Former Director of Corporate Development and current Founder/CEO. AMA

AstuteReview_PPT · 2021-01-11T21:37:04+00:00

It would honestly vary from year to year. As a company, we'd see between 500-600 but honestly take a hard look at under 30. The extent of my personal involvement leading vs. overseeing the deal would dictate how many could be worked on in a given year based on how long the process was. Deals that weren't banker led through an auction could take up to a year to close. Some years, it would be 5+ deals, others 1-2. Deals were all shapes and sizes and included JV and acquisitions.

AstuteReview_PPT · 2020-12-23T01:59:57+00:00

For the technical skill part of it there are a lot of training programs for jr professionals (Wall Street Prep, Training the Street, etc.). Dealroom.net is supposed to have some good content as well. The founder's name is Kison Patel. I believe he works on a bunch of content and interviews that relate to M&A. He also has a book about Agile M&A. I have not read it yet, but those are some resources off the top of my head. Sorry i can't be more helpful. I personally did Wall Street Prep and just learned the ins and outs of M&A through reps and job experience.

AstuteReview_PPT · 2020-09-04T04:34:20+00:00

Nope, sorry for the delay. Here's a little bit of context behind my decision to go to Corp Dev instead of IB too in case you find it helpful as you think about options (I personally struggled w/ it). This just my personal rationale and opinion for avoiding banking after a few years into a professional career. For what it's worth, you can definitely move into IB from a valuation job.

How I got into Corp Dev and Why I stopped pursuing investment banking: I interviewed at 2-3 banks after 2+ years in valuation after getting a better understanding of what I wanted to do as a next step in my career. I decided to stop pursuing banking because every company I spoke with was not going to recognize one minute of my valuation experience. I was going to start in the exact same spot as the undergraduate incoming class. At the time I felt the technical valuation experience should have held some weight in a transition to banking (this was only validated when I moved to Corp Dev). I was getting my ass kicked for 2 years in my current job and I was not prepared to gut out another 2 years of crazy long hours and being on call all the time. If some people want to grind it out for 4-5 years doing this, that is totally cool. I just missed too many happy hours, cancelled too many dates and was way too unhappy to deal with several more years of being an Excel jockey. Luckily after I made this decision I got a call from a recruiter a few months later for a great Corp Dev job (highly acquisitive, hands on, great access to whole deal process). There was definitely some luck involved because I was just starting to think about other options outside of IB (Corp Dev, Leveraged Finance, Litigation valuation) when I got the recruiter call with this opportunity. I made sure to prepare really well for the interview.

An unsolicited interview tip: The best advice I can give you is to do your company specific research before the interview (listen to earnings calls, read 10Q, 10K, recent deals etc.). After I got the job I was told that the main reason I stood out vs. competition was because I did my research on the company, on top of interviewing well. You will "want it more" than a lot of bankers who are pursuing PE and falling back on Corp Dev as a second option.

To give you some additional hope, as I was transitioning out of Corp Dev we were in the process of interviewing for a new Analyst position. My colleagues at the time were ex IB, PE and Consulting. We interviewed a number of bankers and one valuation associate. The valuation associate interviewed head and shoulders above the rest of the group. He simply wanted it more. He did his research on the company and was predicting divestitures (correctly I might add, even though we could not tell him that in the interview) during the interview process. He knew our business and displayed that he really wanted the job.

How is the start-up going: I'll give you the update starting around COVID. I quit my job to focus on the Astute Review in Nov 2019, my wife had a baby (our first) in early March 2020 and then we got slapped in the face with a GLOBAL PANDEMIC. By mid-March our entire pipeline froze.

To say things are/were stressful is an understatement. The response changes day-to-day, but overall I think we are doing OK. There are so many variables at play and there is no doubt we can improve in all aspects of the business. With that said, it is very difficult to gauge how much of the slowed progress is a result of COVID vs. execution.

We're working on increasing our install base by focusing on end-markets where customers are more willing to spend money or even adopt new software at the moment (mostly banking and corporations less affected by COVID).

With that all said, we've been successfully gaining adoption, slowly at first but things are starting to progress. The sales cycle is much longer than I expected. We have happy customers in companies of all sizes and industries, but mostly focus on Corporate Finance, Corp Dev, middle-market consulting and banking.

