Hi WSO – excited to be here and give back to a community that helped shape my career. I spent several years as an ER VP at a BB, covering high-growth Internet stocks through some of the most dynamic and volatile years in the public markets.
I led or co-led multiple IPO initiations during the pandemic-era tech surge, and later covered the emergence of generative AI (GenAI) and its impact on business models, valuations, and institutional sentiment. Sitting at the intersection of tech, capital markets, and investor expectations gave me a front-row seat to how innovation is priced in — and what drives conviction on the Street.
I've since stepped away from the sell-side but remain closely plugged into tech investing. I'm here to answer questions, offer insights, and help those looking to build or level up their careers in ER or broader finance roles.
Quick Bio:
- Former VP in ER at a BB
- Led coverage of U.S. Internet sector (e-commerce, online marketplaces, adtech, etc.)
- Worked on 10+ IPO initiations during the COVID tech boom
- Covered GenAI’s rise from the public markets lens
- CFA Charterholder | T15 MBA | Undergrad in Finance & Accounting
- Based in NYC
- Open to mentorship, cover letter and resume reviews — happy to pay it forward
Ask Me Anything About:
- What it’s like working in ER at the VP level
- The IPO initiation process from the research side
- How GenAI is reshaping investor expectations in tech
- Skills that set strong ER analysts apart (and what to avoid)
- Career pathing: ER vs IB/PE, when to jump, how to build optionality
- Breaking in from a non-target or international background
- Working with founders, CFOs, and buy-side clients
- Resume reviews, career advice, or anything else you're curious about
Final Notes:
- Q&A is anonymous — I’ll be candid but will keep identifying details general
- If you message me directly, I may repost anonymized versions of those questions in the thread so others can benefit.
- Looking forward to your questions, especially from those exploring ER or navigating their early finance careers
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Thank you for your time - I'm joining of the pod grad programs after I graduate and will be doing a stint in ER as part of it:
Thanks
Great set of questions. Congrats on the offer and welcome to the madness!
1. Identifying analysts who mentor & encouraging that dynamic:
If you have friends already in the department (even on other teams), use those relationships. ER teams tend to be small and pretty candid internally — people talk. Ask other juniors what their analysts are like to work for, what roles prior associates were given, and how much client exposure they had. Associates with real client time and even small slices of coverage typically had mentors who trusted and empowered them — that’s a great sign. Even better if those coverage names were solid companies, not just leftovers from subpar banking deals.
If you get to speak directly with analysts during your rotations, ask about the career paths of their former associates: how quickly did they get promoted? Where did they go next? Pay attention to how the analyst speaks about them — are they proud, dismissive, vague? That’ll tell you a lot.
Once you're on a team, you can help foster the mentorship dynamic by:
2. How top buy-side clients think differently & use the sell-side effectively:
The best clients I worked with didn’t treat us like a source of stock picks. Instead, they used us to:
They also knew how to filter noise — they didn’t overreact to every rating change and used the research more for process and positioning inputs than for directionality.
3. Tasks juniors waste time on vs what actually builds skill:
One big time sink: manually maintaining data trackers (app downloads, traffic data, etc.) without a scalable system. I had a junior who spent hours on it until I helped them automate large parts. If you can build smart systems early on (or inherit and improve existing ones), that frees up your time for what really matters: absorbing news flow, reading filings, and getting reps thinking about how the stocks trade.
What builds real skill: understanding the why behind movements — what moved the stock today, and why? Did sentiment shift? Was it a data point, a macro narrative, something in guidance? Getting a feel for the “pulse” of your sector and learning how to tie it back to investor decision-making is the real unlock.
hi thanks for the AMA
I want to ask about the skills of an ER analyst
I often find modelling a company to be particularly challenging in Excel, especially in the case of tech stocks which are heavily subscription based.
for context, the FinTech space to me is particularly interesting.
What do you find is helpful to suggest to analysts in terms of financial modelling when recruiting (e.g. for developing a long/short pitch) and during the job itself?
Many thanks again!
Great question — modeling subscription-based businesses can definitely feel tricky at first, especially in sectors like FinTech where user growth, churn, and pricing dynamics can swing meaningfully quarter to quarter.
One of my main coverages was e-commerce, which often had a strong subscription component. A few tips that helped my juniors (and that I looked for in pitches or recruiting):
1. Keep the model clean and modular.
Start with a clean income statement — just the key line items. Then build out a separate assumptions sheet where all your revenue drivers live. For subscription businesses, that usually means something like:
This structure makes it easier to flex scenarios and isolate sensitivities. Analysts and PMs care more about your framework and logic than a fancy, over-engineered model.
