Public bio:
I started my career in M&A at Greenhill / Evercore in Brazil, following a fairly traditional investment banking path. Early on, I had the opportunity to work on a wide range of transactions across different sectors, which gave me a strong technical foundation and exposure to complex deal dynamics.
As part of that journey, I also spent time in New York with Training The Street, going through the same type of technical training that analysts on Wall Street receive, which helped sharpen both my financial and practical deal execution skills.
Over time, I transitioned into working more closely with founders and privately held businesses, particularly in the technology sector. Today, as a Partner and VP at LKC Capital, I focus on advising companies on strategic M&A processes, capital raises, and long-term positioning.
I’m particularly interested in helping people who are early in their careers understand how the day-to-day of M&A actually works beyond textbooks, and how to navigate the transition from learning to doing.
Public bio:
- Executive, leadership and career coach & mentor to investment bankers, fund and asset mangers, corporate lawyers, senior executives and entrepreneurs globally across the Americas, Europe and Asia
- Helped numerous individuals from a variety of backgrounds and demographics secure intern and full-time roles at top-tier investment banks and elite global law firms, and numerous others get promoted through the ranks up to Director/Partner level
- 12 years' experience in M&A - 6 years as an investment banker (senior Associate Director/VP, HSBC) and 6 years as a corporate M&A lawyer (Linklaters)
- Member of HSBC's investment banking hiring committee - interviewing intern and analyst candidates, running summer intern programme for M&A and making hiring offer decisions
- Principal and mentor to interns at Linklaters as part of their graduate recruitment programme
- Graduated with 1st Class Honours in Law from the London School of Economics (LSE)
Public bio:
Ask me anything about investing, breaking into the buyside, and careers in alternative investments. I've successfully made a few pivots, breaking into the buyside and then pivoting into alternative investments (currently focused on music rights acquisitions). I'd like to help others out in their career journeys, so please reach out!
Public bio:
I’m a strong fit for mentees looking to break into infrastructure private equity, renewable energy investing, and project finance.
My background spans both buy-side investing and project finance, so I can help with the full picture — from technical modelling and debt structuring to how investment decisions are actually made in practice. I’m especially well suited to those interested in greenfield development and energy transition deals, which are often less understood but highly relevant in today’s market.
I can also provide practical guidance on recruiting in London and Dubai, including how to position yourself for buy-side roles, move from advisory into investing, and stand out in competitive interview processes.
I started my career through a big 4 graduate scheme. I then moved into project finance, and now I am a Senior Investment Associate at a PE house.
I’d be a good match for:
- Candidates targeting infrastructure PE, renewables, or project finance roles
- Those interested in emerging markets investing
- Analysts/associates looking to move from banking, Big 4 or advisory into the buy-side
- Anyone preparing for London or Middle East (Dubai) recruiting processes
My approach is direct and practical — focused on what actually works in interviews, on the job, and in progressing your career.
Public bio:
Gregory Ramirez is the founder and CEO of GR20 Research, an independent financial analysis firm specializing in the software and IT services ecosystem. He has over 25 years of experience as a sell-side financial analyst, covering software and IT services companies. Over the years, he has acquired in-depth knowledge of the strategy, competitive landscape, industry drivers, and valuation and financial analysis challenges specific to these companies.
Before founding GR20 Research, he worked for 17 years at Bryan Garnier, most recently as Director of Software & IT Services for BG IRIS, Bryan Garnier's equity research brand. Alongside his equity market coverage, he oversaw and authored numerous industry white papers and led the identification of the most promising private companies in the sector.
Before joining Bryan Garnier, Gregory worked for nine years as a financial analyst at ING Securities, Arkeon Finance, Oddo & Cie, and Natixis Capital.
Gregory holds a Master's degree in Banking and Finance and a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Aix-Marseille University. He has been a member of the French Society of Financial Analysts (SFAF) since 2005.
