Combining Passion and Career: Scott Rostan, CEO of Training The Street
Rostan explains how he jump started his career to attendees of his executive seminar at the 45th International Conference.
Scott Rostan founded Training The Street in 1999 with the desire to combine his passion for finance and his love of teaching. In addition to his responsibilities as CEO and principal, Scott is an instructor, oversees content innovation for Training The Street, and is a lead relationship manager for the firm. Scott began his professional career as an analyst with Merrill Lynch’s M&A group in New York.
Scott Rostan is the Founder and CEO of Training The Street, a company that specializes in Finance, Investment Banking, and Financial Modeling Training. Rostan’s executive seminar covered topics ranging from his own career path to pertinent job advice for members of the Millennial and Gen-Z generations.
Before starting Training The Street, Rostan worked as a two year analyst at Merrill Lynch M&A group. When Merrill Lynch subsequently asked Rostan to be a main instructor for the firm, Rostan realized he had an opportunity. He explained, “if Merrill Lynch was willing to trust me to train their hires, maybe there was a business opportunity here.”
Rostan began as the sole proprietor of Training The Street, with Merrill Lynch as the company’s first client. Since then, the company has expanded to include 30 full time instructors, and now serves 200+ companies per year, as well as international clients. According to Rostan, the firm grew organically. The company hired only when they had a need, and not for growth’s sake, leading them to take only about two new hires a year. Training The Street is also very careful about who they hire - they consider both skill and fit within the company.
While Rostan now oversees a larger company, he still makes time to continue his passion for teaching. Rostan continues to work as a “generalist” instructor for the company, offering lessons in all four of the content areas.
Rostan used his career path to offer several pieces of advice to the students. While “being at the right place at the right time” is part of what helped him to create a successful company, he also explained that in order to encounter these situations, one needs to “make the opportunity happen.” That is, one needs to develop the right skills and knowledge to enter the right positions.
Rostan also elaborated on the complexities of pivoting careers. He suggested that it’s easier to pivot earlier in one’s life. For Millennials and Gen-Z, Rostan claims that pivoting has become easier and increasingly common, as many people now switch jobs early on their career, a change from the norm of job loyalty and holding one, stable job.
Rostan ended with two pieces of advice. First, “have a really good attitude.” That is, be prepared to do the little things and make sure they are done right. Second, “learn as much as you can” by paying attention to both your mistakes and your successes.
“Make the opportunity happen”