Todd Sandness 是誰? Who is Todd Sandness?

Todd Sandness - 知乎

https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd-sandness-8a7b2731/

Thank you very much for the question -

（精彩長文，建議閱讀英文原文~）感謝您的問題—

Who is Todd Sandness? From my ID you can, of course, see that my name is Todd Sandness and, being new to Zhihu, I"m flattered to be asked to share a bit about myself. So, here goes. Currently, I own and run a US holding company with some subsidiaries, mainly family businesses and partnerships located in different parts of the US. I live mainly in the US states of Florida and California. I have traveled for business and touring to Asia many times, including last year to China and the Beijing area mainly. I"m looking forward to going back to China this year.

Todd Sandness是誰？當然，從我的賬號，你可以知道我的名字叫Todd Sandness, 是知乎的新用戶。十分榮幸有機會在此分享一些我自己的經歷。

現在，我擁有一家美國的控股公司，它之下有一些子公司，主要是家族生意和分布在美國不同地區的商業合作。我大部分時間居住在佛羅里達州和加州，也因為出差或者旅行去過亞洲很多次，包括去年的一次主要在北京地區的中國之旅。我期待今年能再次返回中國。

(With business associate in Asia last month )

（上個月，與亞洲的商業合作者們在一起）

Previous to my current role as entrepreneur and Zhihu user, I was for many years a financial and wealth management advisor for Wall Street firms. I recently, after a long and successful career, retired a bit early from Finance to start and run other companies. During my career in finance and investments, I worked in New York City, Kansas City, Tampa and Los Angeles.

在成為一個企業家和知乎粉之前，我作為一名金融、資產管理顧問，為華爾街的公司工作了很多年。經歷了漫長但也很成功的職業生涯之後，我最近剛剛提前從金融崗位上退休，開始創立並經營其它的公司。在以金融和投資為業的歲月里，我曾在紐約、堪薩斯城、坦帕和洛杉磯市工作。

I am originally from the US Midwest and grew up on a 3000 acres Western cattle ranch in Kansas. My brother and I grew up on horses did a lot of hard work there. In high school I was a very good football and baseball player, and I played the trumpet. My parents noticed I excelled in learning languages, French in particular, and so upon graduation I moved to France to study at the University of Paris, Sorbonne. I studied French language and civilization before returning back the US to finish my Bachelors degree in French literature, and Masters degree in European history. I completed all but the dissertation for a Ph.D in European economic history.

我的故鄉在美國的中西部堪薩斯州。我在一個三千英畝的牧場上長大。我的弟弟和我從小與馬為伴，並做了很多艱苦的工作。上高中時，我是一名優秀的足球和棒球隊員，並且喜歡吹小號。我父母注意到了我在學習語言，尤其是法語方面的優勢。所以，在畢業時，我搬去了法國，到巴黎索邦大學學習法語和法國文明，之後返回美國，完成了法國文學的本科學位和歐洲歷史的碩士學位。我也修讀了歐洲經濟史的博士學位，但是沒有寫畢業論文。

(3,000 acre ranch in Kansas where I grew up)

（堪薩斯三千英畝的牧場，我長大的地方）

(My Dad and I)

（我爸和我）

Before I completed the BA, I served in the military in the US Marine Corps in California. I was lucky to graduate number one in my Marines class. During that time there was not any war or military action, so I was lucky for that, too. I just trained during the day, and then in the evening I would go to the beach and surf. I also learned to race sailboats during this time, something I would continue doing right up until recent years.

在完成本科學位之前，我在美國海軍陸戰隊服役，坐標加州。我很幸運地以第一名的成績從我的海軍訓練中畢業。那時候，並沒有什麼戰爭或者軍事行動，所以這也讓我感到幸運。我在白天訓練，晚上去海灘上衝浪。我還在這個時期學會了帆船競賽，（抱歉，此處虛擬語態看不太明白..sigh）

While I was doing Ph.D work, I earned extra money in the summers doing different jobs. One summer I was working for an insurance company when the management team was all fired. The company owner arrived and asked all employees to submit resumes (CV) for them to consider for positions. They asked me in and said, "you have a BA, MA, have served in the military and are close to completing a Ph.D, so we are making you a Vice President offer." It was a lot more money than I was making as a graduate assistant grading papers, so I accepted it.

當我讀博士的時候，我通過做不同的暑期工作掙了一些錢。一個夏天，我在一個保險公司工作，碰巧那家公司的管理團隊都被開除了。公司的擁有者讓所有的員工都提交自己的簡歷，以便重新挑選人補充。他們讓我進去並對我說：「你有了本科、碩士學位，並且在軍中服役過，而且近乎完成了博士學位，所以，我們選你來做公司的副總裁。」 這比我做研究生助手、整天批改論文掙錢多了，所以我接受了這個職位。

One day I was meeting with the company president and he gave me an invitation he had received to a political event. He said I could go instead of him. So, I went to the event at a wealthy person"s home and heard a US Congressman speak there. He was a fairly young guy then and I had a nice conversation with him. I asked him how I could help him. So, he asked me to come to dinner with him that evening along with some of his staff. At the dinner, he told me the way I could help him is to organize more events like the one that day, and start with an event that would include people in my industry. His staff would show me how and help with the work. I agreed. The short story is the event we did was very successful and so he asked me to join his staff. So, I quit my job at the insurance company, and went to work in Washington, D.C. At the US Capitol. I had this job until the congressman tried to run for a different office and lost the election. Then, I was immediately unemployed so I started my own political consulting and fund raising company.