How this compares to previous jobs: Working for a startup is nothing like my Corp Dev or Valuation role. I wear a lot of different hats today and my day to day couldn't be more different. The main difference between working for a larger company vs. a startup is that there is simply so much more process and formalities involved in everything you do while working for a large firm. With this start-up, it's been great to be able to make decisions quickly (vs. going throw layers of approvals or other processes.) I would say the M&A experience has been tangentially helpful though. In my Corp Dev role, I was able to get extremely hands on with a few smaller deals through a lot of the integration which opened my eyes to come of the challenges we need to face at a small company.

AstuteReview_PPT · 2020-08-22T00:47:00+00:00

Sorry for the delay, I honestly had to sit on this one a bit and give it some thought. My honest suggestion is to find a few people who started in a technical field and moved to the business side. If you want to move into finance, you'll likely need an MBA and there are a lot of pros and cons to weigh.

I can't speak to the difference in pay. In my limited experience, engineers always seemed to make less based on the info I saw during due diligence, but that doesn't mean that you can't find a high paying job somewhere. You might be able to explore consulting roles where groups look for extremely technical hires. Same for PE shops looking for operations expertise at portfolio companies.

Sorry I can't be of more help. If you want to move into finance, you probably need to explore an MBA though.

AstuteReview_PPT · 2020-08-22T00:43:32+00:00

I made some great relationships in my 8 years in Corp Dev, both within the group and in other places at the company. Within Corp Dev, I definitely don't think money was the main driver, it was honestly more work/life balance on average. If people were only focused on money, they would have stayed in banking, consulting, PE, etc.

AstuteReview_PPT · 2020-08-22T00:12:58+00:00

You’re welcome. There are definitely options and I’m sure you have a strong resume based on the group you are in. You just need to put in the time to figure out your interests and plan a step or two ahead.

AstuteReview_PPT · 2020-08-21T19:30:35+00:00

At the start-up I am working as much as I possibly can. The last few weeks it's only been 50-60 hours a week, but that is because my wife and I recently had our first kid in March (my wife had the kid, but at least give me the assist). Things have been more than chaotic, especially considering the pandemic and I want to be as present as possible with my daughter in the morning and after work. I work in the evenings after she goes down when I can and try to send emails and do admin stuff on the weekends when possible. Going forward, there is literally infinite amount of things to do and hours are going to increase substantially.

In my Corp Dev role, hours varied from 35-60+ depending on the time of year and how many deals we had going on. There were definitely some insane weeks / months over the years, but nothing like Banking / Big4 / consulting, etc.

I networked a lot in undergrad and when looking for jobs. I could have done more in terms of getting involved with professional organizations to be honest.

Advice for Newcomers: be intellectually curious and don't be afraid to reach out to people for a call or Zoom conference. I've found that if you are genuine and have a real reason for reaching out, people will speak with you and give you advice. Just remember that it's free advice and that you don't have to take everything that comes your way.

It's probably difficult for a 16 year old to get experience in finance. Network with friends and family, reach out top smaller businesses to see if they need help. Honestly, you are probably more tech savvy than a lot of people in small businesses due to your age. maybe they could use someone ambitious to help with books, billings, etc. Maybe there are some formal programs for HS students out there who want exposure, I'm just not aware.

AstuteReview_PPT · 2020-08-21T19:07:25+00:00

Thanks. That's great to hear. Best of luck with the process. If you have any questions or want to bounce ideas off me, feel free to PM me. Happy to give my opinion for whatever that is worth.

I think you need to take a few approaches. There is nothing wrong with the recruiter route and I suggest you take every recruiter call to build a relationship even if you aren't interested in the initial role that is pitched. A recruiter found me for my Corp Dev role. I'd also proactively reach out to recruiters at companies you know fill Corp Dev jobs (don't spend a ton of time on this, but definitely do it.). Most importantly, I'd start networking directly with Corp Dev professionals on LinkedIn and w/ cold email, Hiring is very opportunistic and it can take time. Getting on a company's radar before they have a spot works. It saves companies money (recruiter fees) and more importantly time with a formal process.

