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!

Sushi and Traffic

Day 2 also started off slowly when my typical 20 minute commute turned into 80 minutes due to a car fire on 394 that brought the road down to 1 lane. As I sat in traffic, I looked up MN Pass, and I just might make the purchase for situations like this...the express lane was in great shape.

Today was exciting because I got up to speed on another deal and was included in 5 conference calls. It was interesting to listen to the senior team members ask the critical questions and discuss the key dynamics of a deal. That big picture perspective is where the learning happens so I am trying to absorb it all.

To cap off the night, 3 of my teammates and I went downstairs for all you can eat sushi before heading back to it. It was delicious, convenient, and cheap!

So far I am extremely excited and it has surpassed my expectations regarding challenge, learning, office culture, and benefits. I am sure there will be many tough days ahead, but I am happy to enjoy this "honeymoon phase."

1 in the bank!

Day 1 was off to an inauspicious start when I couldn't get my dual monitors to work. 30 minutes later it was good to go! The next exciting bit of action was that I had to drive home in the middle of the day to get my passport for the purpose of proving my eligibility to work.

By late afternoon I was getting at it, working on my first deal, and my first assignment for that deal--exciting stuff!

I feel more lost than I did going into Target, but hopefully it is a matter of me forgetting what I didn't know going in. There is an overwhelming amount of information on each deal, and I have to somehow become an expert at it. This will certainly be a challenge!

Day 1 Jitters

In less than 12 hours, I will be starting my new job as a financial analyst in mergers & acquisitions for Houlihan Lokey. I feel like it is the day before school starts: I can't sleep, I am procrastinating, and I am worried about how things will go. My plan is to go in with a great attitude, ask questions, and get things done. I also hope my ability to communicate upwards and manage workload can maximize my effectiveness and prevent unnecessary re-work.

I plan to keep this blog updated for the first time in a couple years with information on my experiences and learnings on the job. I hope you find it interesting, and please comment or question anything you see!

Degree Justification

I have helped my fiancee study for school on numerous occasions, and I keep coming across the same theme. It seems that writers of anthropology, human rights, and history articles are desperately trying to justify their expensive degrees with the language they use. As an example, in an article she was reading in preparation for tomorrow's midterm, the following sentence was found:

"Precisely because secular Time was its presupposition, logically speaking, or its signified, in semiotic parlance, the new discourse had (with exceptions to be mentioned later) no need to thematize Time."

Are you kidding me? I like the philosophy that a master of a particular subject can explain complex ideas with simple words and language that even a child could understand. In other words, you are probably not an expert at anything unless you can get somebody with no experience in the subject to understand it very quickly.

I am certainly no wizard of words, no Ernest Hemingway. However, these types of papers are ridiculous. If the purpose of a class or an article is to introduce new ideas to somebody, teach a student a new concept, then it is the most inefficient method I have ever seen. With this type of language, no wonder the cost of education is increasing. An entire class on "big words" is necessary before you even begin to approach the ultimate subject matter.

I am trying to find other reasons for why this is so common. Beyond justifying their degrees...maybe the authors truly do not have a grasp of the subject matter they discuss? Maybe it is not their fault? They simply are passing on the information that they were taught, so the only way they understand it is via the complex language originally presented to them?

This began as a rant, but now I am curious. I would like to explore this further...maybe it is a representation of larger issues?