Tricks of the Trade

Just want to share best practices and hear what other people do to be more efficient.

I'm wrapping up 1st year associate in middle-market growth equity shop...

PortCos

  • Keep a folder for each portco in outlook where I save all correspondence
  • Save all files received from each portco in specific folder on the drive (and copies of important docs on my desktop)
  • Run daily news screens for each portco sector to stay on top of everything (google actually pretty good for this)

Research / outreach

  • Use mainly CapIQ and google, but also use BamSEC for public cos
  • Salesforce to track outreach... (kind of hate this, but it's our system)

Miscellaneous

  • Recently discovered www.Logointern.com for logo slides / industry landscapes (1 of our partners LOVES industry landscapes for new companies)
 

Always interesting to see what other people are doing. Totally agree with the daily industry alerts. I always set a bunch of google alerts for industry activity and just set it for the mornings so that I would get an info dump for when I got in. Nice to be the one on a deal team to circulate something pertinent.

On the sourcing front, I found that having a bare bones excel file was the best way to consolidate contact info of companies when crushing outreach. Just a quick file with columns for company name, website, contact info and result of the outreach made it so that I didn't waste time taking down too much info when most outreach yielded no response.

Always hyperlink the company name to your CRM so that you can log activity and more detailed notes as you gain traction.

This website (http://mailtester.com/testmail.php) was also a godsend when trying to figure out if I had the right email for an exec. Massive waste of time just trying to guess at someone's email....

Does it go without saying that you should download the FactSet or CapIQ plugins for excel Day 1 too?

 

It's really dumb in hindsight, but I didn't think of having a to-do list outline in Excel, grouped by deal/portco, until nearly the end of year 1 as an associate. So much better than paper lists or trying to remember everything.

The organizational stuff is huge - piles of paper for every portco, a foolproof electronic filing system.

I also think having a routine is huge - I get to work the same time every day, have a coffee and eat a clif bar, spend 20 minutes on industry newsletters, WSJ, and the daily news screen. Gets the easy stuff out of the way, but you feel like you're being productive, and if something hit the fan overnight, you know first thing.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of Starwood Points
 
petergibbons:

It's really dumb in hindsight, but I didn't think of having a to-do list outline in Excel, grouped by deal/portco, until nearly the end of year 1 as an associate. So much better than paper lists or trying to remember everything.

The organizational stuff is huge - piles of paper for every portco, a foolproof electronic filing system.

I also think having a routine is huge - I get to work the same time every day, have a coffee and eat a clif bar, spend 20 minutes on industry newsletters, WSJ, and the daily news screen. Gets the easy stuff out of the way, but you feel like you're being productive, and if something hit the fan overnight, you know first thing.

Yep, this is huge

 
Best Response
petergibbons:

It's really dumb in hindsight, but I didn't think of having a to-do list outline in Excel, grouped by deal/portco, until nearly the end of year 1 as an associate. So much better than paper lists or trying to remember everything.

The organizational stuff is huge - piles of paper for every portco, a foolproof electronic filing system.

I also think having a routine is huge - I get to work the same time every day, have a coffee and eat a clif bar, spend 20 minutes on industry newsletters, WSJ, and the daily news screen. Gets the easy stuff out of the way, but you feel like you're being productive, and if something hit the fan overnight, you know first thing.

Pro tip - change the Cliff bar for something else. I used to do the same until I realised that it is the equivalent of eating a snickers bar. Now I eat Pure Protein bars from Costco, they have more protein, and almost no sugar and are at approximately the same price point (18 bars for 20$).

 
takenotes08:
petergibbons:

It's really dumb in hindsight, but I didn't think of having a to-do list outline in Excel, grouped by deal/portco, until nearly the end of year 1 as an associate. So much better than paper lists or trying to remember everything.

The organizational stuff is huge - piles of paper for every portco, a foolproof electronic filing system.

I also think having a routine is huge - I get to work the same time every day, have a coffee and eat a clif bar, spend 20 minutes on industry newsletters, WSJ, and the daily news screen. Gets the easy stuff out of the way, but you feel like you're being productive, and if something hit the fan overnight, you know first thing.

Pro tip - change the Cliff bar for something else. I used to do the same until I realised that it is the equivalent of eating a snickers bar. Now I eat Pure Protein bars from Costco, they have more protein, and almost no sugar and are at approximately the same price point (18 bars for 20$).

I like the Quest bars, not sure how they stack up against yours

 

Contactout extension in LinkedIn for emails. Windscribe VPN to use WSO on work PC.

GoldenCinderblock: "I keep spending all my money on exotic fish so my armor sucks. Is it possible to romance multiple females? I got with the blue chick so far but I am also interested in the electronic chick and the face mask chick."
 
babymonkey357:
Just want to share best practices and hear what other people do to be more efficient.I'm wrapping up 1st year associate in middle-market growth equity shop...PortCosKeep a folder for each portco in outlook where I save all correspondenceSave all files received from each portco in specific folder on the drive (and copies of important docs on my desktop)Run daily news screens for each portco sector to stay on top of everything (google actually pretty good for this)Research / outreachUse mainly CapIQ and google, but also use BamSEC for public cosSalesforce to track outreach... (kind of hate this, but it's our system)MiscellaneousRecently discovered www.Logointern.com for logo slides / industry landscapes (1 of our partners LOVES industry landscapes for new companies)

If you dont mind me asking, how do you use google to run daily news screen on an industry?

