How I prepped sector knowledge before PE interviews (framework from the job)

See a lot of posts here panicking about "sector knowledge" for PE/IB interviews, so figured I'd share how people actually build a sector view on the job. It comes down to five questions:
1. How does the sector make money? (revenue model, unit economics, who pays whom)
2. What's driving growth? (tailwinds (regulation, demographics, tech shifts, and whether they're durable)
3. Who competes and on what? (fragmented vs. consolidated, moats, where consolidation plays exist)
4. How do deals get valued? (which multiple, on which metric, and why, EBITDA vs. ARR vs. rate base matters)
5. What kills returns? (the 2-3 risks every IC memo in that sector flags)

If you can answer those five for a sector, you'll sound sharper than 90% of candidates. Pick the 2-3 sectors your target firms actually invest in and go deep, not wide.

Full disclosure: I work in PE and have been writing up full primers in this exact format (healthcare, infra, industrials, etc.) because nothing like it existed when I recruited. If that's useful to anyone, very happy to share, DM me! Either way, the framework above is free and it's most of the battle.