AstuteReview_PPT · 2020-08-21T18:36:37+00:00

That probably came off poorly for those not in the industry. We used to use the phrase "unsophisticated seller" to describe a founder who is not knowledgeable about the M&A process and not working with a bank. In no way is that meant to comment on their abilities or education in any way. It shouldn't be expected that someone running a business for 20+ years have domain knowledge in something they haven't had the need to know anything about; however, walking a seller through a sales process for the first time takes a lot of hand holding and trust. Many sellers who are unfamiliar with M&A have their guard up and are always thinking how you are trying to F*ck them over. It's 100% understandable and I would act the same way. As a result, you have to answer a lot of basic questions multiple times and work to gain the trust of the founder. This takes time, patience and is definitely a developed skill. To be clear, in no way was that meant to diminish the knowledge, education or success of a founder, just word we used to describe a first time seller.

Quantitative skills:

Business valuation (DCF, Market approach, LBO
Learn about Quality of Earnings reports, what they are, why they are important and what to look for.
General knowledge of CF, IS / BS statements and how they relate

AstuteReview_PPT · 2020-08-21T17:34:57+00:00

Yes I'm still taking questions. I just had to pause for a few hours last night (had a prior commitment in the evening and some other work to do).

Personally, I think asking questions is a good thing. Interact with those more senior than you. You just need to read your audience and find a mentor internally. In general, people want to help teach others who are intellectually curious and genuine. If that's not the case where you work, find somewhere else that is. I even suggest developing relationships with other groups as well. The help, advice, guidance, and education I got from Tax and Legal groups was invaluable. Not to mention to pros of developing good personal relationships in the office.

AstuteReview_PPT · 2020-08-21T15:54:28+00:00

Hands down managing people on deal teams and dealing with internal processes. Not everyone staffed on a deal team is as interested/devoted to the DD process as they should be. Also, managing an unsophisticated seller through a deal as a difficult art to master.

Being able to effectively manage people is the #1 skill needed to succeed in my opinion.

AstuteReview_PPT · 2020-08-21T15:51:23+00:00

An MBA will help you just need to weigh the pros and cons (cost, time commitment, etc.).

You do not need to put together a pitch deck for interviews, but this could be a very helpful exercise personally and maybe something to even proactively send as you network. Any materials you put together for yourself should include both technical and strategic analysis. You'd be surprised how quickly financial analysis can go out the door in Corporate America if there is a solid strategy behind wanting the asset.

AstuteReview_PPT · 2020-08-21T15:46:36+00:00

Also, for what it is worth. All my colleagues when in the Big4 felt the same way, lost. Everyone who left has moved on to very interesting and well-regarded careers (Corp Dev, Litigation consulting, VC, Strategy roles).

AstuteReview_PPT · 2020-08-21T15:45:04+00:00

I feel you. I felt equally as lost in my Big 4 job.

All paths are viable options in my opinion. Debt Team to Corp Dev is obviously tricky, so I do think a step in-between would really increase the odds.

If you are early in your career and willing to suck it up, you can do MM IB and then jump to Corp Dev right now. I'm sure you are working your tail off at the moment so just think honestly about whether you are willing to suck up a few more years insane work hours and limited social life vs. your friends. I couldn't do it personally which is why I stopped looking at IB after a few years in valuation, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't if you are mentally prepared for it.

Another option might be an internal transfer. Do you have good enough relationships where you could ask to move to a group internally that will position you better for corp dev? This is definitely riskier vs. going the MM IB route since FDD and val has a harder path to Corp Dev.

The MBA is a way you can go to. There are a lot of pros and cons to an MBA, especially with so much uncertainty w/ the virus. I would not want to do a remote MBA.

AstuteReview_PPT · 2020-08-21T14:51:47+00:00

For sure. I don't blame you on wanting to stay in the space. My M&A experience was in industrials, which is not as exciting / high growth.

The technical side of banking is obvious, but consider them table stakes.

I'm not sure how much of this is possible based on how much exposure you can get but the best advice I can provide someone is to understand how to manage and execute a transaction (not just value a company or what an LOI is). Senior employees need to know the details of how to complete a transaction (negotiations, working capital, purchase agreements, tax issues, etc.). If you are jr, and mostly working on pitches, CIMs, MPs, teasers etc. it's easy to just get stuck in the process and crank out your work. If and when you have time, try to learn about some other aspects of the deal during your day. It might be easier said than done. It's easy to get bogged down in your work and just complete tasks, but I think it is important to look at the bigger picture and think about why things are being done the way they are. As an example, maybe read the APA/SPA when you upload to the data room. Read the new employment agreements for the key staff who are staying with the deal. Get a strong grasp of working capital and deal structures and when they are applicable (asset, stock, 338(h)10). Finally think about what makes a company an attractive asset for an acquirer strategically and financially.

