I recently received an offer to join a 4 person corp dev/strat biz team at a $3B public company. I read up on recent news and scanned the 10k before the interview, but now that I got the role, what how else would you prep?
I have a full week off between quitting my current boutique job and starting the new one.
At the moment, my plan is to read all of the press releases from the past 4 years or so, read industry reports like ibis world/ 1st research, and fully read the 10k and recent 10qs.
I have previously looked into the competition, but their are no public comps.
Any other suggested prep?
Personally, I’d take a vacation, but I guess reading up on industry news sources is a good alternative if you’re hell-bent on that.
Corp. Dev. New Role (Originally Posted: 02/28/2013)
Hey everyone,
Long story short, I am leaving my current role, to join a company's corp. dev. dept which only has 2 people now, including me (1 director and 1 analyst, which report to CFO and SVP of finance). What can I expect on the first few weeks on the job? Any advice, recommendations, etc.? Thanks guys.
Step 1 is just to get a grasp of the industry. Get a picture of the current outlook, recent trends, major players, etc...the basics. But also don't forget to get a really good understanding of exactly what these companies do. No longer can you just say revenues will rise -- you need to be able to pinpoint exact products and services that will cause the rise. You're no longer just a financial monkey -- you need to have a good grasp on the individual company and industry that its in.
They'll let you know what step 2 is. Good luck.
I would actually think smaller for Step 1. In order to be successful on the Corp Dev side, you MUST understand the company you work at, and its current make up. Learn what products they sell and to whom. Figure out the process for each product/division.
Then move Country's Step 1.
Step 3 is to think outside the box and come up with new/creative strategies that will help drive future growth.
Corporate Development anaylst expectations? (Originally Posted: 04/29/2008)
What do corporate development teams at large tech companies expect from their analysts or sr. analysts? I've read a few job postings, but I don't get a good picture of what they are looking for.
Most seem very generic to me.
A few of the common job requirements: 2+ years exp in IB, consulting, etc... Deal exposure (preferably buy-side?) Building financial models for valuation Coordination/evaluation of Due Diligence for target companies etc...
Unfortunately, the deals I've worked on have little relation to the company's industries that I want to apply to. What are some approaches to positioning yourself favorably to your interviewers? Understanding and being able to drive process would probably be high on their list. Not sure how much of a pivotal role an analyst/Sr. would be given though. Otherwise there is no ideal transaction experience that can carry over unless I was the sell-side banker on their last transaction. :p
How technical of a background do these roles usually require? Coming from an IB background, I'm not that technical. This is probably why a tech demo is usually held with the product guys during management presentations, but I'm still curious of people's response to this. /reassurance
What else should people thinking about this move take into serious consideration before doing so?
I'm fully aware that that compensation won't be as good as in IB. But I've never found a hard estimate though. What are we talking about for an analyst or Sr. analyst at a tech company in silicon valley? Also, is the bonus structure different from other divisions within the corporation? All in all, the work/life balance trade off should be worth it and the experience gained is definitely positive.
Would coming back to IB (not that I would..) be difficult? Just curious. From what I understand, going to PE from a corp dev role should be painless. Definitely a possibility for future career moves.
Feel free to touch upon anything that I haven't addressed.
but ive been told that its anything but "painless"
Depends on how many years experience you have i guess.
doing 1-2 years of banking and then 1-2 years of corp dev (assuming deals were done these years) then into MM PE will be a challenge, but definitely possible.
im in corp dev out of an analyst program..
Why would you say it would be a challenge to go from 2 years in banking --> 1-2 years corp dev --> MM private equity?
I think it would make it easier (ex. you work in corp dev for a tech company and then move to a tech-focused PE fund as a Pre-MBA Associate). Do you not agree?
I would say that if you had no banking experience and only 2 years in Corp Dev. it would definitely be harder to make the jump to PE.
Usually you'll be competing with people who have done 2 years IB, 2 years PE, MBA or just IB and PE are and switching over.
If you are interviewing because you have worked with the PE shop on a deal thru ur company and the firm is just hiring opportunistically, then its probably not that bad.
But from what I've heard, corp dev guys need to grab up an MBA or some direct investing experience at a smaller shop before getting to a decent MM PE fund. And this is from people who are MDs and Principals. Also through friends who made it into large cap PE funds after IB.
By the way, if you're coming from internal m&a / corp dev at Yahoo! or Microsoft, then its a different story. I'm referring to corp dev at a midcap company.
agreed
I think you are talking about Post-MBA or Senior Associate positions, in which case, I agree with you.
I think for a Pre-MBA it would still be easier because you are competeing against other IB analysts with only 1-2 years of experience. Yes or no?
I'm a first year MBA student at a top 10 program. My background is 3 years public accounting and then 2 years at a MM PE shop working on due diligence and valuation projects. My group worked with the deal teams to perform due diligence and monitor portfolio companies but we did not source or structure the deals. Do you guys think I have a decent shot at moving to a MM deal team post-MBA?
Corp Dev Career Advice (Originally Posted: 02/21/2014)
First post on the forum, but I was wondering if anyone had any specific experience or advice regarding the Corp Dev world (I've read many of the Corp Dev topics on here already, but looking for more recent advice).
I will be joining a small Corp Dev (M&A) team for a public tech company (post MBA), and was wondering what potential career trajectory opportunities are available? How easy is it, for instance, to transition from the corp dev group in one industry to the corp dev group in a separate industry? How difficult is it to transition into an separate, but related role (ie ER in tech space / VC / HF / etc.)?
Any advice or general insights would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Interested as well.
I'm also interested in how you got to a post-mba corp dev job - i'm attending a top 15 program in the fall, and am trying to learn about the recruiting process for these types of jobs. Anything you can tell me about your background and the app process would be greatly appreciated!
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