Breaking Into Finance

In this conversation, Craig interviews Jessica Holton about her journey from investment banking at Morgan Staley and private equity at Carlyle to eventually attending Stanford GSB for her MBA and pivoted to serial entrepreneurship. Jessica founded two businesses (BLAZE Skincare and Ours) and is also of Access Distributed, a nonprofit organization that helps students from underrepresented backgroun...

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 pioneer...

Pete Fraser, an investment banking associate at Guggenheim, shares his journey from working in a steel mill into investment banking. He discusses the importance of finding a mentor and making conscious decisions about career paths. Pete also highlights the role of business schools in preparing students for investment banking interviews and the differences between bulge bracket and boutique banks....

I got to sit down with Saumil Jariwala to discuss his path to private equity, including my path from consulting (not banking!) to PE. We also spend a substantial amount of type talking about the history and opportunity in the search fund space, a small but rapidly growing and highly profitable segment of private equity. For those who listen to the full episode, here are links to some of the additi...

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, s...

Today I'm joined by Aaron Tobias, a Senior at Middlebury College and incoming Investment Banking Analyst at Morgan Stanley to talk about his recruiting journey as well as his advice for navigating the interview process. Aaron's free resource recommendation: Bill Ackman's Everything You Need to Know About Finance in Under an Hour (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEDIj9JBTC8)

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 de...

On today's episode, Ian Becker and Ben Piekarz join the show to discuss their experience helping launch a student-run long-short equity fund at Brown University. They explain the mechanics of shorting stocks, how hedge funds use pairing trades to manage risk and they provide an example of a successful pair trade. Lastly, they offer advice for students interested in starting a similar strategy...

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.

After a few week's off, we're back to share a sneak preview of some great content we have lined up for this year. First full episode of 2024 will drop tomorrow!

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.

In this episode Craig sits down with Sam Rosen (VP, Venture Capital at GIC) to discuss the current startup landscape, the pros & cons of going into venture vs. working at a startup, and some frameworks and advice for how to do your diligence on finding a startup to work for.

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.

In a follow up to Episode 49's breakdown of the various functions in bulge bracket investment banks, Craig shares his thoughts on how to compare and contrast different IB opportunities along with a checklist of skills developed in each role.

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 this episode, we break down all the various divisions that are commonly found inside the "bulge bracket" banks, then go into a lot more detail on the investment banking division and the variety of roles that exist across IB. This episode is Part 1 of a multi-part series on the various roles, responsibilities and exit opportunities that exist across IB roles, divisions and firms.

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...

On this episode I catch up with Taylor Weekes, who is currently a first-year investment banking analyst at a bulge bracket bank. We touch on a variety of topics including Taylor's path to IB, advice for learning the technicals, strategies for seeking professional mentors and advisors, and her experience as a Black woman in finance. Taylor and Craig first met when she was a Sophomore at Howard...

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 abou...

On today's episode, Craig sits down with Joe Magdovitz, VP and Head of Finance at Vouch Insurance. After beginning his career in investment banking and at the Fed, Joe pivoted to startup finance leadership. After getting his MBA from Tuck, Joe worked in FP&A at eBay and then went on to lead the finance function at a range of mid- to late-stage startups including Kiavi, Workrise and Vouch I...

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 n...

Those who follow us on social media will know that last week I was fortunate enough to be invited to Middlebury College for a guest lecture series on a variety of topics that are highly relevant for our listeners. On today's episode, I wanted to share the top 5 most frequent questions I got asked and give some quick thoughts on how I answered each.

On this episode we're sharing a conversation that Craig had with Gurjeet, a current Sophomore at Princeton University, where we discuss some strategies for preparing for investment banking and investing interviews. We also spend a lot of time talking about startups and entrepreneurship, and the pros/cons of trying to startup a business as an undergrad vs. pursuing finance or consulting. Even o...

On this episode I sit down with Chandler Dula, a recent graduate of Williams College, to talk about the strategies he used to gain three high-profile finance internships - including a rare Sophomore M&A investment banking internship! We also discuss his decision to help start the Margins Finance Club at Williams, a fun story about "bid day" from his junior internship and how to plan...

On this episode Craig breaks down how private equity firms make money and the most common elements of valuation creation that private equity-owned companies can generate to produce a profit for their PE ownership.