有一天，我與公司的總裁會面，他被邀請出席一個政治活動，但是他說我可以替他去。所以，我去了一個超有錢的人的家裡，並且聽到了一位國會議員的講話。那位議員還很年輕，我與他交談得很愉快。我問他自己怎樣才能幫助他。於是，他讓我那天晚上去和他一起吃晚餐，他的團隊成員也在。在晚餐期間，他告訴我，我能幫助他的辦法就是找出更多與那晚相似的（政治）活動，可以從一個我所在的領域的人會參加的活動開始。他的團隊成員會教我怎麼做，並為我提供幫助。我同意了。故事長話短說，就是這個活動十分成功，所以他讓我加入他的團隊。於是，我辭去了保險公司的職位，去了華盛頓特區工作。在美國的首都，我一直工作到這位國會議員嘗試競選另一個職位但是輸掉了選舉。在那之後，我立刻就失業 。所以，我開辦了我自己的政治諮詢和資金籌集公司。

In the US, money is called the, "mother"s milk of politics." People who are effective at raising the enormous sums needed to fund US elections are in great demand. Working for governors, US Senators and Congressmen, some political organizations I became very successful, but I worked 24/7 and traveled constantly. I made many great relationships that would help me tremendously when I switched to a career in finance and investing.

在美國，錢被稱為「政治的母乳」。能夠為美國選舉有效籌集巨額資金的人十分緊缺。我為一些州長、國會參眾議院、政治組織工作，並且十分成功。但是，我一周7天每天24小時都在工作，並且不斷地出差。我也在這個過程中，建立起了很多人脈關係，這些關係在我轉入金融、投資行業時，起到了巨大的作用。

(Meeting with President Bill Clinton in 1993)

(1993年我與比爾·柯林頓總統的見面)

After a while I became really exhausted with the work, and extremely tired of the political atmosphere, which in one of my Zhihu answers I described as somewhat corrupt. (西方尤其是美國的貪污腐敗現狀是怎樣的? - 知乎) So, at the time I had a very large client in New York City that I approached and we made a deal that I would work only for them, essentially becoming an employee of that national foundation and live and work in New York. For the next two years I enjoyed so much living in New York City in midtown Manhattan and this led to the next phase of my career. One day, the CFO asked if I would be willing to move from raising money, about $100 million US a year, to managing the money of the organization, its investments and distributions. I really had no experience as a money manager, but the CFO said in this particular case it would be a simple job because the money was essentially only invested short term. So, I agreed and since I had all of this money to put to work, I immediately started receiving offers to assist from major Wall Street banks and asset management firms.

一段時間過後，我對這個工作真的是筋疲力竭了，並且十分厭倦美國的政治氛圍。在我的一個知乎答案里，我將它描述為「腐敗」。西方尤其是美國的貪污腐敗現狀是怎樣的? - 知乎 那時候我剛好在紐約有一個非常大的客戶，於是我們協定，我將只為他們工作，主要是成為那個國家基金會的僱員，並且在紐約生活和工作。在接下來的兩年，我享受著住在紐約市中心曼哈頓的生活，這也將我引向了職業生涯的下一個階段。

有一天，首席金融館問我是否願意調整自己的工作，從籌集資金（大約一億美金一年）到管理該組織的資產、投資和財產分配。我對管錢一無所知，但是CFO說，在這個特殊的情形中，事情很簡單，因為錢都是短期投資的。所以，我接受了。並且由於管理著這麼多錢，我立馬開始得到一些職位，以從華爾街上的銀行和資產管理公司來提供幫助。最後一句譯者表示沒看懂~

I made many great contacts on Wall Street and this led me to eventually take a more substantial role in asset management with another institution, a large Midwestern university with a $1.2 billion endowment fund. So, I moved to the Midwest and took this job. My office was right on a lake where I could keep my sailboat and at lunch every day I would go have lunch on my boat. I enjoyed this a lot.

