creation and key metrics like multiples and yield-on-cost.

Lifestyle Flexibility.

Do you want to be stuck at your desk negotiating the term sheet, or can you beat traffic and iron it out while you drive to the Hamptons?

The Quarterback needs an O-Line.

When your assumptions come under attack in Investment Committee, mental math is your only quantitative protection.

Smartest Person in the Room.

The formula for getting promoted is to do great work + be the smartest person in the room. Always being on top of the numbers is a good start!

Ready for Emergencies.

Oh no, unexpected news after hours! Do you leave your dinner? Set up your laptop at coat check? How about being able to step outside and handle it on a 5-minute call.

Fortune Favors the Bold.

Is your professional brand "the person with an answer" or "the person who will circle back"?

The Baseball Generation.

Mental math for success has been a trope for decades. Three legends in their fields - Warren Buffett, Alan Greenspan, and Robert C. Merton - all spent their childhoods calculating batting averages from the stands.

FiveMinuteFox is the mental math trainer created for finance professionals (iPhone/Android).

Senior professionals usually develop this numbers sense over years of reps but we created a course to accelerate this process. Daily practice automatically takes you through basic calculation, interpolation, and even some memorized content (just like the multiplication table, you get a lot of mileage out of knowing common fractions - like that 5/11 is 0.4545). No ads or accounts and most of the content is free without a subscription - start working on it today!