Just landed a VP of Corp Dev role at a PortCo of the MF that I just left. The challenge is that I've only done 2 years at a BB and 2 years at an MF, so I have 0 Corp Dev experience beyond doing a couple add-ons in PE. Thankfully I have some industry background as I worked in the same sector group in banking and PE (I was not assigned to the company when I was associate so I don't have a ton of background on it).
It's a decently scaled business ($100mm+ Rev, growing 20%+, 20%+ Margins), but they've never done any M&A before, so there is no infrastructure available for me to leverage and the VP that was assigned to the company jumped funds, so the guy I knew with all of the context is out. And the M&A/Corp Dev Summit for all of the VPs of Corp Dev at this MF's PortCos isn't for 6 months, so I can't leach off of that.
My question is two-fold:
1) What resources are available to figure out how to run a corp dev team from scratch (books, podcasts, interviews, etc). If there are meetups/conference where I can up to speed quickly I would happily fly anywhere.
2) I have a Corp Dev Associate who's a few years older than me coming in at the same time. In addition, I've got an FP&A guy and Legal gal assigned to support me largely that are also considerably older. Does anyone have any advice on the best way to navigate this dynamic?
Bump
You don't need to wait for the summit to talk to your peers... ask some of your old colleagues to introduce you to the other corp dev heads within the portfolio (past or current). Also given your background you're likely connected with a few folks who went into corp dev -- try and meet up to learn how their teams operate, these groups are usually lean enough that they'll have perspective even if they aren't the ones running the show.
Sounds like an awesome opportunity for four years out of school -- best of luck!
Interesting situation - OP, what motivated you to make the transition into corp dev?
Firstly. Congrats!, that's amazing, especially for only four years out of school. Can't speak to the first bullet, but I can speak to the second. I'm a couple years out of school and recently moved into an operational role managing a team of 20 (operators and a couple engineers) for a F500. Most of the people reporting to me have kids older than me. What I'll say is: 1. Be respectful 2. Learn from them - they're experienced and are probably SMEs in their respective fields 3. Be humble. No one likes a cocky boss, much less a cocky young boss 4. Be firm when needed. Some will try to take advantage of your youth/inexperience. Be respectful (#1), but don't let them. You're the boss 5. Being respected > being liked - this kinda goes with #4
I think these are great points. One thing that might be the largest learning curve is that you will have to work collectively with internal functional teams/leaders. These people all have their regular day jobs - while you are adding additional workload with tight deadlines.
I think this is an important dynamic to understand, so building rapport amongst functional leaders you will be working with on deals is important.
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