David 1967

Well scout, wildcatter, mentor & mate

A £99 suit, a borrowed tie, and a last-minute interview kicked off David’s career—a journey that leapt from the North Sea to Wall Street, and eventually to long Napa weekends after 4 a.m. starts. In this episode, I trace that unlikely arc with him: a teenager who didn’t know oil from Brent crude becomes a well scout by asking sharper questions, then pushes his way from drilling updates into mergers and acquisitions, and finally into institutional equity sales, guiding billion-pound pension flows.

The scenes he describes are nothing short of cinematic. Helicopters slamming onto offshore platforms in the freezing North Sea, a noddy suit zipped to the chin. Paper tickets on the London floor giving way to algorithms and dark pools. A finance director expecting a kid in LA and instead getting Wolfgang Puck at Spago. Kiefer Sutherland opens with a compliment, Oliver Stone debates the soul of Wall Street, and Keanu Reeves glides through a tiny Santa Monica room with calm, generous grace. These aren’t name-drops—they’re field notes on how to meet anyone with poise: don’t perform, don’t fawn, just be human.

What underpins it all is mentorship—and the inches you can reach. A boss who takes a chance sends him to Houston. A wildcatter teaches range and risk. Jerry Jones threads through the decades, from an eight-person meet-and-greet to a long Napa lunch where stories roll and the tip matches the legend. David’s philosophy is simple: life is won in small increments—the six inches in front of your face. Ask for the next challenge before you’re ready. Keep your true friends to ten, and care for them well. Let legacy be kindness, not monuments.

If you’re navigating a career pivot, fascinated by oil and markets, or searching for a mental model that holds under pressure, this conversation offers practical insight and hard-won perspective. Subscribe, share it with someone who might need a nudge of courage. What's the best advice a mentor ever gave you?

What inch are you fighting for today?

Al Pacino - Any Given Sunday - "Inch By Inch"

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