我與華爾街有了很多很棒的接觸，這最終使我在另一家機構的資產管理中擔任了一個更加重要的職務——一個有著12億美元捐贈金的大型中西部大學。所以，我搬到了中西部區，開始了這份工作。我的辦公室恰好就在一個湖上，我可以每天在午餐時間駕著帆船，並在船上吃午飯。我很喜歡這樣。

During this time I kept in contact with my friends in New York, especially at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. I eventually received a job offer from Morgan Stanley to become a financial and wealth management advisor. So for the last 11 years now, I have worked for Morgan Stanley and Edward Jones, another investment firm, in Tampa, Florida and Los Angeles, California. From my years of work in other endeavors around the country, I had clients in many states of the US and I would travel to see them a lot. I learned early on that business is very social, so you have to entertain a lot, play golf, sail, attend birthdays, weddings, parties and so many things that really are outside of the quantitative aspects of the job. I was always very good at this, and my clients were very loyal and would refer me to other people they knew. During the downturn of 2008-9 I never lost a client, and in fact was fortunate to gain many from other firms who were having difficulties or even going bankrupt. There"s an old saying by a famous politician, "Never let a crisis go to waste." So, the financial crisis of 2008, the worst in 70 years for the economy, was actually one of the best years for my career.

在這期間，我與紐約的朋友們保持著很好的聯繫，尤其是在高盛和摩根士丹利的朋友們。最終，我得到了摩根士丹利的一份工作，成為一名金融和財產管理顧問。所以，在過去的11年中，我一直在為摩根士丹利和愛德華瓊斯，另一家投資公司工作，坐標佛羅里達的坦帕市和加州洛杉磯市。在我在美國的這麼多年的其他嘗試中，我有很多美國不同州的客戶，我經常去看他們。我很早的時候，就懂得了商業是一種十分社會性的職業，所以你不得不經常參加一些娛樂社交活動，打高爾夫，開帆船，參加生日聚會、婚禮等等很多活動，這些事情都在工作的「量化」範圍之外。我一直都很擅長這些，我的客戶也很忠誠，並且會把我介紹給他們認識的人。在2008年-2009年的大危機中，我沒有失去一個客戶事實上，我有幸得到了更多的客戶，他們的公司都在苦苦掙扎乃至瀕臨破產。一位著名的政治家有句老話：「永遠別浪費危機」。所以，08年的經濟危機——70年來最糟糕的經濟狀況，對我的職業反倒是最好的一年之一。

Again, I was fortunate enough to be able to retire fairly early in life. I"m still just a kid! haha. Now, I spend my time living part of the year in Tampa, Florida and part in Los Angeles, California. In California I enjoy walking down to the beach with my underwater camera and snorkeling gear and taking and editing underwater videos. Maybe someday I can post some of my films on Zhihu. I"m also thinking of entering another sailboat race soon, I won my last one, a 100 mile/24 hour race a few years ago. But, what I"m most passionate about right now is learning the Chinese language and exploring China, its culture, make friends, learn new technologies like Zhihu and help everyone I can who has questions about their education, career path, business practices and strategies, and more. I hope everyone who has not fallen asleep reading all I"ve written here, is welcome to contact me and I am always happy to make a new friend or answer a question as much as I can. Thanks again for the question. I hope to see you all in China someday, or when you are living or working or studying in the US.

我真的很幸運能夠這麼早就退休。我還是個孩子！

哈哈，我現在有時候住在佛羅里達的坦帕市，有時候住在加州洛杉磯。在加州，我很喜歡帶著水下攝像機和潛水設備，拍攝並編輯水下視頻。說不定有一天我可以在知乎上發一些自己拍攝的短片。我也在考慮參加一場即將到來的帆船競賽，我的上一次獲勝，是幾年前一個100英里的24小時競賽。

但是，我現在最有激情的，是學習漢語，並探索中國和她的文化，交朋友，學習新科技，比如知乎，並幫助那些對於他們的教育、職業生涯、商業實踐和策略等等有疑惑的人。希望每一個讀我的回答讀到現在還沒睡的人，有什麼疑惑，歡迎聯繫我，我將十分樂意盡自己的最大努力回答新的問題，並結交朋友。再次謝謝您的這個問題，我希望有朝一日能與你們在中國見面，或者在你們來美國生活、工作、學習的時候。

Last thought. Many of you are young and just starting your studies or career. I envy you. Being young, educated, speaking Chinese and English, and being from China, one of the most important countries of the future makes you very lucky. I hope you realize that. Last, Last, thing. I will be doing a Live Talk tomorrow on June 10 on investment strategies in stocks. If you"re interesting I hope you will attend(知乎 Live - 全新的實時問答).

最後一點。我知道你們中的很多人都還很年輕，剛剛開始自己的學習或者職業生涯。我嫉妒你們。年輕、受過良好的教育、會說漢語和英語、來自中國——這個未來最重要的國家之一，這些都讓你們無比幸運。我希望你們都能意識到這一點。

最後的最後，我6月10號晚上會做一個關於股票市場投資策略的live，如果你感興趣，歡迎來參加~知乎 Live - 全新的實時問答

Good luck to you all!

祝你們都有一個美好的未來！

從該賬戶發表的一些英文段落的水平看應該和ID為「栗子」的用戶一樣是欺詐賬戶，二者的英文都是很典型的中國留學生的風格，但用的照片顯然不是瞎找的，或許是在玩兒cosplay，或許是非正式授權給某個中國人「捉刀」以積攢人氣。總之不給人家交錢就是好的，「栗子」這個用戶還收了不少智商稅，主要是初高中生和英語比較差的大學生，這種錢花得很冤枉。