Hi everyone,
Seems like there has been a recent uptick in interest in Corp Dev and Strategic Finance. WSO has been instrumental in my career and I wanted to help out anyone considering these fields. I have posted a bit on these topics before, but feel free to come at me with any questions!
Some background on me:
- Target Undergrad, no MBA
- 2+ years in biotech corp dev, 2+ years in fintech strategic finance, and just transitioned to a role in software VC
I think the tough part is actually finding the Corp Dev people you want to network with in the first place. Obviously finding people who work in corp dev at F500 companies is a simple LinkedIn search, but those roles are competitive and you will have a lot of people vying for spot there. There are a lot of smaller companies that you may not be aware of that have very active M&A teams (like my first company) and that will take some digging. I approached this like I was screening for deals:
(1) Overall Universe: I made a list of industries that I thought were interesting (at the time it was HC / tech)
(2) Subsectors: Specifically targeted mid sized companies in those sectors that sounded like they were doing something cool
(3) Unique Attributes: Combed through the past 3 years of press releases for those companies to see how many M&A deals they worked on with an emphasis on large transformative deals
(4) Once I narrowed down the list to acquisitive companies with a focus on M&A, I would find these people on LinkedIn and reach out cold. The hit rate was pretty decent, but what impressed people I networked with the most was that I spent time researching the companies' prior transactions and was able to piece together a unique story as to why I was reaching out and why they stood out to me.
Not OP clearly, but I just received an offer in Corp Dev. I have wanted this role since my first IB internship, and was able to get three corp dev interviews within the past year or so. Couple thoughts:
1. It is EXTREMELY hard to find these opportunities. Yes, you can network, but it does you far less good than IB / Consulting, even PE / VC. These teams run lean, and people are rarely replaced. When a position opens up, it goes to a headhunter and/or the current corp dev team utilizes their current network.
2. If you see a job posting, then network with that team. This is probably the only time I would say it is worthwhile to network. There simply arent regular openings in these roles. I want to emphasize this point. I came into finance with zero connections, and built my network from nothing. My network is what I have always leaned on. I did all through cold messages on LinkedIn and emails. However, this is the only time I would state it is not worth applying general networking approaches.
3. I got all three interviews through different headhunters. Keep your LI up to date, and check it frequently (or just use the mobile app and turn on notifications). These roles fill fast.
4. It is possible to get into Corp Dev even if you aren't currently at an IB, but it is extremely challenging. During my first process I didnt make it to a second round simply due to experience (1.5 years of strategy consulting at the time), and was told I was the only person not currently working in IB who got an interview. The individual who got the offer was at a solid MM IB for 3 years. The second process, I made it all the way to the final round, but was beat out by a guy with 3 years of IB and a year of HF experience (2 years strategy consulting experience at this point). The third and final process I was the first to make it to the final round after interviewing 5-10 candidates (2.5 years of strategy consulting exp at this point). I got the offer two days later. I had a ton of IB / PE internship experience and was able to leverage this. I took my skillset and tailored it to the role as best I could. It helped that my strategy consulting was mostly M&A, so I spoke to how to maximize value post close and what to do pre-close, stuff investment bankers dont even know.
Note: Every time I cold applied I was auto rejected. Most of the time I tried to network with teams that were currently hiring, they ignored my LinkedIn requests / messages.
Edit: Sorry @big hero 6ix I didnt mean to hijack your thread, but I have wanted to share my perspective because there is simply no information out there on how to get into Corp Dev. I think your approach above is excellent, and just wanted to piggyback on it based on my anecdotal experience.
Going to speak about StratFin vs. VC from my own personal experiences. I'll try to add on as I think of more, but here are things that jump out to me:
StratFin Pros
StratFin Cons
VC Pros
VC Cons (Not a lot, still in my "Honeymoon" Phase)
Good questions - these fit well with DominicanBanker's first question so I'll tie my responses together here.
Ultimately my motivation and pitch to move from the operating side to VC was pretty similar to yours. I enjoyed the transactional / investing nature of Corp Dev and I had a great experience diving deep into the operating side of an early stage business. I wanted to put the two experiences in an environment where I could drive a lot of value at the early stage. For me the path would've been strategic finance/corp dev at another startup or try to break into VC. I still wanted to get a broad exposure to a lot of different industries/companies so I tried to focus more of time on getting a VC type of role. Fortunately I lucked out and found myself in a position where the VC valued my operating experience.
Something they emphasized to me throughout the process was that they were looking for people who understand how a business is built at a nitty gritty level. Like how do you scale revenue opportunities, what sort of vendors do you need to stand up your sales team, how to think about hiring, a general sense of product management, etc. My prior position in strategic finance gave me a real deep dive into every single line of the P&L so I learned how to really think like an operator.
I have 5 years in corporate development, I can give you a run down of all the types of modeling I've done (Non-traditional corp dev group who performs broader range of work, some shops are M&A focused only).