corporate development

I have some downtime after finishing a couple of deals so I figured I might as well answer some questions on Corp Dev while I'm available. Profile: 5 years in BD roles at tech startups -> Top 10 MBA -> 2 years as an Assoc. at an EB in tech group (e.g., Lazard, Moelis, Evercore) -> Large-cap tech Corp Dev group. Ultimately I might have a different perspective on Corp Dev than what I've seen frequently written here. Especially if you are going to a large-cap tech company of any kind. The pay is good, the work is super interesting, you get great exposure (especially in smaller groups) and

25 Apr 2021

Hi all - thought I'd give back to the community that helped me a lot when I was in your shoes by doing a Q&A. Some background on me: BS in Business from top 25 university Worked as an analyst in the M&A group of an EB / advisory shop Currently on the strategic finance team at a late-stage, pre-IPO tech company (Series C+ / $2bn+ valuation) ~4 years of experience across both banking and my current role Open to answering any questions you may have - feel free to ask away. WSO Mentor Want to work with me? Check out my profile here.

24 Nov 2020

Open to all questions about career progression, all things M&A, working for a Fortune 500, avoiding IB, quitting job for a start-up, MBA, etc.. Background * Former Director of Corporate Development for highly acquisitive diversified industrial company (14 transactions representing over $1.5 billion in transaction value) * 8 years of Corporate Development experience (promoted 4 times in 8 years from Analyst – Director) * Quit job in 2019 to start productivity software company * Decided to avoid IB after starting career * Started career in Big 4 valuations practice * BS in Finance and

27 Jul 2020

How is the corporate development function of company generally viewed during recessions? Do companies generally layoff a significant portion of the CD team if deals are halted or does the CD team pivot to assist in other special projects?

20 Aug 2019

Hi, I just started my first year at a high-tier MM IB in a well-regarded industry group. I am really enjoying the work so far, how the culture is, and I am happy with where I am at. All the other first year analysts have began discussing the PE recruitment timeline, but I am interested in Corporate Development (CD) and Venture Capital (VC) in my industry vertical (potentially another one as well but I know sticking to my industry is far easier and I am enjoying it thus far). I have four topics/questions I would like to know more about: 1) Any insight around the timeline for CD and/or VC

23 Sep 2020

Hi everyone. There have been some recent threads on corporate development and strategy, and I thought I would share my own experience through a Q&A and give back to the community. My background is fairly mixed, and I graduated with a technical degree from a non-target/semi-target three years ago and cumulatively gained esoteric investing, PE, and corporate development and strategy experience at a large bank and a lower middle market PE firm. Currently, I'm working in New York at a large private company on a corporate development and strategy team whose scope also includes partnerships and

12 Jan 2019

Hey Guys/ Gals, I have been following WSO for a few years now. This is my first post and my goal here is to seek advice, as well as extend it in anyway I can, given my situation. Situation: I went to a non- target in the south for undergrad and managed to get a F150 corp dev job right out of school this year. I went through a pretty extensive networking effort to obtain an IB role these past few years, but nobody wanted me as their slave. I am super grateful for this position during a pandemic-- and although I am only a few months in-- I am receiving great exposure to senior executives

20 Aug 2020

Got an offer as a senior associate (I think it's the same as a senior manager?) in corporate development. All-in it looks like it would range from $200-$275k (salary is $165k). Is this where the market is for a senior associate / senior manager in corporate development? Anyone in corporate development that could comment?

12 Jun 2018

Background Lancaster UK Accounting & Finance degree with professional CA (Aust & NZ) certifications. Majority of my work was financial audits, due diligence, IPO work & consultancy in Big4, with short stints in Operations in retail group (both health, beauty & dry, fresh grocery products) and e-commerce Technology start-up company. Any questions are welcome. I'm glad I have been able to land the dream job that I am looking for after efforts and research and would like to give back in ways possible, within my knowledge to those who can benefit from it. WSO Mentor Want to work with me? Check out

14 Oct 2020

Hi guys, I've got 3 years of experience in private equity and corporate development at a start-up (fund raising) and I'm looking to go into a larger MNC that does corporate development. A recruiter signalled to me that corp dev careers tend to have a dead-end. The reasons are: a) There's not that many roles to go around particularly if you're interested in staying in financial services b) Corp Dev/Strat roles don't lead to an obvious C-suite position - you can't really be CFO/COO/CEO - potentially Chief Strategy Officer but thats still an upcoming role and isn't commonplace. I live in