 

Only if you go to the restroom to clip your nails. Or at the very least over a trash can. I cannot stand seeing people clip their nails in a public place - subway, restaurant, bus, office, etc. Idk what it is, perhaps I'm the weird one, but it's freaking gross.

 

I don't think you're the weird one. I once had a client who use to clip her fingernails AND toenails (she would wear open-toe shoes) in meetings - mostly the ones she organized and filled up with consultants who reported to her. it was unbearable and my entire team agreed it was gross. also incredible distracting to see her round up her nails on the edge of the table while opining on some topic.

 

A couple of free resources I use during different projects:

  • For consumer focused companies, using online trend monitoring websites (e.g, Google Trends, Twitter, Alexa, etc.).
  • For diligence purposes, I use LinkedIn and Indeed to evaluate job openings at targets to ensure that the earnings are based off a full team. This is particularly helpful if G&A or HC has remained flat in recent months or years.
  • Also helpful are government websites (BLS, DOT, etc.) for monthly, quarterly, and annual reports.
Play the long game - give back, help out, mentor - just don't ever forget where you came from. #Bootstrapped
 

If you are ever working with a dataset that you reference in a presentation/memo/etc, keep a copy of that dataset in the same place as the presentation. Someone will come back to you in six months asking where that number came from and you will be scrambling to find it again (especially if it's something you worked out yourself). Ties into the annotation comment above.

 

Issue trackers in Excel. Columns: Unique Identifier, Status (open/closed), Open date, Issue, H/M/L priority, Related Risk, Remediation, Solved by/how/impact/etc., Close Date. Has saved my skin multiple times.

Excel 'toolboxes' designed to perform specific functions to compliment day-to-day work. 1) Have a model utilizing Black/Scholes for things like beta of risky debt, real option (invest now v. wait 6 months), and other things that require Black/Scholes. 2) Dashboard (no VBA): 3 tabs, tab 1: the user interface aka dashboard made up of graphs and distributions, tab 2: the pivots driving the dashboard, and tab 3: where the flat file goes. 3) credit tests (e.g. altman's z-score) and quality of earnings tests ready to go.

Oracle Crystal Ball plug in for easy Monte Carlo and great probability distribution outputs. Great tool.

 

Been getting some email contacts and company websites off of tradeshow websites (list of sponsors / attendees) - great way to find lists of companies that play in a particular niche.

My VP and I stumbled across a few of these trying to find all the players in a particularly fragmented vertical

 
  • Will absolutely echo using folders for each portco. Additionally, I create a folder in Outlook for each deal in the pipeline after it reaches a certain "stage" for us (when we want to do an IOI-stage valuation). I'd add that generally creating folders in Outlook for all sorts of activities (e.g., Processes, IT, portcos, deals, Prof. Development, Articles, etc.) is very useful
  • Keep protein bars, caffeine pills, and Tylenol/alternative in your desk
  • Have some method of increasing your focus. I like to use brain.fm or sometimes just listening to music on my phone works
  • My firm uses OneNote for meetings notes and other things a lot, and I keep a personal folder on there for my own To Do list. Even adding the smallest things that come up, as soon as they come up (like following up with a banker to let them know you're passing on a deal), helps tremendously with not letting anything fall off your radar
 

I'm a night time person and would often be sleepy during the day, wide eye awake from 10pm to 2am. I spent many nights spent lying in the dark wanting to get to sleep.

One thing that helped me was doing a lot of exercise. Whether it was burning more calories, re-centering my daily peak activity/energy levels or whatever else, I found it easier and easier to get to sleep earlier.

Those who can, do. Those who can't, post threads about how to do it on WSO.
 

SB +1 on the exercise idea. I find working out about 2-4 hours after waking up allows me to go to bed at a more reasonable time later at night. (Total night owl here).

Also SUPER helpful to limit the Netflix / phone activity before bed. I've found these are some things that make my brain start running for hours and don't let me sleep.

...
 

Had exact same problems and then some for nearly all my life, used to be an extreme night owl and the quality of sleep just sucked.

What helped was forcing myself into a routine of going to sleep and waking up at the exact same times, even on the weekends (when I used to go to bed at 4 AM and sleep way past noon). I've been going to bed at 1 AM sharp and getting up at 8.30 (I live two blocks from the office) for the past few months, and I feel much better.

 

Try to keep a steady sleep schedule if you can. If you tend to stay up later than you normally do on weekends and sleep in, then you simply won't be tired enough to fall asleep at your normal time the next day.

Fapping works well too due to the melatonin release.

 

With that kind of sleeping pattern I assume you are under severe stress or worried about something?

Never discuss with idiots, first they drag you at their level, then they beat you with experience.
 