2. Pay close attention to what the company discloses.
Most subscription-based companies will give you the key drivers in their earnings releases or slides — sometimes buried in KPIs or footnotes. Learn to spot them and backsolve where needed. Read the transcripts, not just the slides, because some of the best nuggets come from Q&A.
3. Supplement with outside data.
For FinTech especially, it’s helpful to triangulate with external data — things like:
That’s how you start forming a differentiated view of near-term trends — which is what usually moves stocks — and longer-term trajectory.
4. For a long/short pitch, focus on the "so what."
Models are important, but I’d rather see a simple model tied to a sharp thesis than a perfect build that doesn’t lead to actionable insights. Show what the market is pricing in, what you believe, and why you're right. Use the model to support your view, not just to show off Excel skills.
Hope that helps — happy to dig in more if you’re building something and want feedback.
Thank you, really appreciate the reply and the time you took to write it out.
I had interviews at Jefferies and Morgan Stanley in Q3 25' and Q1 26' where they asked me to "pitch a stock" for the summer internship programmes. Owing to my lack of modelling skills, I simply read news articles online for interesting stocks and discussed a few catalysts and risks. Hence, I did not progress to the next round. My guess was that I should have prepared a pitch in advance from a financial model that I prepared beforehand to discuss during the interview. As you said, you were a former BB VP: would this be the best way to tackle this type of common interview question?
Otherwise, if not, how would you tackle this interview question as an ER prospect? Also, if you don't mind me asking, how would you structure a response to this question because I believed that I should be offering a short, 30-second elevator pitch respond to discuss expected upside, growth in EPS, drivers and risks. Assuming you have interviewed candidates in the past for ER SAs, what is expected of a candidate in the interview stage?
As a seasoned ER asso, interested in these from your menu: 1. The IPO initiation process from the research side (haven't seen many of these yet), 2. Skills that set strong ER analysts apart (and what to avoid)
couple more. what are you doing now "closely plugged in" (understand you can't dox urself obvi) and why CFA + MBA? seems like overkill for SS ER
Great questions and appreciate that you're already a seasoned associate. Sounds like you're thinking ahead, which always pays off in this job.
1. IPO initiation process from the research side:
I worked on a bunch of tech IPOs during the pandemic cycle — definitely a front-row seat to how the sausage gets made. That said, not every process goes through. Some companies pulled the plug late-stage due to market conditions or internal issues, so there’s often a lot of work that never sees daylight.
Here’s a typical flow:
2. Skills that set strong analysts apart (and what to avoid):
As for me now:
I’m on a bit of a sabbatical. I am still tracking the sector closely and having conversations with folks across the tech and investing ecosystem. Looking to pivot into work that’s more impactful over the long run, where I can apply the investing + strategy lens I developed on the Street.
Why both CFA + MBA?
Totally fair question — it’s definitely not necessary for everyone. I did both because I had originally intended to move to a large buy-side platform where those credentials were highly valued (and often expected). Each helped in different ways: CFA deepened my technical and accounting foundation, while the MBA helped me build broader strategy and operator fluency. MBA got me into a BB and CFA gave me solid technicals. It was painful to pass the CFA exams while working crazy SS ER hours but in retrospect, I don't regret it.
Let me know if you'd like a deeper dive on IPOs or anything else — happy to share war stories or best practices.
(1) In retrospect, what do you think was the turning point in the AI boom and did you feel it coming early on? (2) Were there any companies that you were consistently wrong on for whatever reason? (3) How did you learn from being wrong in those instances? Thank you and wish you the best moving forward.
Really appreciate the thoughtful questions I wish you all the best in your own journey as well!
1) Turning point in the AI boom — and did I see it coming?
For me, the true inflection was the release of ChatGPT at the end of 2022. That launch didn’t just excite tech enthusiasts — it lit a fire under the entire ecosystem. Within months, you had META, GOOG, and others scrambling to respond, racing to launch their own LLMs and to articulate an AI roadmap on earnings calls. From there, AI/compute commentary went from niche to front-and-center — it became the institutional narrative across software, semis, infra, and even consumer tech.
Did I see it coming in such a big way? Honestly, no. Like many others, I underestimated how fast the capabilities would leap forward and how quickly it would capture investor attention. In hindsight, the signs were there, but the scale of the shift — both in capital allocation and narrative weight — still surprised me.
2) A name I was consistently wrong on?
Yes, one comes to mind right away. It was a company that we believed had no real moat. Their main business hinged on a handful of large contracts that we thought could be easily replicated or undercut by other vendors. The only thing "protecting" them seemed to be bureaucratic inertia — that is, it was painful for enterprises to switch vendors or re-implement a similar solution, even if technically feasible.
