How Do I Get Better at the Job? - PE Associate
Been in my seat now for about 4 months at a MM PE shop and am wondering how do I get better at the job? For context, modeling and writing are not a problem and feedback so far has been positive but I feel like when were in discussions with PortCo management, 3rd party diligence on a deal, or even talking with a partner about a deal that the conversation sometimes seems to be above my head. I ask questions fairly often to better understand things but sometimes I feel like if I asked every question I had that I'd come off as an idiot. Is this something that gets better with time and reps? Any advice on how to get better?
It gets better with reps, you just need to be proactive about learning. Whenever I don’t understand something in an email, or board meeting, or deal team discussion, I ChatGPT it.
Start owning your projects early on, and get rid of the timid mentality. Yes you need some time to get reps in, but the more you try to “own” something the quicker you get it, and that strengthens your trust from upper management. Take as much initiative as you can, don’t be afraid to share ideas about PortCo management strategies - all in all just show that you give a shit and you’re present - make sense? What I’m trying to say is modelling and writing is 20% of the job, the other part is owning initiatives and driving engagements by being invaluable.
Asking good questions / knowing how to develop a deeper understanding of the business is one of the hardest aspects of the job in my opinion. Definitely a skill that you need to actively focus on improving over time. Don’t think there’s an easy solution here. I would just say continue to be curious and focus really hard on developing the skill.
When I’m trying to diligence a company I try to pretend like I am going to be taking over for the the CEO and it’s my job to understand exactly how the business works so that I could run it if needed. That forces you to think like an owner/operator.
These are some of the questions I ask myself:
Who are my customers?
What do they buy from me?
Why do they want/need my product or service?
What would make them buy more?
How does my pricing compare to the market?
Where do I get my product from?
How is it made?
What impacts the cost of that product?
What would cause that cost to increase?
How much am I spending on overhead (employees, marketing, rent, etc)?
Are there opportunities to make changes to that overhead to improve growth and/or profitability?
Do I have the right team in place to execute on my stragety?
What does the competition look like?
What 3 or 4 things could go really wrong that would materially impact my business?
Obviously all of these questions differ a bit depending on what industry/strategy your focussed on. And then each of these questions have a dozen or so sub questions below them.
Hope this helps.
Thanks for the advice, that’s really helpful. Great framework for understanding a business better
Following, particularly if for infra!
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