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ama: investment banking > tech startup x2

haven't made one of these in a while, so thought i'd answer any questions that new joiners have or people interested in my development
all in comp at tech relative to if you had stayed in IB? e.g. is it more/same/less than if you'd stayed in banking. Presume equity may be a factor now?

What are the hours looking like for you these days?

What does a typical day look like for you?

Thanks - i remember seeing your thread about quitting a couple of years ago, so nice to see you're still ticking :smile:
Original post by tw15st3d
all in comp at tech relative to if you had stayed in IB? e.g. is it more/same/less than if you'd stayed in banking. Presume equity may be a factor now?

What are the hours looking like for you these days?

What does a typical day look like for you?

Thanks - i remember seeing your thread about quitting a couple of years ago, so nice to see you're still ticking :smile:


at the same tenure in IB - all in comp would've been double what im paid (as a reference)

nowadays i work 6-7 hours on a bad day XD

my current role i just sit on xls and do financial models and run reports on them all day
What firms where you at?
Why did you leave?
Best and worst bit about IB?
What industry does this tech startup operate in?
Original post by mnot
What firms where you at?
Why did you leave?
Best and worst bit about IB?
What industry does this tech startup operate in?

for anon sake won't mention - bb ib > tech startup operating in recrutiment > tech startup operation in sales enablement / advisory

best: experience / connections
worst: work/life balance

left because i wanted a life and more interesting work
(edited 3 years ago)
Reply 5
Avatar for F4N
F4N
10
How did you find your roles in tech? I'm currently in banking and I only get contacted about roles in PE and the occasional HF...

What is your job title/role?

What industry team were you in in IB and did it make a difference?
(edited 3 years ago)
Original post by F4N
How did you find your roles in tech? I'm currently in banking and I only get contacted about roles in PE and the occasional HF...

What is your job title/role?

What industry team were you in in IB and did it make a difference?

actively searching through linkedin and reaching out to my networks.. tbf, the startup i was at first was ran by a bunch of ex-PE guys

title was corporate development associate - but worked across the board on strategic initiatives int'l expansion / fundraising / data & analytics / new business lines - worked directly with CEO/CFO

I was in the consumer retail group - i don't think it made much difference, i was given a modeling test at interviews to LBO an industrials related company, so long as you're competent - new industries you can easily learn
Reply 7
Avatar for ghost_1
ghost_1
6
Original post by gr8wizard10
haven't made one of these in a while, so thought i'd answer any questions that new joiners have or people interested in my development


Did you consider moving to PE as opposed to Corp. Dev.?
If you did why didnt you move to PE?

Thanks
Original post by ghost_1
Did you consider moving to PE as opposed to Corp. Dev.?
If you did why didnt you move to PE?

Thanks

funnily enough had a mid-cap PE offer quite recently - 2 things, PE is banking v2 - long hours and you join as an associate at the bottom of the totempole so being mainly a process junkie..

pretty much harbours the same issues as banking for me.. really comes down to where on the spectrum of work life balance / interesting work vs. money you want to be at.
Reply 9
Avatar for F4N
F4N
10
Original post by gr8wizard10
funnily enough had a mid-cap PE offer quite recently - 2 things, PE is banking v2 - long hours and you join as an associate at the bottom of the totempole so being mainly a process junkie..

pretty much harbours the same issues as banking for me.. really comes down to where on the spectrum of work life balance / interesting work vs. money you want to be at.

Do you know of any other non-PE/HF/corp dev exit opps? Did you consider product management at a tech firm?
Original post by F4N
Do you know of any other non-PE/HF/corp dev exit opps? Did you consider product management at a tech firm?

one of my analyst class went into product management.

i'm sure anything that requires business related knowledge is pretty open to jr bankers - a lot of varied roles out there
Do you think it's better to do a master and then start as an associate? Bypass the analysts stage of long and boring hours.
Original post by rebellionium
Do you think it's better to do a master and then start as an associate? Bypass the analysts stage of long and boring hours.

masters still start as analysts (its MBAs that go in associates, getting into LBS/said/judge for an exec MBA requires 5-10 years of experience).

The other thing is if you start as an associate their is greater expectation on you out the blocks and from what ive read MBA classes are getting smaller as they prefer to train up their own analysts nowadays.
Original post by rebellionium
Do you think it's better to do a master and then start as an associate? Bypass the analysts stage of long and boring hours.


as above user posted, MBA's start as associates.. and i would personally recommend getting in as an analyst on the ground floor to really pick up the skills
Hey man,

Apologies on replying to this old thread - had a few q's that I would be very interested to hear if you catch this post.

1) What kind of day-to-day tasks do you do in corp dev? Looks like a fairly typical range of projects/workstreams? as I note you mentioned earlier regarding "strategic initiatives int'l expansion / fundraising / data & analytics / new business lines" etc.

