Mod Note (Andy): Interview/Q&A Tuesday - today we have a new one from user jimbrowngoU, hope you find it helpful!
Hi guys,
I've been kicking around WSO for a number of years (in fact it helped me land my first finance gig 5-6 years ago), and I've gotten to the point where I feel like my experience and path might be interesting to others. In an effort to give back, I'm opening up an ask me anything (assuming there's interest). A little bit of background:
-Graduated from a generally considered non-target majoring in accounting with a decent GPA (while a non-target, it's considered a good school)
-Spent two years in MM TMT investment banking in a non-NYC major finance city
-Moved to a technology-focused late stage VC/early stage PE and have been here for over two years; first two as a pre-MBA associate, and was recently promoted to a post-MBA role, essentially skipping the MBA (I'll leave out titles as it might give away my firm, but it's essentially a VP role)
Fire away. I never interned in banking, networked my ass off fall of senior year (this was in fall of 2008...) and got lucky with an offer, so I'd consider my path unusual (though not totally unique).
We employ a sourcing model and keep track of stats. So I have to meet a certain number of companies, identify a certain number of good prospects, etc. And in order to work on deals, I need to get in front of the good ones. And in order to go on trips and meet companies, often times my schedule is in the hands of the more junior folks (read: often times, the number and quality of companies I'm meeting is out of my hands). This can be stressful. This is a business where it ebbs and flows and you're only as good as what you've done recently, so it's great when you're flowing in good companies, doing deals, etc. and super stressful when you're ebbing and meeting crappy companies and dying for a deal.
I love investing in businesses and watching them nail it (or shit the bed). It's awesome to have a vested interest in a business' performance, and it's fun to be at the Board meetings, be involved with strategic decision-making, figure out the right channels to pursue growth, think about how to properly position the business for exit in 18-24 months, etc. I guess that's another stresser - when a company you invested in is underperforming, it can suck. You feel like you've let the team down. Fortunately I've only had that happen on one company, and even better is that it was only for a short period of time - they've since recovered and it's fun again because they're cruising.
I really can't sell that aspect short. Having a vested interest in the businesses you invest in is awesome. I might sound like a nerd, and I feel bad for my family, friends, and especially girlfriend, but I freaking love it. I get pumped when we have a good quarter and get nervous when we shit the bed.