you appreciate you having me? Basically, I look at myself as a person. I grew up in the marble projects. Um, so my family really didn't come from much wealth. I didn't have many relationships in Wall Street. And when I started back in Wall Street, the only way really to get ahead was is if you knew someone Onda hard work obviously was important. S o I, at 18 was given a new opportunity to run. My brothers are gated box factory, and from that hey moved out west and I and I ran the factory in New York and I learned, you know, many of the things that probably you're not supposed to do in running a business. Eso I learned a lot of, ah lot of how business got done via financial payments or, uh, you know how to keep workers from going strike things like that at 18 years old, Andi ultimately, unfortunately, the business did suffer from receivables going bed. And then I went back to college and I got an accounting degree which allowed me to get off understanding books and records and and and that type of thing. And after college, I was recruited in college for a public accounting position. And then I began to learn how the system work from the plumbing. I called the plumbing, so I learned how clearing and settlement worked in the securities industry back when it was pretty inefficient. When we had five days settlement, there was a lot of paper, Um, and so through that due diligence and an effort I began to meet people in Wall Street began to create relationships. Um, in and with my my accounts. I ordered it. Bear Stearns. I ordered it Spear, Leeds and Kellogg, Goldman Sachs Erin because the firm I went to was basically a Wall Street order. So it was through those opportunities in those relationships that later on in my career I was able to call someone up and say having tradition and they said, Sure, come on over, Let's talk and eso That's kind of how I was able to move up in the industry, meeting people having relationships with people, showing them my ideas, being innovative and and that type of thing

the biggest responsibility is hiring the right staff, hiring the right people, putting together a team, team I for big and small companies. And one of the biggest things that you realize is that there there's a lot of jealousy and that goes on within a within an organization where many of the people who you think you want to have high responsibility actually want your job. Eso You know, you have to deal with that conflict and understanding that you're grooming these people to be your replacement. And so long as you're okay with that, so long as you're okay with teaching and and and enhancing people's skill set, um, to move up in life and and really become your replacement, then, you know, then I think you become very successful. If you're kind of myopic on Bond, don't look at the big picture. You're gonna be destined. Thio kind of just be a mediocre manager of people. So I think what's the most important, Bill said, is picking the right team. I'm putting the right team in place, Um, you know, so that they can they can with you and and the better the people around you, the better you look, I've always believed that hiring people who are smarter than myself and, uh, and Mawr intellectually able Thio be innovative has been a big success factor in going forward. Well, you know, I'm kind of on the, you know, they would say on the back nine.keeping the agenda moving forward, making sure the team is aware of what the goal is. Don't lose sight. Don't get you know, you know, let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Um, you know, and and and so we we as in when I when I ran direct edge and developed a bifurcated market structure where we had edge a and ejects. And it was the first time that any exchange had multiple ownership of multiple exchanges. From that point on, NASDAQ bought the Philadelphia Stock Exchange and then New York bought the N s ex exchange and and then they, you know, they added other other models to the point that three, uh, exchanges control 12 marketplaces prior to our innovative NJ and ejects they only it was the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, and at that time, bats was coming up. And so innovation really important. Um, you know and right people, as I said, really important in keeping your eye on the ball. Always be aware of what the goal is. Don't lose sight of them. And that's, you know, and my my work week used to be I left in the dark and I came home in the dark, you know, so not measured in hours. Just measured in, you know, seasonality. You know, leaving my family, you know, in the morning and coming home late at night. You know, my wife would hand me when the kids were little. Should handing. Say, Okay, you take and, you know, kind of a career win.

between Q A and Aled. The other regression analysis that has to be done on the software, Um, and also consensus from customers. You know, the problem is, if you talk to 100 customers, you're gonna get 100 different ideas. Had to deliver a project, So trying to get, you know, hurting the cats. Trying to get all of the stakeholders to kind of agree on the vision to go forward has always been extremely big pain point. Um, but you have to stay with it. You know, even even if you get rejected, you have to just stay the course. If you believe your vision is the right vision, um, you know, you're gonna get roadblocks, you may have toe, you know, hit your head against the wall and go to the door, you know? But I've always found that at the end, um, being true to yourself and and following your own course and making sure you have quality people around you has has proven to be the success. Well, I think, you know, again talking to as many people as you can, um, trying to be a visionary trying to underst