When Naomi Win talks about how language both connects and divides us, Nancy Burger sees a deeper truth. The real work isn't understanding what words mean to someone else, so much as understanding what stories you've written about the person you're talking to and whether those stories are even true in the first place. From there, everything changes, including how we and our relationships grow.

In this episode of The Intentional Investor, Matt Zeigler sits down with Mat Cashman to explore the path from classical saxophone to options trading, market making, education, and career reinvention. The conversation covers music, perfectionism, teaching, the CBOE trading floor, risk, failure, identity, and what it means to keep learning after life forces you to change direction.

Once upon a time, companies went public to raise money. You’d go on a road show to pitch your story and drum up interest, you'd float a big pile of stock, and then you’re off to the races to go build your company. Turns out, that’s not really the case anymore.

Kris Abdelmessih wrote this for experienced options traders who are looking for a new job, but it's really for ANY senior person looking for a new job OR for any firm looking to make a senior hire in any role. If you're not thinking about adverse selection in all of its myriad forms, you're doing it wrong.