Hi all, Thought i'd share my story, now that i have got the certified user star:
My background
Quite simply, I was born in east africa - and my family came to the UK when I was quite young to give a better life to me and my younger siblings. long-story short, I went through the public education system in the UK - and did pretty well for myself considering we were in a relatively working class neigbourhood/area where only a fraction of the population went to university.
Decided on a career in finance
At 16/17, I made the decision to focus on what I wanted to do with my future, and applied to many of the insight day programmes that banks/law firms/accountancy firms etc.. received the offer, and decided on a career in finance after speaking to a number of people in the industry and also on asking questions on forums like this.
How I landed FT role
After my a-level exams (17/18) - I spent a summer at a 3rd tier IB in back-office - which i was able to leverage to land 3 spring week internships at my first year in university (considered a semi-target in the UK). was able to do a markets gig over the summer at a BB, and an M&A gig in my penultimate year at that same BB which landed me the FT role.
Burned out from IB
Fast forward a year and a half, I decided IBD was not conducive to the lifestyle i want to live (I think burnout is a pretty common theme amongst analysts, and I've always just stuck to the thinking that life is too short to be doing something i don't want to do). I talked to my analyst class about careers outside of IB (initially though about the PE path, but a lot of the deals i had were with sponsors, and the associates seemed to have a pretty similar lifestyle to me and so ruled it out quite quickly).
Corp Dev
I learned of the world of corp dev, and began my search - interviewing with companies of varying sizes - large corporate / startups / SMEs. had a long convo with the CFO of one startup which i thought were doing quite interesting things - and a few interviews later with the CEO/Founder etc.. I now work under the CFO spearheading interesting projects (only 2 years after i graduated from university):
- international expansion
- optimization
- m&a
- fundraising
I'm currently 23 and absolutely loving it - great work/life balance, a lot of responsibility, and working with very bright management team (pretty much all IBD/PE/Venture Cap).
Ask me anything
I invite all questions, and also keen to hear some future career advice from my fellow users
WSO Mentors
Do you want a 1 on 1 mentoring session with me? Here's my mentor profile - click here.
WSO Podcast: Member @anonymnous"
For the podcast, I talk about my journey from East Africa to a front office M&A bulge bracket investment banking position in London as well as why I moved over to corporate development for a tech startup. Hope you enjoy (listen below)!
have you gone back to east africa since your family came to the UK when you were younger/do you have any relatives who still live in east africa?
yes i have and i try and go back each year for atleast 2 weeks during the summer. plan to go back this summer aswell, and the vast majority of my family live back there
I'm assuming ur doing corp dev in London/UK? How does pay differ there from the US and do you see corp dev at a viable path to upper mgmt/C-suite, especially at bigger companies?
yes, i'm currently in london.
wouldn't know the pay in US to be fair, but in london - i moved as a 2nd analyst year analyst and my base comp was comparable with what i was paid in banking but my bonus here is capped at 35% with the addition of stock options.
with regards to your last question, i wouldn't see any clear obstacles as to why not. i'd imagine so long as you're given some responsibility at bigger firms and you're known for execution and making things happen you could very well make it there.
Great, thanks for the response! And that sounds like a solid pay package tbh, especially with a good work/life balance.
How was it going through the interview/ hiring process being a black dude in Europe? How does this affect you getting acclimated with office "culture"? What are your career goals moving forward?
going through interviews felt fairly normal, as i was well prepared - i don’t think being black hindered me in anyway, as i was as qualified as my peers.
admittedly, the cultural differences were challenging.. i felt out of place. the three black analysts/associates on the m&a floor left a few months after i joined FT, but it was more so the class difference that made me feel out of place. i had nothing in common with people at the bank - so couldn’t really relate to what most people were talking about.
moving forward i’m not too sure, i’m happy with my current position, perhaps head of corp dev here within a few years.. currently seeing where this opportunity takes me and how i can help build this company.
How has your taste in culture (music, hobbies, tv, events etc) changed from being in a mostly UMC/corporate crowd for the past few years? Are you still very much into things you were into growing up or has your taste changed?
Also kudos man, you're killing it.
not much really. music wise i’ve always been very varied i listen to everything under the sun from rap/drill/rock/indie/classical.. good music has always been good music and my hobbies have always been quite random. although i’ve added golf and travelling to the pipeline post investment banking, which initially were out of reach due to cost but have found now that they’re actually enjoyable.
overall however my core friendship group are still not in the corporate world and we aren’t very different in terms of likes/dislikes, the only major things that’s changed about me is political ideology and the way i speak. otherwise, same old ^^
Habari gani!
I am Kenyan , but do you ever plan to do banking in Tanzania or will you stay in Europe? One thing I wrestle with is staying here (U.S) versus going back home. While there are many opportunities here, I feel there are so many pursuits you can start at home.
nzuri, asante.
my family are going home soon, they’ve saved up and now own a fairly nice property back in zanzibar. for myself however, i’m not sure.. i have toyed with the idea but honestly i don’t see these opportunities. a lot of the opportunities for africa i’ve seen are PE related in nigeria. i never plan to go back to banking but if i can think of a viable business plan perhaps i’d start my own.. my dad is currently looking at what can be done. problem is there’s a shortage of capital or at least a large degree of concentration over there which makes it very difficult to come up with a sustainable business model that i could morally get behind.
if i’d do anything back home, it’s probably start an orphanage and help pay tuition as a form of philanthropy
Habari!
Grew up in Kenya, now in Corp Dev for a large non-tech company, but looking to move to doing it for a startup. Do you have any advice on networking, and would you be up for coffee?
Cheers
sure, pm me your # or details and i’ll hit you up.
networking is best done via events. venture cap firms host networking events which are pretty good to meet other professionals and leaders in startups. or these shared office spaces do a lot of events so might be worth looking out for those.
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