PowerPoint, Steak, and Re-wearing the same suit for 3 days

We had management presentation practice on Monday & Tuesday, then the first of the real presentations today. I thought I knew a thing about attention to detail, but I had no idea until this trip.

It is a 60 page document that takes 4 hours to present, and probably had 100 man-hours already put into the detail of it. Over the last 72 hours, we put another 100 man-hours into it. We are literally on version 130 of the presentation. On the surface, the changes we made shouldn't take long, but the format is so key, so important. Target had the work smarter, not harder rule, but this new gig appears to be the other way around. I understand that the work is important, that every detail should be in line, everything should be consistent, etc. But I really do hope that I can rely more on the word-processing area in the future to make sure everything looks clean rather than working through turns (changes) at 1am and receiving couriered copies of the books at 2am.

Another challenge was that I brought 1 suit with a change of button up shirt. That was already a stretch to make sure I didn't have to check any baggage, but when the trip got extended to 3 days - whew! I can't wait to get into a fresh set of new clothes!

This may seem like a bit of a rant, but in reality it was a good trip. I had filet mignon two straight nights, and that's hard to beat. Also, getting into the same room with the management team, asking questions, and hearing the private equity group asking questions really sheds a lot of light on the company and its processes. That is where the excitement truly happens for me. And I cannot wait for the next trip to learn more about the next company...find out how the next management team drives results.

Now it is time to sharpen the saw by sleeping in my own bed.

Day 4

Today I continued the rock crushing, but it ended up being a short day. I left at 845, and could have left 2 hours earlier, but worked out and did some research instead.

As I understand it, the stressful time is during pitch season which is generally February. In the meantime, I am going to work hard, dig into models, and try thinking like the client, the potential buyers, and our MD's.

The most interesting bit of today is how stressful each email is at this point. Since I am not 100% confident on style, preference, expectations, or where the information is coming from--I scrutinize every last detail. Nothing feels natural yet so I feel like a rookie NFL quarterback. Everything is moving fast and nothing is white noise. That keeps the mind challenged, but surprisingly sleep has been hard to come by.

I could blame it on the thunderstorms, but really it has been my inability to turn my thoughts off. tonight I am targeting 7 hours but I will need to work hard to make that happen. The excitement of the first week and all the new information must be making the neurons keep firing?

Rock Crushing

As my good friend Brian Murphy always said, there are many great phrases, similes, and metaphors in I-banking. One of those is "Rock Crushing." Essentially this means doing grunt work that is actually very important, but not necessarily mentally stimulating...unless you are really applying yourself.

Today I learned about rock-crushing that was all about.

It started with a vague request that seemed innocent enough, but ended up taking more than 4 hours. I get the feeling that these requests are common, and ultimately the same thing will take me 45 minutes down the road (at least I hope). But I am reveling in these opportunities to learn from every tiny little task. I really think that is the key to getting the most out of this experience. As with anything else, your attitude and approach make all the difference in the world.

I am not sure how long I will keep up my daily post, and I am not sure how well written they are considering the time of day--but hopefully they are interesting to read.

Cheers!