Public bio:
- Four years of front-office investment banking experience at Lazard and Akereos Capital, across M&A, debt advisory, and energy transition — working on transactions worth c.£10bn+ across industrials, renewables, real estate, logistics, and consumer sectors
- Landed offers for six leading Spring Insight programmes including Goldman Sachs, Lazard, and BlackRock; successfully converted Spring Insight → Summer Internship → Full-Time Analyst offer at a Tier 1 institution
- Conducted interviews for Spring Insight and Summer Internship selection processes and mentored six interns through conversion; ran a university careers help desk and workshops supporting 100+ mentees in securing full-time offers
- Offer an inside view of the selection process — what firms are actually looking for, what to emphasise, and where most candidates lose ground — built from experience on both sides of the table
- Take a holistic, hands-on approach to mentoring: covering materials, technical and behavioural preparation, and the mindset and psychology required to perform under pressure and convert at every stage
- Happy to work with mentees on a recurring basis or through focused ad hoc sessions — flexible across time zones and scheduling, and genuinely invested in each candidate's outcome
- Graduated from the University of Edinburgh with MA Economics with Honours; fluent in five European languages
Public bio:
- Currenty an Analyst at Barclays Bank
- MSc Investment and Finance from QMUL, ACCA Qualified and CFA L3 Candidate
- Experienced in leveraged finance and project finance, with expertise in credit underwriting, deal structuring, financial statements analysis, and execution of complex financings
- Skilled in assessing creditworthiness, building financial models, and managing multi-stakeholder deal processes
- Previously worked in Project Finance for one of the world's largest renewable energy company
- Conversational proficiency in English, Hindi and English
Public bio:
Investment Banking Expertise
- Successfully received multiple Bulge Bracket & Elite Boutique summer analyst offers
- Led Investment Banking Summer Analyst recruiting, screening hundreds of resumes and conducting both behavioral and technical interviews for the Summer Analyst program at Bulge Bracket bank
- Have recruited and received multiple offers across summer analyst, full-time analyst, and lateral analyst recruiting
- Have mentored college students throughout the recruiting timeline including course selection, resume workshops, networking trackers and guides, behavioral preparation (important story formation), technical preparation, and Superday coaching
Private Equity Expertise
- Received Associate offers from multiple Middle-Market Private Equity firms
- Will help navigate the recruitment process, including headhunter guidance, model tests, case studies, deal walkthroughs, behavioral & technical preparation, and industry knowledge
Background
- Private Equity Associate at $1B Generalist Fund
- Former Technology Investment Banking Analyst
- University of California, Berkeley Graduate
- Experience mentoring target, semi-target, and non-target students in achieving Investment Banking offers
Public bio:
Quantitative Analyst with 4+ years of experience in central banking and consulting services, part of cross functional teams to develop and implement solutions for financial intermediaries. Specialized in Financial Analysis from a quantitative and qualitative point of view, and passionate about Financial Markets and Monetary Economics. Mastery in computational tools, especially on Python, working on pricing, optimization and simulation techniques to implement new technologies that allowed to mitigate the risks.
Public bio:
Mihnea-Stefan Mihai, Dr. rer. pol.
Senior Regulatory Specialist & Quantitative Risk Leader
A high-caliber leader with over 20 years of experience at the intersection of quantitative trading, risk management, and global regulatory oversight. Currently serving as a Lead On-Site Examiner for FINMA, I lead complex examinations across major financial hubs (NYC, London, HK) and represent Switzerland in the BCBS Counterparty Credit Risk working group.
My career spans the full spectrum of market risk, from managing exotic equity derivative books at Erste Group to heading Market Risk Engineering at Zürcher Kantonalbank. I specialize in translating complex mathematical models into robust governance frameworks, with deep expertise in FRTB, CCR, and volatility surface calibration. I hold a Doctorate (Magna cum laude) in Economics/Social Sciences and a Diploma in Mathematics.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can’t find an answer? Please send an email to [email protected]
The WSO mentor service runs at a very slight profit (~5-10% net margin) in order to help motivate amazing professionals to provide great (free) advice in the forums (many mentors have green "mentor" buttons next to their usernames) which strengthens the entire WSO community. Luckily, there is a surprising number of elite professionals within the WSO community that love giving back to motivated candidates. We also recently automated the mentor matching with an algo that helps reduce the manual work needed on the backend should a requested mentor not be available. Prices range from as low as $57 up to $997 depending on the package you purchase and the mentor you select. Given the success of our service and the number of repeat clients we have, we know that we can afford to run on thin profit margins and serve thousands of applicants. We also know that many of you will follow the advice of our mentors and invest in additional courses and/or services from WSO.
After checking out, your request will immediately be sent to the mentor you selected. You will be expected to fill our some basic information (location, industry preference, etc) along with upload a Word version of your resume in order to help the mentor decide if they feel like they are a great match. As soon as they accept (usually within ~9-12 hours), an email will be sent making an introduction. Your mentor will introduce him/herself and then proceed to review your current resume and/or offer times when you can connect for a mentor session. Over the following days, you will schedule a time that is mutually convenient for you initial phone call to go over what you need help with (mock interview, career consultation and/or both). If you would like to continue with this mentor, you can schedule more hours anywhere from 1 hour to 3+ hours with him/her over the following weeks & months.
