Corporate Development Questions
What are some of the top and well known corporate development programs? Also is this kind of thing possible after undergrad or does it usually require consulting or banking or MBA first?
Top corporate development teams are generally the F50-F100s. Disney is known for having the best, but think of other contenders as companies like J&J, etc..you get the idea. It's generally pretty tough to break into right out of undergrad. Very rarely do they recruit from schools. However, I think Disney does recruit straight from UG (but only at H/S/W). The general ways to get in are through a FLDP at one of these companies and network through/do a rotation and crush it, or do IB for 1-2 years then move over to CorpDev.
Agreed with nkhanlegend. The thing to remember is a lot of these teams are super lean. For instance even a huge company like Comcast only has 10 or so people in corp dev. So they don't really have the resources to provide training. They want you to come in ready to hit the ground running. Another top company would be Cisco, they do a ton of deals.
Additionally a lot of corp dev departments will recruit from top bschools. Generally they want you to have at least 2 years of consulting or banking experience though.
Disney takes 1 per year out of undergrad. CapOne takes 2-3 I believe. Liberty Mutual might take one as well. Nkhan and acrew are right, the general paths are:
1) IB -> Corp Dev (most worn path) 2) Strategy Consulting -> Corp Dev (next most worn path, helps if you work with that company or in that industry) 3) FLDP -> Corp Dev (it IS possible. Some companies offer rotations in CD to FLDPs. Some don't, but you can network in. Some strictly forbid it.)
MBA -> CorpDev is also a regular path. There may even be more people going straight from MBA to CD than from IB to CD. That said, a lot of those using the MBA to transition will likely have either IB or CS experience, or relevant industry experience. For example, Facebook might hire a former programmer or Shell might hire a former engineer.
There isn't really such thing as a "top" CD group. I suppose you could rank them by number/size of deals, but that doesn't really matter - CD is about what the company needs. One year they could do 20 deals, the next they might do 1.
What are some company's that allow LDP's to apply right into corp dev roles or corp strategy roles
Eveniet qui sint nemo accusamus sed nobis repudiandae. Delectus ad est voluptatem et id est ducimus. Saepe accusamus saepe earum ut fugit quo. Culpa hic aut culpa.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...