We kept a Sell rating on it for quite a while. And while the stock didn’t outperform the sector or even our coverage universe, it also didn’t collapse as we expected. That was a humbling experience.
3) What I learned from being wrong
A few key takeaways:
Appreciate you raising this — being wrong (and owning it) is part of what makes us better in this business.
Can ppl in ER own individual stocks, am interested in switching from IB to ER but don’t want to give up stock picking
ER normally has largely the same restrictions as IB. You can own individual stocks. With holding time and sector limitations.
I would say it depends. Some ER departments allow single stocks as long as it is not in the same sector as your team's coverage. Some ER do not allow single stocks, only ETFs.
Thanks for doing this. What do you think about exiting to IR? Maybe particularly at the junior level from being a research associate? Know that it's a pretty common exit from ER given the only other options seems to be HF/LO. Maybe some thoughts on the different exits in general or whether to choose the investment path or corporate? Thank you!
To piggy back off of this question... OP, what are your thoughts on someone in ER trying to lateral into VC or corporate VC in the space covered? Any ideas on what one can do to try and set themselves up for success in a corporate role (Corp Dev and Corp Strat) as well as VC?
Lateral moves from ER into VC or Corp VC can happen, especially if you’ve built strong domain knowledge and network in your coverage universe. But it’s worth noting that early-stage investing is a different beast from public equities. You’re often operating with limited data, very few financial signals, and a whole lot more ambiguity.
A VC partner once said to me:
That really stuck with me. In public markets, you’re analyzing product-market fit through the lens of metrics and models. In VC, especially at the earlier stages, you’re often betting on the founder’s insight and execution potential — long before there’s anything to model. So if you're thinking about VC, start focusing on understanding founders, user behavior, GTM strategies, and building a point of view on what's next in your sector. Thoughtful blogging or building a small angel/Scout portfolio (if you can) can help you stand out.
In short, both are great exit paths, but they reward slightly different muscles. If you're proactive about learning and repositioning your experience, ER gives you a strong foundation to build on.
Thanks for the question. Definitely something I thought a lot about too.
Exiting to IR is definitely a very common and viable path, especially if you're covering companies you're already familiar with. I've had a few colleagues — even at the VP level — move into Head of IR roles at public companies in their coverage universe. As an associate, you'd likely enter at a slightly more junior IR level, but the ramp can be pretty quick if you're sharp and already understand how to frame messaging for investors.
The value ER folks bring to IR is being able to anticipate investor questions, shape the narrative, and speak fluently in the language of the Street — which is exactly what management teams are looking for.
On the investment path vs. corporate (IR, Corp Dev, Corp Fin):
At the end of the day, it really depends on:
Both can be great paths. The key is figuring out which lifestyle and long-term growth trajectory fits what you want. Happy to elaborate if you’re weighing options right now.
Thank you so much for the detailed response. For context, I would considering the move at the junior level (I have 4 YOE) and would be coming in as the most junior person on the IR team. I suppose my concern would be getting off the high finance track (for lack of a better term) and limiting my compensation progression. It’s hard for me to get an idea of the compensation progression of these roles or just how much upside/total comp even a head of IR has as it seems to differ so much from company to company? I don’t like how it seems that IR teams aren’t treated much differently than the other finance-related teams at a F500. Maybe I have the wrong information though.
I don’t really see a future as a PM or long term investment professional for myself, but the difference is the investment world leaves a lot of doors or exit opportunities open whereas I’m not clear on the exit opportunities or doors open for an IR professional outside of perhaps a corporate strategy related role? That’s is the dilemma I find myself in.
Hi OP - thanks for taking the time to answer our questions.
I will be joining a BB sell-side research desk in the coming weeks as a Summer Analyst. What do you believe to be the most important skills one should lock down prior to starting on the desk, and what technical skills specifically would you recommend focusing on in the next 3 weeks before starting?
Congrats on landing the summer role!
If you already know which team or sector you'll be joining, I'd recommend subscribing to industry-specific newsletters, listening to recent earnings calls, and skimming through recent initiation reports (if you can get your hands on them through school). Even just getting comfortable with the jargon, metrics, and key players in the space will go a long way in helping you hit the ground running.
In the next 3 weeks, here’s what I’d focus on:
1. Industry Familiarity
2. Financial Modeling Skills
Plenty of free resources and YouTube tutorials can help you brush up if you're rusty.
3. Excel & Formatting
This is a rare moment when you have time to prep. Even 30–60 minutes a day between now and day one will make a noticeable difference. Good luck — you’ll learn a ton this summer!
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