Work at any tech startup that interests you, so you can learn how tech companies operate, grow, etc and what its limitations / barriers are. Your experience will give you a better understanding of how a deal (raising funds, getting acquired, etc) can impact the business. You should also follow a few tech verticals and have opinions about them - it will 100% come up in your interviews.

I enjoy the pace of banking and the exposure to multiple sectors within tech, so I plan on staying for a while. I've considered VC and high growth tech co's as potential career moves.

 

Are there any tech companies that you think are especially interesting? What's your opinion on wearables?

In your opinion...

Can fitbit continue to dominate or is it a fad that will be replaced with options with significantly more features (apple watch)?

Thanks!

"I know you think you understand what you thought I said but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant."
 

Wearables will compete for limited real estate (people wont wear more than a few items on their wrist for instance), so it will come down to brand differentiation and building brand loyalty, unless the product has a specific feature with unmatched quality. I think fitbit has potential for both. Aside from that, I think wearables create a new medium for software applications, whether it's games, fitness, security, etc. and that's where the $ will be.

 

I am neither a VC nor do I have an MBA. But my gut tells me it's not necessary to get an MBA if you're passionate about technology and can think like an investor. It's up to you to decide how to best demonstrate those traits, whether it's through your work experience, side projects, business school, etc

 
ilc22:

You will be surprised at all the great software companies that are not in California.
lots of good ones in Atlanta, Florida, Virginia, Nashville, etc. Canada has a bunch of really top quality companies as well.

Define great
 
Best Response

Great can mean a variety of different things. When I think of great, I see a company that solves/automates pain points an organization will have - usually the best companies are the ones that are a system of record for a specific function (payroll, tax accounting, compliance, etc.). If you dig deeper, you can find some really interesting companies that serve specific verticals as billionclub alluded to - companies that provide tech for libraries, churches, oil and gas, manufacturers. Anything along the lines of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP, system of record) for a specific vertical is always interesting.

After that, a company is great if it can grow quickly, has strong repeatable high margin business and can retain its customers (more importantly, revenues). Customer retention is crucial - if a company can retain its business and still grow quickly that means the market is there and it provides a strong, leading product.

Again, you can find a bunch of these companies outside of Silicon Valley.

 

What are 3 areas in tech that you feel people breaking in to tech banking should understand more? If you have some resources, I'd love to check them out.

 
  1. Enterprise Software - the workforce is becoming more mobile, so this includes communication software, field service software or business process management software

  2. Internet of Things - the number of connected devices is increasing, so predictive software that captures, organizes, analyzes end-user data is pulling in $ (consider the areas of fitness, transportation, etc)

  3. Networking - as more products become "as-a-Service" and more devices become connected, there will be a higher demand for managing networks, making them more efficient and secure

 

What kind of inefficiencies tend to exist consistently among many different tech companies? Time wasted? Lack of market research before product research? Insufficient administrative support? etc. Or what do you see that could be done differently to add value to tech companies?

Associate at Family Office "Investing is not a game of Possibilities but of Probabilities."
 

When you screen resumes, what are some things that applicants have that would make you be "very likely" to give them an interview? E.g. experience at a top tech company, prior TMT banking experience, startup experience, entrepreneurship club, etc...

 

I try to learn a few things from an applicant's resume: how smart they are, if they love tech and if they can handle the work.

Are you smart? I'll check your GPA, scholarships, etc (this takes 1 second) Do you like tech? I'll look for work experience relevant to technology. This includes IB / buyside internships where you worked on tech deals, internships at software companies (I'll consider hardware companies if the technology is particularly interesting and if your role will allow you to bring new insights to the firm) and entrepreneurship in the tech space. I've seen some applicants hold "TMT analyst" positions at their school's investment club, which is cool too. Can you handle the work? I'm looking for finance experience, since you'll be working through financial statements, reading equity research, doing valuations, etc

 

What are some resources you would recommend for someone interested in TMT banking, and more specifically tech banking?

I use the WSJ/NYT sections to keep up on deals and industry news, but am looking for more sources with information about broader industry trends, as well as more detailed reports which will allow me to form opinions.

Also, what are your suggestions for someone to best position themselves for a TMT group besides being familiar with industry trends and deal activity?

 

http://www.forentrepreneurs.com/saas-metrics-2/

If you are interested in understanding SaaS and relevant metrics in valuing a business. You show you understand this going into a tech banking interview (along with your other more traditional DCF/LBO high level knowledge), you will prove your interest and desire to be in the space.

Another - www.enterpriseirregulars.com

 

I'd also recommend signing up for the Term Sheet by Dan Primack. Daily digest of latest VC fundings, PE deals etc. Assuming you're still in school and you've got a decent idea, just go for it and start it. Even if the idea isn't relevant outside of your campus, seeing startup experience (especially as a co-founder) on a resume is usually an easy decision for the next round. Doesn't have to be the next unicorn idea, just something you're passionate about and willing to start. Even if you fail, great talking point in interviews.

*Also work in TMT banking

 

Aside from the obvious ones you mentioned, I like to skim through tech crunch, term sheet and LinkedIn (following the tech and business categories). Basically any resource where I can see headlines for emerging tech, important deals, capital raises, etc. When something catches my eye, I will do more research into the story so I know why it happened. If it was an interesting deal, I will look into how it was valued. Sometimes I will even google "tech trends 2015", "growing tech companies", etc and see what comes up.

Part of my job requires me to screen deals / trends every week using our internal resources, so that keeps me up to date too.

 

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MBB hopeful
 

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