But mainly wanted to ask if this means a lot of modelling or preparing presentations or working with internal teams across the firm gathering data etc? (just very interested in the kind of daily tasks you do as I'm currently in IBD approaching the 2 year analyst mark, and considering a move to corp dev/strategy but would like to get a realistic view on the type of work someone does)

2) What were your hours like in your first corp dev job? i.e. the one relating to recruitment?
And i assume no weekend work at all was really required in both jobs?

3) Do you use a lot of your technical skillset gained in IBD in your corp dev role? i.e DCF/valuation methods etc? Or is it more the soft skills/business acumen that has helped you the most in the beginning and further into the job?

4) How long did it take you to find a start up/corp dev position you liked from when you began to think about leaving IBD?

5) What's the interview process like for corp dev? i.e how many rounds and what kind of questions/modelling tests (?) would someone normally get?

Many thanks in advance!!

Original post by gr8wizard10
haven't made one of these in a while, so thought i'd answer any questions that new joiners have or people interested in my development
Original post by juventus100
Hey man,

Apologies on replying to this old thread - had a few q's that I would be very interested to hear if you catch this post.

1) What kind of day-to-day tasks do you do in corp dev? Looks like a fairly typical range of projects/workstreams? as I note you mentioned earlier regarding "strategic initiatives int'l expansion / fundraising / data & analytics / new business lines" etc.

But mainly wanted to ask if this means a lot of modelling or preparing presentations or working with internal teams across the firm gathering data etc? (just very interested in the kind of daily tasks you do as I'm currently in IBD approaching the 2 year analyst mark, and considering a move to corp dev/strategy but would like to get a realistic view on the type of work someone does)

2) What were your hours like in your first corp dev job? i.e. the one relating to recruitment?
And i assume no weekend work at all was really required in both jobs?

3) Do you use a lot of your technical skillset gained in IBD in your corp dev role? i.e DCF/valuation methods etc? Or is it more the soft skills/business acumen that has helped you the most in the beginning and further into the job?

4) How long did it take you to find a start up/corp dev position you liked from when you began to think about leaving IBD?

5) What's the interview process like for corp dev? i.e how many rounds and what kind of questions/modelling tests (?) would someone normally get?

Many thanks in advance!!

1) merger valuations, i hold our internal operating model, market sizing, fp&a, funding roadmap, investor relations, analytics, competitior analysis, being upto date with industry movements, client portfolio analysis - for a startup it is incrediby broad the scope of work

2) 9-5, worked at home a few days a month. if a deal was in progress or during fundraising DD occasional weekend work, but of the 2 years i was doing the role, maybe worked 3-4 weekends and even then it was like a few hours here or there.. but it was all for a useful cause ^^

3) it's a lot more analytical imo, so a lot of the excel / modelling skills will be used and then some, i learnt to code whilst there as well - deffo requires a lot more thinking trying to grow a triple digit growth startup. also soft skills are incredibly important and your network

4) well thought about leaving about a few weeks into my ibd stint on my first deal.. left after ~17-18 months.. the interview process for the startup was 2-3 months

5) 5 rounds = HR > CFO > LBO Modelling test > CEO > Founder > Negotiations/Offer
Questions typical corp dev/PE questions, valuation & technicals mainly then industry understanding and deal experience



received a PE offer as well and similar type of rounds
Do you have anything positive to say about the actual work you did as an IBD analyst?

If so, would really love to hear it lol cuz everyone seems to only have negative things to say about the actual work in IBD....

Also, are there any specific reasons you chose IBD rather than going into something else like ER/AM for example? Would also be interested to know around what proportion of IBD analysts at your bank managed to find good exits like you within a couple years and also what the top exit destinations were?

Thx a lot for this thread btw, it's super interesting!!!😍
(edited 3 years ago)
Original post by redvelvetcake1
Do you have anything positive to say about the actual work you did as an IBD analyst?

If so, would really love to hear it lol cuz everyone seems to only have negative things to say about the actual work in IBD....

Also, are there any specific reasons you chose IBD rather than going into ER/AM? Would also be interested to know around what proportion of IBD analysts at your bank managed to find good exits like you within a couple years?

Thx a lot for this thread btw, it's super interesting!!!😍


great transferable skills experience - become efficient at researching / processing comments / excel modeling

because of exit opps, working with businesses and strategic projects.. as opposed to just making calculated guesses on the stock market

pretty sure >50% of my analyt class has left into more interesting positions
Original post by gr8wizard10
great transferable skills experience - become efficient at researching / processing comments / excel modeling

because of exit opps, working with businesses and strategic projects.. as opposed to just making calculated guesses on the stock market

pretty sure >50% of my analyt class has left into more interesting positions

Thanks a lot for replying!!!:-)
May I ask what some of their exit destinations were?
Original post by redvelvetcake1
Thanks a lot for replying!!!:-)
May I ask what some of their exit destinations were?

private equity, corporate strategy, product development, corporate development, own business, family offices

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