SGE Final Round (Investment Summer Analyst) - Case Study & Technicals?
Hey everyone,
I have a final round onsite coming up for the Investment Summer Analyst role at SGE (Susquehanna Growth Equity) in Bala Cynwyd. The interview consists of a few 30-minute sessions, including a 20-minute case evaluating a hypothetical investment opportunity (no valuation or modeling required).
For anyone who has been through the SGE process or similar Growth Equity final rounds, I'd love to get your insights on a few things:
1 Case Study Breakdown: How does this 20-minute case actually flow? What specific questions will they ask me regarding the business and industry dynamics?
2 Technicals to Prep: Since there is no modeling, what technical concepts or mental math should I prioritize? (e.g., SaaS metrics, unit economics, LTV/CAC?)
3 What Interviewers Want: What are they specifically looking for in this final round, and what separates an okay candidate from an offer?
Any advice, frameworks, or past experiences would be hugely appreciated. Thanks!
just wrapped up SA for GE but for another firm so I can provide what I did to help:
1. Most important is being able to speak on companies within the sector that SGE covers. Being able to fluently speak on broader headwinds/tailwinds and your perspective on where the sector is headed in a 1, 3 and 5 year period.
2. I’m sure you already have a company pitch so making sure you continue to strengthen that pitch and being able to highlight risks and what you think are comparable companies is also important. Also you might get grilled on why that company could fail. Same thing with being able to speak on portcos. Why you like some why you dislike some.
3. My understanding is that there is an important focus on sourcing so you will certainty get behaviorals like (how would you speak on behalf of SGE with founders; why are you interested in sourcing)
In terms of the case study know specific revenue drivers and common addressable metrics (arr/mrr/ndr) and what respective thresholds are needed to be reached to be considered a potentially strong investment. Also something that really helped me was being really energetic. Your role will entail lots of outreach with founders. Your interviewers will care a lot about your personality.
Best of luck, you’ll do great!
Thanks for the response. Do you think I should know more than one company to pitch and also how many from their portfolio should I know?
And for the hypothetical company in the case study, is there anything outside of key metrics, competition, market tailwinds that would be key to bring up? Or just any standard format they are expecting answers to be in?
Sorry for all of the questions, just trying to make sure my review is focused in the right direction.
absolutely know more than one pitch. I personally had three different companies (across different verticals) and in my experiences, I only ever got asked about two companies once.
for the hypoethical company in the case study I would segment them into industry, landscape and company (barring possibilities for exit scenarios and irr calculations). for the industry you should feel quite comfortable on TAM, growth drivers and pain points. For the landscape I would focus on the business model and value chain (i.e. where the company lies within the ecosystem). for the company I would highlight more about what's driving their success and what are the key risks are (how can those be mitigated).
This is kind of general advice, but I think what's most important is your ability to answer these questions succinctly. Your answers should be said in a way that allows you to continue the conversation further and doesn't isolate you.
happy to help with any other specific q's you may have.
Here's my perspective -
1. I think that there is absolutely a lens of consulting, but not in its entirety. I would make the assumption that your ability to assess growth drivers is more valued. Too start off I would try to speak on the industry because I have found it quite easy to talk through my thinking since i make fewer mistakes. It is perfectly fine to ask for a minute, but I fear no longer, since I don't think there is a quantitative component. A high-level overview would suffice before going into industry/landscape/company right after.
2. preferrably you want to pitch companies that are viable for SGE to buy and so in this case they would defintely be growth stage. for the purpose of being as fluent across the broader industry i suggest having companies that span different sectors (fintech/biz serv). You should feel comfortable speaking about why they are good companies. What I did was look directly at competitors and talk about what they did differently. The only time you would "dislike" something would be if it was a product of theirs (my experience ofc - see below)
3. There is no particular amount, but it doesn't hurt to be overprepared. What I did was have 2 portcos I really liked and 2 I was skeptical of.
4. I'll use NDR to answer would question about things interviewers expect you to anchor on. one really common question is what are some metrics that are important in determining if a company is a viable investment. NDR (excluding the other 2 you would mention) is really unique in the sense that it helps highlight a company's ability to grow revenue (or not). For example, an NDR of 100% would suggest a business can grow revenue from customers. An NDR of ~100% would suggest a company is steady (depends entirely on industry context), and an NDR of 100%> would be its losing value. These definitions are very much relative. What I mean is that it is entirely possible that in a demanding industry, the scales may shift higher.
5. it is hard to speak on SGE since I personally dont know any who interviewed their. However, I have had interviews at other relatively well-known funds that have had an entire mock call to assess my ability to speak within the context of the industry. I think broadly speaking, you'll probably be asked to speak on how you would market map, questions you would have for founders, and maybe trying to get a read on your interest in being an entrepreneur (in my experience of running a business, which is something I spoke about, I was asked constantly why I didn't want to pursue it). In the unlikely scenario that you do get a mock phone call interview component, it's actually really straightforward - tools like Claude/gpt can give you an outline of how to structure your thoughts, but the actual conversation should depend entirely on your ability to speak fluently and show that you have a deep interest in the company/industry they operate out of. Part of this is also being able to ask thoughtful questions to supplement that conversation.
*apologies for grammar mistakes - wrote this on my phone.
Thanks again — this is super helpful. I think I feel pretty good on the broader prep now: pitches, portcos, metrics, sourcing, etc. The main thing I’m still trying to nail down is the case itself. In your process, what exactly was the case scenario/prompt, how did it flow, and what questions did they ask or push you on throughout? Also, since SGE is pretty software-agnostic, do you think I need to be genuinely up to speed on every software end market, or is it more important to have a general framework where I can speak to industry dynamics at a high level and only add more specific lingo when I actually know the space?
I got asked a lot of questions about market forces. It was basically a test to see my investor perspective. For example my case was about a fictional firm and was given just some general financial metrics. They just had a serious of question where they would ask me something. Depending on my answer they would follow up on my rationale to basically dig deeper. The biggest piece of advice I can give you is learn to develop multiple perspectives in the space your recruiting for. You should have no issue being able to speak on niche factors in software and why you think it pertains. I’d suggest understanding what value SGE finds in prospective opportunities and trying to build on that.
I actually earned my MBA from a top school (HBS) so PM me if you have questions
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