Wasted my life on a deal that didn't close - considering quitting
Currently an ASO2 at MM bank, focused on software. I spent the entirety of 2025 on a shitty deal that didn't close. I put in so many hours and late nights all for no end result in the end. I'm again on another deal now that we are just kicking off on, but the sponsor is going to be a pain, and the business is pretty challenged. I am about to turn 27 and have ~$460K saved (incl. retirement) and am considering quitting to avoid spending the next 6 months in hell. Any thoughts or words of wisdom is appreciated.
You get the same experience or at least 90% of it whether it closes or not and at your level get paid the same. Your job is to keep your client happy (really your seniors).
It’s not wasted time if you learned. Your post reeks of immaturity.
I think this is a bullshit take, and you are probably a fucking insufferable bot that’s gaslit themselves into being a miserable drone.
OP - it sounds like you are someone that really enjoys seeing their effort translated into actual results. It might be time to realize that fields like IB might not give you that type of fulfillment. Look to pivot to something else if you truly hate it and can’t see yourself doing these types of things for another 20 years.
Your post could have been written without the last sentence, and it would have been received a lot better. But then you wouldn't have felt like a badass.
the result of your work is in the paycheck
every result beyond this is an extra
The main product that a company produces is called earnings 🤣
Hi OP. I remember when I was a junior associate and had been killing myself on two sell sides for the better half of a year with them both dying. One during final closing diligence and another a week before second round bids were due. I was very, very disappointed.
I vented to one of my senior mentors about it and he compared it to baseball — where a 0.300 batting average is considered great. He said it’s very similar to IB, especially because there is only so much that a banker can actually control during a deal. It is just the nature of the job. Remember what you learned during this deal and bring it forward with you in future deals (or in interviews).
I don’t think it’s fair to compare it to a batting average. Do you know how many at bats a hitter will have over a season? It’s WAY more than the number of deals you are going to work on so you can’t even compare the two.
I think they meant it as a metaphor. Of the sell side m&a deals that I’ve worked on over the past 7 years of my career at a BB in NYC, probably less than half have gone from formally mandated, signed engagement letter to successfully closing. It’s always been a combination of things that were really not in the banker’s control — I.e. you accept a mandate and then learn later on that the business really was not ready to go to market, the board decides not to move forward with the final bids, the company misses earnings in the middle of the process, COVID happens and almost all processes get put on hold, acquisition financing markets become unfavorable to buyers, the list goes on and on…
Don’t forget your midol on the way out the door
wheres the genius WSO mods now huh
It sucks when this happens because A) you want the higher bonus, closing dinners, etc. and B) the closed deal experience on your resume (probably what you care about most).
However, while you lose out on A, you gained pretty much 90% of the deal experience and can BS the rest of it on interviews. If interviewing with multiple failed deals, just look at closed deals at your firm, put those on your resume, and when asked to "walk through a deal you worked on" just pretend all your real experiences were for those deals. Just find out revenue, and ebitda of the businesses, figure out the purchase price and earnout structure (probably in your firm's drive), and/or simply ask an associate or VP that worked on it and be sure to take notes after you speak with them so you remember what they said, and viola - you've gained "closed deal experience".
Nobody's going to reach out to your firm and say "hey did so and so work on this?"
what exactly motivated you to get life advise on WSO?
Aperiam quae aliquid non. Voluptatum aperiam molestiae tempore consequuntur aut et ipsa cumque. Qui sint reiciendis quia molestiae omnis consectetur.
Nobis sunt cupiditate nam veniam expedita eligendi. Maiores unde distinctio ut asperiores tempore rerum.
Qui quo vel dolorum sit quia iusto unde. Commodi consequatur alias illo impedit in possimus recusandae. Itaque enim dolores asperiores assumenda sit voluptatem. Soluta inventore deserunt illo vel sed.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...