So, first, put the phone down. Seriously. So many studies about how the light fucks with your brain and doesn't let you sleep.

Second, have you been checked for sleep apnea? Really, look into it. Sounds like you're having similar issues to what I had a while back, turned out I have sleep apnea. It'll kill you, long term. Basically you stop breathing in your sleep and snore a lot otherwise. Not everyone snores though, it's a really weird disorder. If you've ever woken up coughing/choking, do not pass go and go directly to the doctor.

 

I listen to podcasts and audiobooks to help get to sleep. It helps switch off the "monkey mind" that would leave me otherwise overthinking about stuff and unable to switch off.

Those who can, do. Those who can't, post threads about how to do it on WSO.
 

Awesome thread.

  1. Switch emails to plain text, then switch them back to HTML. This only takes a second, and nukes all the terrible fonts, formats, and colors. If you’re corresponding with one of those savages who writes, “See responses in red/bold,” then you’ll have to refrain from using this. Also destroys pictures and links, for better or worse. Important to switch back to HTML before sending, otherwise it puts in hard line breaks every 80 characters.
  2. iOS voice dictation is surprisingly accurate. When it’s cold out or you don’t feel like texting a paragraph with your hands, tap the little microphone icon to the left of the space bar and speak your message. You have to pronounce things like “comma,” “question mark,” and “new line,” but once you get the hang of it, it’s a major convenience.
  3. Night shift on iOS filters out the blue light that affects your circadian rhythm. Use this every night when I’m still reading but want to prep my body for bed.
  4. 1mg melatonin tablets. Already mentioned, but want to second it. I’m sure they’re all the same, but I get the Source Naturals ones at Whole Foods. They’re $8 for a bottle of 100. I melt one under my tongue 30 mins before bed.
“Doesn't really mean shit plebby boi. LMK when you're pulling thiccboi cheques.“ — @m_1
 

Noted, thanks. I take one 2-3 nights per week, usually when I’ve have a coffee too late in the day.

“Doesn't really mean shit plebby boi. LMK when you're pulling thiccboi cheques.“ — @m_1
 

Accusamus suscipit explicabo tempora cum vitae. Odit ad omnis quos hic. Est sunt repellat quis ab odio.

Explicabo molestiae est vel nulla aperiam eaque tempore maiores. Aut consectetur in est quia eius. Harum nostrum et tempore atque culpa eum quo.

 

Veritatis ipsa distinctio totam eum distinctio provident minima. Nihil quo nobis autem est rem. Tempora ad repellendus quia soluta non recusandae voluptas.

Praesentium nisi cupiditate quisquam quam et. Debitis aperiam tempore quam qui deserunt quae similique. Repellat et qui facere sint accusantium quam ab. Enim quisquam voluptatibus dicta nihil ea itaque.

Tempora fuga earum id. Eos consequatur qui et eveniet velit expedita. Explicabo ut fugit architecto vel eos aut.

 

Dolores perferendis sit sint minus consequatur perspiciatis voluptate. Odio est odit repellat nihil cupiditate voluptas et.

Quia vero dolor libero est. Laudantium molestias minus alias autem.

Non fugit quia mollitia amet et impedit eveniet. Rem nihil fuga consequatur perspiciatis dolore placeat omnis. Et in excepturi sint sint qui saepe molestiae. Ut eligendi veniam et corrupti omnis. Est numquam voluptas sapiente quam provident asperiores et magnam. Et omnis deserunt id amet aut eum maxime.

 

Perspiciatis at inventore quia neque expedita. Commodi optio deserunt odio necessitatibus. Reiciendis vitae alias voluptatum numquam tempora.

Mollitia provident sequi dolores vitae reprehenderit. Consequatur alias ex molestias et veniam et. Molestiae dolorum illum in neque sit est sed.

Eos recusandae voluptatem laborum repudiandae consequatur modi consequuntur. Et itaque quis quidem qui et doloremque dolores. Sequi alias culpa et et ea dolorem.

Amet nihil veritatis autem neque. Inventore sequi itaque quas labore autem quibusdam provident facilis. Hic sit rerum vel alias ea doloribus quia.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Private Equity

  • The Riverside Company 99.5%
  • Warburg Pincus 99.0%
  • Blackstone Group 98.4%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 97.9%
  • Bain Capital 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Private Equity

  • The Riverside Company 99.5%
  • Blackstone Group 98.9%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 98.4%
  • Ardian 97.9%
  • Bain Capital 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Private Equity

  • The Riverside Company 99.5%
  • Bain Capital 99.0%
  • Blackstone Group 98.4%
  • Warburg Pincus 97.9%
  • Starwood Capital Group 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Private Equity

  • Principal (9) $653
  • Director/MD (21) $586
  • Vice President (90) $363
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (88) $280
  • 2nd Year Associate (204) $268
  • 1st Year Associate (385) $229
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (28) $157
  • 2nd Year Analyst (83) $134
  • 1st Year Analyst (245) $122
  • Intern/Summer Associate (32) $82
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (313) $59
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
9
pudding's picture
pudding
98.8
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”