06 Nov 2019

~15 year career as an investment banking analyst/associate in ECM (SPACs) and leveraged finance/restructuring, hedge fund analyst/portfolio manager and currently as a corporate finance executive for a fast-growing start-up (led $70mm equity raise process). Have interviewed and spearheaded recruiting for investment banking, hedge fund and start-ups. If you're trying to break into investment banking, can give you mock interviews. Love mentoring young professionals and learning from others. Am decent with excel modeling, but am aware why model assumptions are way more important than the actual

07 Jul 2021

I'm considering a Corp dev role in SF/San Mateo/Redwood area (~manager role which I gather is total comp of ~$150-200k). How's living in the area with that level of income as a 30 year old married person? Can I afford a house? Can I save at all?

15 Jan 2021

I wanted to get the latest info on tech Corp dev comp for manager/Sr manager roles at tier 1 cities. I am seeing anywhere from 150-280k on this website which seems like a wide range...anyone with real life info? Thanks!!

01 Feb 2021

Hi! A little background - currently working as an analyst for top 10 Big Pharma company [including internships been here for 3 years]. Not in FP&A but have had FP&A experience at this company (for a summer) working on an M&A deal. Lacking a lot of the deal exposure and experience desirable for a corp dev position. 1. Should I transition into FP&A and try and network to break into corp dev at my company? 2. Would getting an MBA help? I am open to leaving my industry as well but feel as though I should leverage the experience I have in Pharma as a recent graduate. Any advice would be greatly

19 Apr 2021

There are countless articles regarding the buy side vs. sell side in terms of similarities and differences. What about between corp dev and sell-side? Corp-dev meaning that you work on deals for the company itself and underwrite your own deals and sell-side where you represent clients. My train of thought so far is the following: Similarities: -Basically a generalist in terms of deal type (M&A, debt offerings, equity offerings, spin-offs) -Same ebb and flow of a typical deal timeline -Same soft and technical skills needed of a sell-side analyst Differences: -To others, people may view you as

30 Nov 2018

Some of you might know that i recently switched into corporate development after doing ~3 years of banking and getting promoted to associate. I'm a couple months in, but can answer any questions you may have Update 2/21/17: We recently completed a $200 million acquisition and are now preparing for Bolt-ons. As a result of the process, I was promoted to Manager (junior/mid-level position). Excited to continue learning, witnessing tremendous business growth and building a track record here.

23 Dec 2016

I'm an associate at a large cap PE firm (2 years banking / 3 years associate now) thinking about corp dev roles. What kind of title and comp should I expect/ask? Thanks!

05 Jan 2021

Hi all, I am a 3rd-year Investment Banking Analyst in M&A (generalist) at a breakaway boutique. I started recruiting for PE January of this year, but obviously COVID delayed everything until around now. As you can imagine, I'm stressing a lot now given I have ~6 months until my banking stint ends. Our CEO generally asks us about our interest in the associate position a year ahead of time, and given I was recruiting already, I had already declined (nor do I really desire to stay on.) While I make do day by day, my mental health is in a pretty bad state right now. I won't go into details, but I

29 Dec 2020

Hi all, About nine months ago, I was let go from my first post-grad position at a small RIA (a story that I shared here previously). I've since met up with my former boss a few times, and he confirmed that my position was eliminated - they haven't hired anyone in my place. That being said, my job search in the past nine months has been an absolute misery. I have been ghosted more times than I can count, showed up at final rounds only to find out I was totally unqualified to begin with, and had not one, but two separate offers fall through due to internal company reasons. To give you a little

12 Dec 2018

I'm a sophomore at a semi-target looking to use this internship as a stepping stone to recruit for investment banking next year. Which one would investment banks think of as better? BB PWM is at MS/JPM/BAML. My thinking is the corporate development position is more relevant to IB but the BB has a much better name and is very respected by all investment banks.

