Dealbreaker recently highlighted what a little extra guts can do for your private equity job search. It seems last Fall an ambitious job-seeker named Jeffrey Chiang went too far. More recently, another decided to take a page from personal ads and the acting world to give his resume that added kick – and it worked.
The successful candidate included a few “action” shots along with a close-up photo (known in acting circles as a head shot) along with his cover letter and CV. One of the photos showed him scaling the Himalayas; the other sailing a boat.
source: Dealbreaker
It may sound contrived but it caught the attention of the firm he was targeting, says Dealbreaker. That, plus the fact that he graduated from college at age 20, interned at Merrill Lynch and is currently studying for his Level 1 CFA all resulted in an interview.
Dealbreaker posted his cover letter online in case you’re looking for ideas. It begins: ” My character can be summed up by a personal adage: “The only limitations are rules of science. All others we put on ourselves.” I am willing and eager to do whatever it takes to work at [name of PE firm omitted] so that I may gain the experience I desire. I graduated with a B.S. in Finance from San Diego State at twenty whilst simultaneously doing an internship at Merrill Lynch. I am currently finishing my Master of Finance with courses from Harvard as well as studying for my level 1 CFA.”
His approach may make some people cringe. But it definitely shows confidence and attitude. What’s your take? What’s the gutsiest or most unusual ploy you’ve ever heard about for getting a foot in the door (for an interview) at a private equity firm? Add your comments below.
Venture capitalists today, more than ever, need to be talent scouts, says Saad Khan, in a guest article for Forbes. Khan is a partner at the venture capital firm of CMEA Capital where he leads CMEA’s Web, digital media, and twinkle-stage investments in Pixazza, Blekko and Jobvite.
As incubators for embryonic companies, venture capitalists have to think in terms of the people they are investing in. Especially since many start-ups, particularly in technology, “pivot” a few times from their original idea. Many times the idea you invest in is not what the company ultimately ends up doing, he says.
For example, Rich Skrenta, a hacker of some renown and serial entrepreneur, is the type of entrepreneur Khan says is working banking on. Skrenta’s early successes included being a high-tech prodigy by ninth grade and later launching start-ups such as NewHoo (subsequently the Netscape Open Directory) and Topix.
Khan’s point: “I want to invest in the innate drive, talent and potential of a person. I want to invest in what they’re working on now, what they’re thinking about next, and whatever they dream up in the future. When it comes to exceptional talent, I’ve stopped worrying about technology, market sizes, product-market fit, etc.”
Khan likens his style of venture capital investing to the MacArthur “Genius Awards,” the $500,000 grant given by the MacArthur Foundation to exceptional people to work on projects of their choosing.
What’s your philosophy? Can venture capital investing really be more like an equity investment in a person’s intellectual future? Can one ignore the business plan and financial models and simply give brilliant people the opportunity to succeed? Add your comments below.
Private Equity tycoon David Bonderman went to Harvard. So did Apollo Management’s Leon Black and Hamilton James of Blackstone. It turns out that the ranks of Harvard alumni who are billionaires jumped to 62 this year, up from 54. More than any other American university, reports Forbes.
One billionaire alum, speaking anonymously, claims the school’s system of dividing each year’s classmates into smaller groups of roughly 120 students makes networking easier and leads to closer, more lasting, and therefore more profitable life-long business relationships.
Rounding out the top 10 schools for billionaire graduates were: 2) Stanford, with 28, including Yahoo cofounder Jerry Yang and Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page; 3) Columbia University, with 20 billionaire grads, including private equity pioneer Henry Kravis. The University of Chicago has 13 billionaire grads, along with 85 Nobel Prize winners. It placed sixth on the list. Other notables include New York University, tied for 8th place with 10 billionaires and Princeton University, tied for 10th place with 9 billionaires.
Schools with the most billionaires get the biggest gifts, naturally. For example, Home Depot cofounder Kenneth Langone earned an M.B.A. in a part-time program from NYU. He is a major donor to the school and has a medical center named after him.
The Forbes article does point out that having an Ivy League degree isn’t absolutely necessary for a billion-dollar private equity career. As a matter of fact, out of the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest people, 41 don’t even have a college degree.
Has an Ivy League degree opened doors for your private equity career? We’d like to hear. Add your comments below.