Typically the match happens within 12hrs. If your preferred mentor has not responded within 9 hours or they indicate they can't take you on as a mentor, we will notify other top mentors that have the most in common with the mentor you selected (based on our matching algo). These backup mentors will indicate to you if they are available and you have the choice to move forward with one of them, get a refund or wait longer for your preferred mentor. If for whatever reason we cannot match you in time and/or there are no mentors that are available that you'd like to work with, we will refund your purchase in full, no questions asked.
We have an incredible team of 1,000+ dedicated mentors across top firms all around the world. Our #1 goal is to make sure you are placed in the hands of the most competent and detail-oriented professional in your specific target industry. This coupled with our strict process ensures a smooth and thorough experience. Why do we use actual professionals? The answer is simple: they are the ones ACTUALLY SCREENING APPLICATIONS for their own firms! They know what it takes to make it out of the trash pile and into the interview pile. On top of this, since we have been doing mentor sessions for over a decade across THOUSANDS of clients, we are able to immediately identify a top mentor and feed them more clients to ensure happy customers like you (due to our strict screening process). Our team includes investment bankers at all the top bulge brackets and elite boutique banks as well as private equity, hedge fund and VC professionals at the most prestigious funds. We also have reviewers at the top management consulting firms in the world, elite prop trading firms, top corporate finance roles as well as other related finance careers.
Usually these are all self-limiting beliefs, but if you're unsure if we are a good match for you, please send us a quick email to [email protected] and we can send over some bios if we think there might be a potential good match for you.
Too Young / Too Inexperienced: We do NOT recommend our mentor service until you at least have at least some relevant WORK experience that we can leverage. For the young clients out there, this means an internship, ideally in your target or related industry. If you are still in high school, it is unlikely that you have this experience. The earliest we'd recommend doing a mentor session is early freshman or early sophomore year as you prepare for summer internship recruiting. If you have no relevant experience then it probably doesn't make sense to sign up for the service. Our mentors are amazing, but they aren't magicians. If you tell us you really want to be in Investment Banking or Private Equity (for example) and everything in your background points to law or medicine, it's going to be an uphill battle. On the other hand, if you have unrelated experience but you have started the transition process by taking relevant classes and joining relevant clubs and associations, we'd love to work with you. You may not be the most competitive candidate, but we will highlight the most relevant education and functions at your current job that would translate well across industries.
Too Old / Too Experienced: We DO recommend our mentor service for more experienced professionals that are looking to make a transition or have an interview coming up. We have several very senior mentors that can answer the tough questions and make sure you are up to date on the latest trends in your target industry. However, before you move forward, we encourage you to give yourself an honest assessment. If you are looking to make the transition and have not made any steps outside of considering this mentor program, you probably aren't ready. If you've taken steps (education, new degrees, courses, etc) and feel like you're ready, we're on board and eager to help!
Yes, but if you have a negative attitude you are unlikely to have success. If you think a mentor session is an automatic referral, please don't bother to hire us.
Yes, our mentors often do refer our clients for open positions at their firms (over 20%), however, this should not be asked of our mentors to avoid a conflict of interest and it should not be expected as part of the service. It is up to you to impress the mentor if this is your goal, however, we believe you can gain much more out of the experience by being honest about your weaknesses and concerns with the mentor so there can be an open dialogue on how to improve your chances.
The only discounts are for larger packages and more hours purchased at once. This is an incredibly labor intensive 1-on-1 service using finance professionals that typically make well over $200/hr and are doing this primarily to give back.
This is a personal question and the answer is naturally subjective. If you are serious about landing a job in investment banking, private equity, hedge funds, trading, asset management, management consulting or any other competitive industry, it's more than likely that the answer to that question is a resounding "YES".
Career services advisers at your school are not screening applications for interviews...neither are your classmates. If you do happen to have a friend in the industry, are they going to take the hours necessary to give you a realistic mock interview? Odds are that their time is limited outside the office and if they do give you some guidance, it won't be as thorough as our expert mentors. If you look at the competitive nature of recruiting nowadays, why would leave your application up to chance when many of these jobs pay well over $100,000?
Join the 1,000+ candidates just like you who have already used the WSO Mentor Service
If you’re reading this, you’re here for a reason: because you want to be one of the very few who gets an an elite job and because you need help doing it. The choice really is yours. And your opportunity really is limited.
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