#21 — From Theatre to Trading, Without a Degree: Investment Banking, Hedge Funds & Commodities | Eren Elvis Zekioglu: “Working At Big Brand Companies Matter.” “Build Yourself A Persona.” “If You Can Represent Yourself, Doors Will Open.”

From studying theatre to landing a job on Citi’s trading floor, building a hedge fund backed by Glencore, and running operations at Gunvor—one of the world’s largest independent commodity trading houses—Eren Elvis Zekioglu broke into finance without a degree, armed only with a bold letter, acting experience, and a lot of hustle.

In Part 1 of Episode 21 of You Never Know, we talk about how he navigated his way through Citi, Credit Suisse, UBS, and Glencore, what it really takes to thrive in the high-pressure world of trading, why emotional discipline and personality sometimes matter more than a CV, and how the brands you work for shape the doors that open for you.

From stories of mentorship, reflections on career pivots, and the moments that led him to the world of commodities—this episode is for anyone curious about the world of trading, hedge funds, commodities, and breaking into finance in unconventional ways.

Today, Eren is based in Singapore, where he is pioneering the tokenization of real-world assets like oil, gold, and coal through his new venture, Kommoditize—reimagining how global commodity trade flows in the digital era.

I hope this finds you exactly when you need it. Watch out for Part 2 with a focus on commodities and tokenization of real-world assets.

Chapters:

00:00 – From Theatre to Trading: Eren’s Unlikely Start

06:00 – The Bold Letter That Landed 18-Year-Old Eren an Interview at Citi

10:30 – Learning from the Ground Up: Trade Tickets & Coffee Chats

17:00 – The Mindset of a Trader: Emotional Discipline & Focus

24:00 – From Equities To Bonds: Building a Cross-Asset View

29:00 – Mentors, Lessons, and Building a Persona

39:00 – The Role of Big Brand Names in Your Career: Citi, UBS, Glencore, Gunvor

44:00 – Starting a Hedge Fund Backed by Glencore

49:00 – What It’s Really Like Inside a Hedge Fund

54:00 – The Transition into Commodities

57:00 – Wrapping Part 1: Reflections and What’s Next

🚀 Follow me for real conversations on life, career, taking the unconventional road and embracing the unknowns.

❤️

Nicole

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👉🏼 Follow Eren Elvis Zekioglu on:

LinkedIn: https://sg.linkedin.com/in/erenzekioglu   

Website: www.kommoditize.com

👉🏼 Follow Nicole Lee on:

LinkedIn: ⁠⁠http://linkedin.com/in/nicoleethisisme⁠ ⁠

Website: http://⁠www.youneverknow.co/⁠

Instagram: ⁠⁠http://instagram.com/nicoleleethisisme⁠⁠

TikTok: ⁠⁠http://tiktok.com/@nicoleleethisisme⁠⁠

🎬 Filmed at: Poddster Singapore

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