11 Dec 2018

Just heard back from a private firm with ~700m in sales in retail/tech space for a corpdev senior analyst/associate role (1-1.5 years of boutique M&A experience from target UG). A senior ex-banker and I will make up the team. They asked me about comp, and I stuck to my guns and deferred to them with the usual salary negotiation lines and diagnostic questioning techniques. Their HR said they will call with a hard salary number tomorrow after "conducting comp data analysis" and speaking to the CFO. May you guys list expected comp ranges? I've conducted extensive research regarding the matter

17 May 2017

Currently a second year IB analyst at a MM shop in NYC, and wondering what attractive exit opportunities there may be apart from PE/HF. Primarily interested in something strategy oriented with a high-growth company. Understand corporate development is somewhat aligned here, and in the right scenario I would be open to that, but would more so like to have exposure to broader strategy and not be restricted to asset acquisition/divestment. Appreciate any help and more than willing to provide additonal detail if that would be helpful.

27 Dec 2019

Hey guys, I spoke with Andy a week or two ago about doing a Q&A regarding my path from non-target to banking and beyond - so here it is. To sum up my path for those who may not know: I didn't apply myself in high school, and saw a bunch of my friends who did care about their work move on to great schools across the country – ones that I couldn't get into due to my grades. I wasn't pulling a 2.0 or anything, I was just firmly middle of the pack at a school full of strong students, when I should have been near the top. So I took a scholarship offer at a non-target in the SEC, not the best school

11 Sep 2015

Maybe its just me (since I have selective reading, could very well be true) but when accounting firms and different groups within accounting firms are brought up "Business Valuations" is always asked about. So I thought would do an AMA on the mysterious world of Business Valuations. Here's a quick rundown of my background: Graduated semi-target state school>>>Back Office (Funds Accounting) at a BB>>>Independent Valuations Firm>>>Valuations group within accounting firm (BDO/McGladrey/GT)>>>Corp Dev.

10 Nov 2014

Hi, just started my career in investment banking and am really enjoying it. I am looking for some insight into what the CD recruiting timeline is like and what I should be doing now for it.

23 Sep 2020

Just landed a VP of Corp Dev role at a PortCo of the MF that I just left. The challenge is that I've only done 2 years at a BB and 2 years at an MF, so I have 0 Corp Dev experience beyond doing a couple add-ons in PE. Thankfully I have some industry background as I worked in the same sector group in banking and PE (I was not assigned to the company when I was associate so I don't have a ton of background on it). It's a decently scaled business ($100mm+ Rev, growing 20%+, 20%+ Margins), but they've never done any M&A before, so there is no infrastructure available for me to leverage and the VP

01 Sep 2019

Hope that everyone is well. I was looking to move to corporate development after spending a few years here in banking. I have a few interviews upcoming and just wanted to get a sense of a few things from folks who had been through the process -- 1) Was the format of the interview similar to typical IB interviews? Was it heavily geared towards technicals? Or more fit/industry focused along with discussions on deal experience? I was wondering if there was a particular way I should prep. 2) Is there a comp range that I should be asking for post 2 years in banking? These are senior analyst roles

20 Jun 2018

I have about 5 years experience, I left big 4 audit as a senior and I'm now the FP&A manager at a small (~30-50M rev), fast growing company. I would love to move into corporate development, but I lack the M&A experience that will likely be a barrier to entry. It's not necessarily the M&A that interests me, it's the strategic/high impact finance element that I'm an drawn to. I do get a decent amount of exposure to strategic projects/initiatives, but I also spend some time with not as interesting things like annual budget, BvA that doesn't add value and is just QC. I expect this mix will

27 Sep 2017

Hi everyone, I recently was just informed that I've made it to the second round (in-person) interviews for the Accenture Corporate Development and Transaction Services Analyst position at Accenture. To that end, I have 2 questions: 1) I was told that the interview does have some excel and modeling involved as well as a case. Does anyone have any idea on how I should prepare? Here's the job description for a reference: https://tas-accenture.taleo.net/careersection/10003/jobdetail.ftl 2) I'm currently in Big 4 Audit, looking to move to IB (or something similar, hence this interview), as well as

23 Apr 2015

Hi all - I've been selectively searching for corp dev roles over the past few months and continue to come across certain positions titled as "Corporate M&A Analyst". After doing some research, I haven't been able locate much background info on these types of roles. I've found these types of positions sometimes sit within a company's corp dev team (also depending on if the company has a dedicated team) and typically report directly to the DoF and CFO. From talking to a few recruiters, the job seems to be mostly focused on the deal close process, with potentially a bit of strategy and sourcing

12 Jun 2020

After a couple of Goose Island Pale Ale's, and waiting for the Hawks game to be over, I have decided to write my "success" story on this forum. Over the past couple of years, I've spent my time lurking WallStreetOasis, picking up important pieces of information along the way, so I thought I'd share my path into investment banking. I grew up in a pretty rough neighborhood. My mom cleans houses, my dad works in a factory. I've lost some friends along the way to violence, prison, etc. I could sit here and create a long sob story about how I have overcome so many obstacles. But tough shit

22 Apr 2015

Has anyone worked with this group before? They reached out to me a couple of weeks ago, trying to see if it's worth a discussion. Anyone have a sense of their culture, work / life style and balance, compensation, and overall the group itself?

