You can read a hundred books on how to be a management consultant or start your own strategy / consulting firm but there isn’t a great guide to how to be an MD. There are 1,000 websites about how to do a DCF but nothing on how to sign up a client. What makes a great boutique banker from an average one? I am talking habits and outreach primarily. I say boutique because I think the good habits flow at another shop like Goldman because now you have the business card and inbound calls to go along with a great process.
Do they rely on the firm to sponsor conferences, use pitchbook to email 100 CEOs and PE shops per week. After their initial phone call do they follow up with 1 M&A idea and a financing snapshot piece? Do they call once a month, once a quarter? How often do they ping them with ideas or thoughts?
When establishing a relationship with a VC they haven’t met before do they cold email with a pitchbook attached or ask for warm intros?
Do they throw M&A ideas at them that might be off the wall to see what is interesting or wait until mtg 3?
Curious everyone’s opinions on cadence of outreach for the best vs the least impressive MDs you have worked with
A lot of the time it's the network of contacts you build and your ability to monetize them. The guy who has 1 client bringing n 2-3 deals a year and the guy with 10 clients who brings in 2-3 deals a year from all of them are mediocre. The guy with 4-5 core clients who manages to have all of them engage in 1-2 pieces of work is the Rockstar MD.
Agree with this. I think the network of contacts you build and your ability to monetize them is a direct function of the deals you worked on as a senior ASO, VP and Director. Working on deals for well regarded companies/clients gives you exposure to talented senior/mid-level people at those companies/clients. When those people rise up the ranks, they'll remember you if you did good work for them/were actually a pleasure to work with.
I'd also not discount the importance of luck with regard to getting staffed on the right deals. The success of the deals you work on plays a factor in how people remember you and it is often out of your hands as a junior/mid-level employee. It's important to align yourself with the right MD (who'll request you work on their deals) who actually has the weight to influence the success of the deals he/she originates.
His golf swing
Connections
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