I used WSO extensively when I was breaking into finance and have been meaning to do this for a few years now. **Background**: I grew up in a town with <1,000 people and had never heard of ibanking. I then went to a non-target school (defined, in my case, as the last person to get into ibanking directly from school was in the 90s) w/ a 4.0 gpa, cold-called and emailed my way into a 4 person ibanking shop my sophomore summer which I then leveraged into a MM ibanking internship where I worked full time for a year, went to a PE fund for 3 years, and have been at my current fund for over a year (which allows promotion w/o an MBA) where I plan to be for some time. I also write about mental models, investing and misc. stuff (wrote a piece on advice to my younger-self that could be applicable to many here) at the website clearingfog.com and am on twitter as @clearingfog_III. I use it more as an avenue to meet interesting folks and tease out ideas. I am not sure what my end goal is. Within PE I like learning about business models and industries more so than the execution and portfolio work. As such I may try to start my own HF with a microcap bent and highly concentrated (7-10 investments) or I may just continue along the “track”. **Lowlights**: I interviewed at a BB bank and didn’t know what EBITDA was (suffice to say I didn’t get a call back), but I did take Aswath Damodaran’s classes online which I would highly recommend if you don’t get a formal finance education **Highlight**: probably my current job or finally getting my internship offer. With that, I plan to be online next few days to answer any questions. So ask away.
Trending Content - Private Equity Forum
Career Resources
Good question. At my size, I have never seen the slashing of budgets, in the first two years we are always investing in new personnel. Have we swapped management, yes, but that is in the minority. We provide operational improvements through the following ways: interviewing and hiring out the c-suite, institutionalizing financial reporting and KPIs, and acting as a sounding board for major strategic initiatives and investment. The reality is the business and industry probably impact 80% of the investment, 15% is influenced by the management team that we either backed or installed and 5% is due to us helping with KPIs and strategic decisions.
For the junior people, the experience can range depending on management's sophistication and the fund. I have one co. who really only the partner talks to the CEO and they are very autonomous. I have another co. where I and the associate created the entire monthly reporting package and weekly KPI dashboard. I interviewed the CEO that we installed into a Co. (purchased from a founder and a pre-requisite to close was to install a new CEO), but the reality is the biggest decisions and hiring are made at the partner/founder level. Can I provide insight and is my voice heard, yes, but the ultimate decision is the partners. 1st firm my opinion wasn't valued as much as 2nd firm - a combination of people and my increased experience.
Ooof. This hits close to home.
I'm on my way out of a MM PE fund myself, and part of the reason I'm leaving is that the partners think that management team and strategic decisions are what drive the 80% of the return, instead of the other way around.
As Buffet says, when a management with a reputation for brilliance tackles a business with a reputation for bad economics, it is the reputation of the business that remains intact.
You must have considered getting an MBA at some point - why did you decide against it? Given that you're from a non-target, do you get any sense that you might be limited later in your career by perceived lack of pedigree?
Great question. Yeah, I've thought a lot about this. In essence I think an MBA comes down to three benefits and when you unpack it really two: networking, brand and learning.
For learning I try and read 25+ non fiction books a year and am generally intellectually curious so not too concerned about missing on on that.
Brand and networking are very much intertwined. A brand is merely a signalling device to individuals who have not directly evaluated you or know you. As soon as your work product comes to light no one cares about your school, they care about how you perform. As such, the goal should be to publicly disseminate your work product / meet people that can go to bat for you. This is part of the reason why I started my website. I want and need to meet people and build relationships in order to compensate for my lack of branding. It's incredibly hard to meet people and make relationships as you would in b school, but I don't think its impossible.
On a personal level I just really dislike school and teachers telling me what to do.
Best counterpoint was from a partner at a 5bn fund: " why do kids keep parroting this opportunity cost BS, instead of retiring at 50 retire at 52 and pull fwd 2 years of your retirement to your mid 20s when your dick still works and you aren't wearing a catheter"
Not exaggerating and through the vulgarity he makes a good point.