02 Jun 2018

Hi all, Currently an Audit Senior, and have been interviewing for a new job. Was taking a look at Deloitte's M&A RX Consultant role - what are the exit opps for that? How does that compare to FAANG FP&A Financial Analyst, or Middle Market (or boutique/bulge) IB Analyst? I'm ultimately interested in Corp Dev/Venture Capital/etc...

14 Jul 2021

Hi all, Currently an Audit Senior, and have been interviewing for a new job. Was taking a look at Deloitte's M&A RX Consultant role - what are the exit opps for that? How does that compare to FAANG FP&A Financial Analyst, or Middle Market (or boutique/bulge) IB Analyst? I'm ultimately interested in Corp Dev/Venture Capital/etc...

14 Jul 2021

It might be a dumb question, but I was always curious about why large corporations hire multiple investment banks as advisors on deals, especially since many of these companies have corporate development/strategy teams, usually filled with ex-investment bankers. I get that it is good practice to have an outside opinion, but what is the point of having a corporate development team if you are always going to pay banks to serve in similar roles/duties anyways?

14 Jul 2021

Hi all! In an effort to keep this as brief as possible, I wanted to get opinions on Corporate Development roles with a particular focus on the transactional functions of said roles. If possible, I'd love insight from individuals who've had experience in Investment Banking, Private Equity & CD. In short, is it about the size or the motion in the ocean? In evaluating someone's experience, how important is deal size relative to deal frequency? While an ideal situation would be working at a huge company that makes relatively big acquisitions & doing so pretty frequently, let's suppose a less than

05 Sep 2017

Hello Wall Street Oasis. I have been relentlessly researching through my network, LinkedIn, Reddit and WSO for the past weeks, without actually arriving at a definite answer to my dilemma. I'm 21 and currently in the middle of my graduation at a top target school in Brazil and doing a target degree. I have a 3.16 GPA (which is probably going to keep increasing). My experience comprises Financial Planning for a law/fintech startup, university Finance Club in which I co-created the Private Equity division (a little over than a year at the club and some months in the PE division), development of

05 Jul 2021

Hi WSO, I currently have an offer for a corporate development role with a small [ ] group. They currently have Redacted The role will be involved in the whole m&a process including integration and also working on operational finance. Would this experience help me get into a private credit fund? I am currently a Redacted with a boutique firm. I have gone through a first round with a private credit fund for their healthcare vertical but the process is moving extremely slow. I am in loss in what I should do. Debating if I should take the CD opportunity or try for the private credit fund and

26 Feb 2020

I'm new to WSO and have enjoyed reading through all the forums. They've been a big help for me in defining my career goals. I am currently in the process of applying to Top 15 business schools. Career wise I am very interested in working in corporate finance at a biotech/big pharma company Post-MBA, more specifically, being hired into a finance LDP where I can work in various roles within the company and get the necessary exposure and experience to transition into a corporate develoment/strategy role at the company long term. Is this a realistic short term to long term goal? I've read that CD is more suited for a former IB or MBB but is it different for MBAs who have moved up within the company? Any advice is much appreciated.

04 Sep 2014

This is a throwaway account since I'm a regular poster but want to be anonymous. Graduating from a target soon. I recently got an offer for an active corporate development team at a large energy company (think SLB/HAL/PAA/KMI/EOG/COP). It's a strong company and we'd be doing about 10 or so acquisitions each year with most targets having an EV between $100MM to $200MM. I'd likely see at least one deal in the $500MM to $1BN range but might not. Either way, it's a small team and I'd definitely get great deal experience. The current environment has me a bit worried and even though this team has