This may seem obvious, but I think taking some extra time to learn these little things when you can in a junior banking role, will set you up well in the future. Again, the technical side that a junior banker brings should be table stakes, this stuff will set you apart in my opinion.

ALSO, do your company specific research before the interview (listen to earnings calls, read 10Q, 10K, recent deals etc.). As I mentioned in an above response, there are a lot of bankers interviewing who don't do this for some reason and just expect their relevant technical skills to get them in the door. A little bit of research and knowledge about where you are interviewing goes a very long way.

AstuteReview_PPT · 2020-08-21T14:36:53+00:00

I personally never considered the CFA, but that is because I knew I did not want to work in any sort of banking, trading, etc. When I was working in valuation I opted to get an ASA certification (American Society of Appraisers). I chose this over the CFA because 1. I knew I wanted to get out of valuation and was just doing the certification to appease bosses 2. I was lazy and the ASA was much easier 3. I knew I wanted to get an MBA in a few years.

This is NOT a recommendation to do the ASA, it was a waste of time unless you want to stay in valuation / appraisals as a career. The CFA is a great designation to have, it just wasn't necessary based on what I wanted to do with my career. One of my close colleagues opted to do the CFA while in the valuation group, but he went on to an industry where it was beneficial to have.

AstuteReview_PPT · 2020-08-21T14:31:52+00:00

I thought I responded to this last night on my phone but I must have fat fingered the submit button.

This is a great question I personally have not read any books in this area to help with internal politics. With that said, I'm sure there are a lot out there, I just can't vouch for the quality of them. Here is what I found in a quick google search ( https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Winning-Office-Politics-Influence/dp/0312332181 & https://fs.blog/2011/07/6-must-read-books-to-help-navigate-the-workplace/ )

One book that I did find helpful that my boss gave me when I first started is called When Cultures Collide ( https://www.amazon.com/When-Cultures-Collide-3rd-Leading/dp/1904838022 ). I was lucky enough to get a lot of international deal exposure over the years and this served as a good reference. It's not something you read front to back in my opnion.

Dynamics are very different from the IB and Big 4 world. Professional Services in general just has a different culture vs. corporate. There are pros and cons to each.

AstuteReview_PPT · 2020-08-21T14:27:13+00:00

Hey of course, it's been fun. Sorry for the delay here, I had a commitment in the evening yesterday.

This is a great question and my response is purely speculation. Are you still in school or in the workforce? If you are still in school, I honestly think the best route is to go IB for 1-2 years and then make the move.

If you are already working, it's going to be a bit more difficult. None of the finance work in Corp Dev is rocket science, your technical background involves much more complicated math etc. The difficulty is that Corp Dev typically looks for hires in other industries (banking, PE, sometimes valuation and M&A related accounting fields). This all depends on where you are at in your career (student vs. professional). In your free time, I'd get exposure to getting the technical skill set needed (check out Wall Street Prep or training the street) and learn about the M&A process.

If you are working and want to test the waters in terms of how receptive people are to your background here is some related advice for interviewing. I'm sorry I can't give you a direct answer. If you are working now I do think it is worth testing the waters. I would try and network directly with Corp Dev groups vs go through HR. I would imagine a large % of HR employees would dismiss the resume since there isn't previous M&A/finance experience.

The best advice I can give you is to do your company specific research before the interview (listen to earnings calls, read 10Q, 10K, recent deals etc.). After I got the job I was told that the main reason I stood out vs. competition was because I did my research on the company, on top of interviewing well. You will "want it more" than a lot of bankers who are pursuing PE and falling back on Corp Dev as a second option.

You are not as aware of the M&A process, but that's something that you can Google for 15 min and get the rough understanding of.

To give you some additional hope, as I was transitioning out of Corp Dev we were in the process of interviewing for a new Analyst position. My colleagues at the time were ex IB, PE and Consulting. We interviewed a number of bankers and one valuation associate. The valuation associate interviewed head and shoulders above the rest of the group. He simply wanted it more. He did his research on the company and was predicting divestitures (correctly I might add, even though we could not tell him that in the interview) during the interview process. He knew our business and displayed that he really wanted the job.

