Breaking Into Finance

In today's episode, I wanted to take a 1-week break from the interview model to talk about some investors and strategies that I admire and that have (or are in the process of) changing the industry. These are some important figures and strategies to study and understand on the road to becoming a better investor. Key Highlights: Robert Smith and Vista Equity Partners: Recognized for his pioneering insight into software companies' valuation, Smith's approach to leveraging these high-gross-margin businesses has positioned Vista as a leader in software investment Seth Klarman and Baupost Group: Klarman's philosophy of being able to price anything, regardless of the asset type, showcases the depth of value investing and the principle of margin of safety. His influential work, "Margin of Safety," is a must-read for aspiring investors Nelson Peltz and Trian: Through Trian, Peltz exemplifies how activist investors can drive significant changes within companies by advocating for more efficient operations and shareholder value maximization Pete Stavros and KKR: 50 years after Henry Kravis, George Roberts and their mentor Jerome Kohlberg started pursuing the first leveraged buyouts, KKR continues to innovate with strategies like Stavros' decision to offer shadow equity to employees. This action has shown in several pilot investments to lead to substantial operational improvements and value creation

I'm joined by Kristen Meredith, a VP at Prysm Capital, who has carved a unique path in the investment world. Kristen is one of the lucky few to skip banking (she started her career at Blackrock) and then landed a PE associate role in Paris at Eurazeo, before landing her current growth investing role at Prysm. I've known Kristen for over a decade as a fellow Middlebury & Wharton alum, so it was particularly fun to hear her advice about building investment judgment, life as a PE Associate in Europe and some frameworks for how she evaluates growth investments.

On this episode, Craig chats with Eddie Ackerman, Finance Operating Partner at Thomvest, about his career path and lessons learned along the way. We also do a deep dive on how the role of the CFO has evolved over the last 30 years and what that means for aspiring CFOs. CFOs require a combination of quantitative and qualitative skills, including financial expertise, data analytics, and strategic decision-making. The CFO role today requires substantially more strategic thinking than is has in prior decades.

In the first of several appearances, avid listener Sherley Lopez Estrada, a Senior at Middlebury College, joins the show to talk about tips and tricks for reading finance news articles. On today's episode we talk about the best places to get free or cheap news articles and how to use news articles to begin developing a "view" on the markets.

On today's episode we're re-airing our most-watched episode, Intro to the Three Financial Statements. We've gotten a lot of new listeners to the show, and I want to make sure everyone knows that my best content came first - the deep dives on all the technicals needed to crush your interviews and break into finance.

Ahead of Round 2 deadlines for several MBA programs in early January, we're breaking down the relative value of the MBA vs. Masters in Finance vs. CFA and how to know which one is right for you.

On today's episode, we're using the ongoing OpenAI debacle to discuss the mechanics of how corporate governance works, why it matters for finance professionals and frameworks for understanding the relative power of CEOs, Board Chairs, and equity holders.

On today's episode, we're sharing a Q&A session that Craig held with Will, a recent graduate from Castleton University who is eager to find a way into a private equity investing role. We touch on a number of topics including the value of a Masters in Finance program, the CFA and whether taking coding classes to learn some basic coding in languages like Python will give you a leg up in the process. For folks new to the show interested in similar questions, I'd highly recommend also listening Episode 4, where I talk to Austin Kipp about his journey from working in IT to investment banking at Credit Suisse and PE investing at Thomas H Lee Partners.

On today's episode, I sit down with Charlotte Lawrence, Senior at Middlebury College at incoming investment banking Analyst at Goldman Sachs. Charlotte interned last summer on Goldman's Investment Grade Capital Markets team, which is part of their Financing Group. During the interview Charlotte gives some great advice for how to prepare for any financing group Superday, talks a little about a day in the life of a debt capital markets banker, and along the way we parse through some of the alphabet soup of financing IB terminology. Charlotte's free resource recommendations: Five Things to Start Your Day (Newsletter): https://www.bloomberg.com/account/newsletters GS Exchanges (Podcast): https://open.spotify.com/show/4QYK5hxHNeXnevtUTsn5a7?si=56aeaba90ac64198

Last episode we teed up the topic of exit opportunities and the types of careers paths available to finance professionals. Today we're excited to be joined by Paul Barnhurst AKA The FP&A Guy, host of FP&A Today and Financial Modeler's Corner. Financial Planning & Analysis ("FP&A") drives the strategic finance function at corporates and is an increasingly popular next step for ex-bankers. Paul is a thought leader in the space who helps break down the FP&A role, the skills you need to be successful, and his thoughts on the future of financial modeling. You can learn more about Paul's thought leadership here: https://www.thefpandaguy.com/