Coming Out on the Trading Floor

New York City real estate developer Ian Reisner spent 15 years at Salomon Brothers. He remembers the consequences of coming out of the closet on the trading floor, during a time when the phrase “Big Swinging Dicks” rang true. Even though he’s moved on to start two of his own companies, there are still challenges to being gay in the business world.

A serial entrepreneur, Reisner talks to Big Think about his first company, Watch World, which he and his partner ended up selling to Sunglass Hut. He goes over some of the lessons he learned along the way– namely, why you shouldn’t hire family or ignore competition.