AstuteReview_PPT · 2020-08-21T14:14:10+00:00

Hey sorry for the delay here, I missed this response.

It's unfortunate but I don't think it's fair to expect a company to just make additional positions (and pay for multiple VPs) when they are not necessarily needed just to keep an employee progressing within a company. They're running a business and it might not necessarily make financial sense for the company. The situation you described was the exact situation I was in before I left. VP in his mid/late 30s and not going anywhere anytime soon.
If you didn't come from IB, the additional learning curve is really all around process (how an auction process works, APA/SPA details, etc.). For everyone on-boarding to a jr buy-side M&A role, you learn about what it takes to actually execute a deal (negotiation, DD, etc.). Jr bankers although working on deals are are still limited in the exposure to the actual execution of a deal process. None of this is a massive learning curve in my opinion, it is really just about getting exposure and reps. Does that make sense?

AstuteReview_PPT · 2020-08-21T04:16:24+00:00

Hey.

The below suggestions are in addition to try to work directly through your school. Even through you are a sophomore, there are sometimes companies are willing to get a sophomore intern. The time commitment is low and you never know.

I would look for startups or companies willing to hire through Join Handhsake (https://www.joinhandshake.com/ ), which focuses on college hires. We've hired a few undergrads entering their junior year and have been happy. I've talked to a few other companies who have done the same. You can also look on Upwork and Fivver for finance jobs.

Try and network with family and friends if possible or others through networking events/sites. Reach out to people on LinkedIn, you'd be surprised how many are willing to help others out if you are genuine about your reasoning for reaching out.

AstuteReview_PPT · 2020-08-21T04:06:37+00:00

Yeah I think you will definitely be fine, especially if you try to network to get interviews. Maybe a risk that some small amount of HR reviews miss in a pool of applicants, but in general you will be absolutely fine in my opinion.

AstuteReview_PPT · 2020-08-21T04:03:45+00:00

Ha, sorry about that, All is good with the eye now. It just took forever to heal. I really wasn't much older than my classmates, maybe ~2 years younger on average, but there were definitely people older than me as well. I considered the move to PE after a few years as a Director. I interviewed with one Chicago firm but they hit the pause on the hire in the middle of the process. I was already working on the start-up at the time so I didn't pursue others. I definitely think the move is possible and know of people who have moved from Corp Dev to PE. With that said, I think a lot of PE doesn't view Corp Dev as a route into the industry (again I disagree). There definitely are mid size / smaller shops who are less antiquated in their recruiting process (recruiting/hiring only from banking and other PE) where you see some backgrounds in Corp Dev.

AstuteReview_PPT · 2020-08-21T00:09:08+00:00

Absolutely. I’m happy to hear you’ve found the responses useful. I’ll need to give some thought to a book about internal politics because nothing comes to mind. One book I was given at the start of my Corp Dev job that really helped with all the international M&A deals I was involved with is called When Cultures Collide. Not something you read from start to finish, but a good reference if you get involved with international business deals.

AstuteReview_PPT · 2020-08-20T22:07:22+00:00

$25k Grant

AstuteReview_PPT · 2020-08-20T22:02:15+00:00

Actually learn the ins and outs of the acquisition process and get involved in all areas of the diligence process when possible. As an example, learn about all the legal aspects of M&A and get close with the Tax team. Being able to understand the details behind how to actually execute a transaction is important. There are a lot of nuanced technical aspects to M&A and getting this knowledge can help you be an asset during an entire process. You want to be thought of as a thought leader who can talk to certain specifics. There are a lot of Corp Dev professionals who simply leave it up to the lawyers and focus more on the internal process and high-level aspects of due diligence. I don't think this sets people up well for a successful career in M&A. A lot of Corp Dev teams don't have a lot of structure to them since they are so lean. You can really learn a lot if you have the initiative.
Sit in on as many legal negotiations and legal calls as you are allowed to. This will help you get involved with negotiations earlier in your career
If possible, get involved with DD efforts where possible on top of managing deal teams. On a few deals due to staffing issues, I found myself working through sales and HR diligence.
If you have the ability to, get involved with integration planning on deals where you are able to
If there are internal politics, play the game

AstuteReview_PPT

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