21 Jan 2016

Hey Guys- Wondering if I'm completely insane here or just stupid. I've been working in Large Cap TMT companies in a variety of roles for the past decade: Corp Dev, Biz Dev, marketing, management consulting, analytics. Past few years, I took the side-door into corporate development as an operational expert for TMT companies. In short, we had a few acquisitions that looked great on paper, but any sort of operational expert in TMT would see early on large issues with the transaction beyond the IRR. Because of that, they put me on to oversee all the operational due diligence and sourcing from

03 Jun 2019

Hi - I am broadening my search away from PE to Corp. Dev. and am wondering how the deal experience part differs. With PE interviews, I've found that ~50% of the time is spent discussing deal experience with follow-ups etc. Should I expect the same thing for Corp. Dev.? Or is it more like you talk about the deals and what you did at a high level / give your opinion, then they go into case studies and other questions?

30 Dec 2020

Does anybody know if UnitedHealth Group corporate development is worth pursuing? Some of the top finance students at my school have gone there the last couple of years, but I'm not sure if I should target that role or IBD. Would it limit me to healthcare? Heard anything about the quality of the group?

10 May 2015

Hi there, How often/possible/easy is it to switch from buy side (I have hedge fund & long-only experience) to tech corporate development (ie GOOGL/FB/not startup?) Background: I'm currently at a fund managing $2-5bn, around 1/5th of the book is my ideas at any given time, and I am 6-8 years out of university (did

02 Apr 2016

Is it possible to break into hedge fund from corporate development (strategic planning) role? I think I can learn a lot about the sector by working in strategic planning, but will lack financial modeling experience. My background: 28 , single, living in Dallas, master degree in engineering, 4 years working experience in consulting, CFA I have two options: 1) ER associate in a mm bank (NYC, 100k Base, 15% bonus target) 2) strategic planning in a large public company in Dallas (100k base, 15% bonus target)

14 Mar 2015

I'm a junior investment banker who's currently trying to decide between an exit opportunity in the corporate development & strategy team at a F500 financial services firm (modelling, strategic projects, M&A) or an analyst role in a small VC (sourcing, modelling, due diligence). Both have small, entrepreneurial cultures and I like the people in both teams. I want to choose the role that would keep the most doors open for me in the long run, so I wanted to know about people's experiences in terms of the skills they picked up in venture capital and how transferrable they are. I also wanted to

20 Nov 2018

Hi guys Background - Big 4 Audit followed by close to 3 years in Strategic Finance Analyst role in leading corporate. Currently on 60k PS and most likely going to get bumped to 65k in Dec but high chance to 70k & promotion to Manager role. Exploring Corporate Development opportunities. Have had interviews for multiple manager / analyst roles at 70-75k however despite positive feedback miss out to ppl with T/S or traditional banking background. Some roles that recruiters have approached me with from SMEs / several hundred m turnover companies are on 55-60k. Is it worth taking such a side ways /

17 Oct 2018

So I have done research on the corpdev recruiting cycle - It seems like there actually isn't one. From what I have seen it is nothing like PE and jobs just pop up whenever they are available (rather than a certain time of year). Because of this, I have a few questions on how to make my way into the industry. Before, some background on me is I work at a BB in IB but in a non M&A/LevFin product group (its a group unique to the bank). Its actually a very strategy focused group, so hopefully the variety of projects will help differentiate me. 1 - how to get an interview? It seems like asking my MD

07 Dec 2016

Everyone here talks about PE after the analyst program, and that's understood given most of the people are maybe 2 or 3 years removed from underdgrad. But what about the long way if you've missed the bus in PE? I'm 10 years out of my analyst program and have done random stuff since then. Worked abroad, started a company (unfortunately not successful), top-10 b-school, now working in corporate development. I know I'm not going to get into PE applying through recruiters, because I'm too old for associate position, and probably not going to get an opportunity at the VP level. Getting back to my

30 Mar 2017

I was wondering if anyone knew what jobs outside IB looked like in Canada. Toronto overall has less of a finance scene than NY so I had a few questions. 1- What finance related job do most people go into besides banking in Canada? 2- What's PE, HF, PWM, Financial Analysis, Corporate Finance, Corporate Development and Asset Management like in Toronto? 3- Is consulting as developed as IB in Canada? Is it mostly at the Big 4 or is there a lot of MBB presence? 4- Accounting in Canada has extremely low salaries compared to the U.S, is it the same for PWM, Corp Finance, and other non-IB finance jobs

04 Feb 2018