Abdiel internship
From inception in March 2006 through December 2023, Abdiel produced an annualized return of 14.7% net of fees (vs. 9.8% for the S&P 500). We do this without any leverage.
This is the pitch Abdiel gives on its returns, but I've heard a lot of things about their returns going in the negative, and it's weird that they are only reporting up to 2023. Can someone shed some light on this? Also has anyone advanced past the cover letter stage of the round?
they just pick a few random tech stocks and ride it for a decade
its like a much crappier QQQ on sharpe/concentration risk basis
Yes have heard from them and interviewed. Very different type of fund and they are looking for a specific type of person. I’ve spoken to a couple of partners and my friend knows the founder. I didn’t get past first round. He didn’t get an interview even. I could talk in depth about them based on convos with people who work there if you want to know more. Random qs: Do you go to Columbia or Princeton (this is not a requirement by any means)? Are you “values aligned”?
Interesting -- i don't go to columbia or princeton but I go to another top target. Was your interview this year and what values in this "specific type of person" would you say they look for ie creative/unorthodox/strategic?
Won't say exactly when my interview was since you could prob figure out who I am given that they interview so few people, but it was recent. By values aligned I mean conservative/christian. It's probably not obvious, but look up what 'abdiel' means in the Bible. I am not entirely sure how strict that is but I know it is a factor. They are bowtie wearing folks (not literally but I wouldn't be surprised if they actually did), and that is not meant to be derogatory.
As to a type of person: intellectual and curious. And I don't mean the type of person who is applying to college and puts that in their essay, but someone who is a serious intellectual. Do you read books about math theory for fun? How many philosophers have you fully read? stuff like that.
Can you hold an in depth discussion about a topic of your choice? Can you defend your beliefs against a rigorous debate? As the other person said, morals and academics seem to be the main focus. Ngl I crapped the bed on this, and there were some questions from left field which did not make it easy. Obviously, they value independent thinking. Idk about creativity. If I had to guess majors, they probably prefer History, Philosophy, or pure math.
"God told me to load up on shit stocks and underperform year in year out"
sounds like a much lamer version of bill hwang
Second the above. Was asked a lot of questions about my morals and academic choices and then given a case study. Afterwards you get feedback etc
are you talking about an interview this year or another year
last
What did this case study entail? Assume this was for internship so prob simpler than post IB recruiting
hold your horses pls -- pass the interview first (not many do)
AUM went from 5.8B in 2021 down to 3.4B today
Can confirm.
When I did my process with them a couple years ago, they said they managed ~$5B, but a couple years later, when one of my underclassmen did his process with them, they said they managed ~$3B.
From inception in March 2006 through August 2021, Abdiel has returned 1,632% net (vs. 386% for the S&P 500). We do this without any leverage.
This was the pitch that Abdiel gave when I interviewed with them a couple of years ago.
From inception in March 2006 through July 2022, Abdiel has produced an annualized return of 15.0% net (vs. 9.6% for the S&P 500). We do this without any leverage.
This was the pitch that Abdiel gave my frat little when he interviewed with them 2 years after me.
From what I'm seeing with your posting, looks like they change it up every year.
But yeah, I would echo all the comments above, and add that they make you go through the absolute wringer for their interview process, as they want to pick the right person who will stay at the firm long term.
For context, one of their current managing partners started as an analyst with them, so they hire only once in a blue moon, and not everyone gets past the interviews.
They also seem to recruit at a select number of target schools, with special preference for HYPSM and Columbia, but also have interviewed and taken some non-targets for their SA program.
Admittedly, it was indeed a grueling interview process, but it set me up nicely for more hard interviews down the road and I am glad that I went through it.
Congrats on IAG!!!!
Is abdiel shutting down? Liquidated most of their positions this past quarter. Performance prolly been disappointing this year based on their holdings. Feel bad for the juniors if this is the case.
Probably not, given that they just promoted Dave Chi to Managing Partner, so if anything, just new leadership.
Time will tell.
I remember they made one private investment in OutSystems with Tiger Global, where they got clobbered by KKR the following year. Haven't seen them make moves in private markets since.
Interviewed for their internship position early last year. Easily one of the worst and least engaging interviews I’ve had. My interviewer was formerly an advisor to Peter Thiel and you could sense the same odd persona, a quick Google images search will give you an idea. He was rushing through the questions and interrupted me halfway through all of my answers, almost as if he was angry at my responses. Safe to say I didn’t make it to the next round haha. Not a fun experience. Would also echo some of the comments above that it was still good experience as they are incredibly thorough in vetting prospective interns. Easily one of the toughest processes.
Not a great fund tho rn so that interviewer was kind of a blessing for you.
He did that to me too - like chill bro, we're still in undergrad and at a point in our lives where we are figuring out who we are.
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