Author Gary Sernovitz

Author Gary Sernovitz

Author: Paul Ollinger December 5, 2023 Duration: 59:08
Gary Sernovitz is one of the funniest financial writers working today. His hilarious new novel The Counting House tells the story of a university’s Chief Investment Officer who is suffering a mid-life crisis. If you possess either an interest in finance or a robust / dark sense of humor, The Counting House will make you laugh and, at times, cry in empathy with the protagonist. Gary has spent the last 25 years observing how money works from inside Goldman Sachs and the private equity business, bringing a keen writer’s eye to the money business through two previous novels, a non-fiction account of the oil and gas industrial, and a bunch of essays in The New York Times, The New Yorker and The Wall Street Journal. A Milwaukee native and longtime resident of New York, Gary now lives in New Orleans with his wife and daughter. See more about Gary and The Counting House here.

In this conversation, Gary and I discuss:

Investing with the constraints of a modern university stakeholders

Whether your performance is your identity

The state and cost of college 

Writing as a side hustle while working full-time in finance


See Paul live in comedy mode:

Austin, Jan 11 - Buy Tickets Here


San Francisco, Feb 22 -  Buy Tickets Here


Nashville, Feb 28 - Buy Tickets Here 


🔥Learn and laugh by reading Paul’s Substack here. 🔥
🚀 Follow Paul on Instagram here. 🚀

Get full access to Reasonably Happy at words.paulollinger.com/subscribe

Paul Ollinger has worn a few different hats-stand-up comedian, tech executive, and now, the curious host of Reasonably Happy with Paul Ollinger. This isn't a lecture series or a dry self-help guide. Instead, it feels more like pulling up a chair for a series of genuinely engaging talks that wander into the places where our daily lives, careers, and inner worlds collide. The conversations, which feature authors, thinkers, and various creatives, are refreshingly candid. They dig into the practical and philosophical questions about what it actually means to build a life that feels both successful and satisfying. You'll find that each episode of this podcast approaches big themes-money, purpose, and the pursuit of contentment-with a blend of wit and thoughtful depth. The underlying idea isn't about finding a perfect, Instagram-ready version of happiness, but something more grounded and attainable. It's for anyone who's ever wondered if there's a smarter, more meaningful way to navigate the pressures of business and culture without losing sight of what matters. Tuning in, you get the sense that Paul is figuring it out alongside his guests, making the insights feel earned and relatable. The result is a consistently interesting exploration of how we can all aim for a life that feels reasonably, and authentically, well-lived.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 321

Reasonably Happy with Paul Ollinger
Podcast Episodes
"Chutzpah" with Author Inbal Arieli Ep - 29 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:41
Israeli kids grow up in a world of uncertainty, with war and terrorism never far away. They are independent yet group-minded. They know that when they turn 18, they will serve in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). Their pa…
Short-seller who goes after “bad guys" with Marc Cohodes - Ep 27 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:19
Marc Cohodes has made a career betting against companies he suspects of fraud. So when two FBI agents showed up on his farm to tell him to stop Tweeting about MiMedx CEO Pete Petit, Marc says he knew something was rotten…
Minimalism and Design with CEO of LifeEdited ; Graham Hill - Ep 24 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:49
Graham Hill has a message for you: that big ol’ house of yours—and all the stuff in it—isn’t making you (or the environment) happy. His words are resonating. Graham’s two TED Talks on low-impact living and #minimalism ha…
"Effective Altruism" with Oxford professor Dr. Will MacAskill - Ep 23 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:52
Will MacAskill—whom Bill Gates describes as, “a data nerd after my own heart"—is Associate Professor in Philosophy and Research Fellow at the Global Priorities Institute, University of Oxford. Will’s academic research fo…
Glamour Magazine Editor-in-Chief ; Samantha Barry - Ep 22 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:41
Samantha Barry is Editor in Chief of Glamour where she is responsible for setting the voice and mission of the publication. As a young woman in Ireland, Sam once dreamed of being a war correspondent. Her early work in jo…