WSO Weekly Wrap-up

January 04, 2025

Hey WSO Monkey,

Welcome to 2025—new calendar, same grind. Let’s kick off the year by staying sharp, learning more, and, of course, sharing wisdom.

Btw, if you're looking to sharpen your skills, there are a couple of bootcamps coming up on January 11 (next Saturday):

  • Case Interview Bootcamp: A 4-hour intensive session covering the fundamentals of case interviews, core frameworks, and essential quantitative skills.

  • Venture Capital Bootcamp: Another 4-hour session designed to help you master venture capital concepts, including fund structures, roles, and financial instruments.

No pressure, just putting it on your radar in case you're interested. Now let’s check out the latest updates and discussions from the forum to start the year right!

-Patrick

Top Discussions

  1. 2024 Houston Update - "Not sure why the Houston threads are always so much more toxic than other industry group ranking threads. I suspect because it's such a "small" market and there's a greater sense of familiarity with other groups. In Houston you know several bankers and they know several bankers and you all do the exact same thing, so there's a greater degree of knowledge of what's going on at other places, who the rainmakers are, what shop does well at what vertical or subvertical etc. In NYC your friends at other banks and your coworkers friends at other banks likely do something else entirely from your coverage group. End result in Houston is that everyone likes to dunk on each other."

  2. What Do You Want to Be Asked In a Coffee Chat - "Don’t come off as a hardo. This is less coffee chat specific and more interview focused, but if you tell me that you know everything about finance and have studied so hard, I will push you harder. Guess what, coming out of college you are way out of your depth, and I can crush you if you seem like a jerk. I had an arrogant little shit close to tears and sniffling in an interview because he tried to correct me on a response to a question he had. He had no idea what he was saying. I’ve been told I tend to be an intimidating interviewer because I am very stoic. I lit that kid up though..."

  3. Role of a PE Associate (Deeper Understanding) - "...associates usually support portfolio company finance teams in establishing processes for calcs/tests or whatever else might be required (but depends on your firm, we now have a huge portfolio mgmt team). Another thing I would say is that often you do a lot more brain-dead stuff like talk... documenting and process / structuring. Your lawyers will lead those but you're expected to be a hub for info so establish clear channels of contact / make sure info is well updated. Most of you will be come from banking so you're used to but filings etc become super important."

Talk Like a VC in Just 4 Hours

There’s a reason venture capital is considered the mountaintop of investing. It’s laid back, sexy, and generally just f*cking awesome.

Patagonia vests and Allbirds to work, weekends off, and the potential to make stupid sums of money from just one home run are just some of the reasons why many see it as the best job in the industry.

The hardest part is breaking in. Unless you rub elbows with tech titans or founded a unicorn recently, it’s gonna be a tough slog.

But if you’ve got 4 hours on January 11, 2025, you can gain an edge on a huge number of other applicants through WSO’s VC Bootcamp. Learn the essentials of the space—including early-stage instruments, term sheet modeling, and due diligence—in this jam-packed live training session.

The next Uber is out there, but you can’t get a piece of it if you’re on the outside looking in. Take the first step towards becoming a Sand Hill Road legend today.

Top Discussions (contd.)

  1. End of 2024: Which Banks Won, and Which Lost This Year? - "As we close out 2024, I’m curious to hear your perspectives on which banks have come out on top this year and which ones have struggled the most."

  2. Working With Business Majors Can at Times Be Frustrating - “I'm not shitting on business majors, but coming from an Economics background and now working in IB, I just find business majors (whom I have come to know are actually the majority of who work in IB) to be kind of square? They're kind of boring and outside of corporate finance can't really think granularly. I have worked with a VP putting together a piece of analysis on energy prices and inflation and their effect on some instrument and was pretty shocked that they had no idea that energy prices could lead to inflationary pressure? Was asked to source etc., something that is the most foundational of economic theory. Do they not read the news or something- I was really taken aback by having to substantiate something that simple...”

Hot Jobs 💼

Senior Associate / Vice President - "We are seeking a Senior Associate / VP level professional who is actively engaged in the lower middle market with a proven track record of executing direct deals. The ideal candidate could come from a private equity firm, family office, investment bank, or independent sponsor..."

Project Finance Associate - "This is a career-level role, and we expect the Project Finance Associate to grow and find new ways to impact our organization, contributing to Zanskar’s broader financial and capital allocation strategy..."

Investment Banking Analyst - “A boutique IB practice focused on MM M&A. Lean, mean, entrepreneurial team of highly motivated deal makers who all ‘punch above our weight’. While other investment banks have large teams working around the clock, we work smart in small teams, and achieve outstanding results for our clients and still get home in time to see our families. Industry generalists…“

Investment Analyst - "...invests in privately held companies across media and entertainment, including film and television, digital media, creator economy, video games, live experiences, sports, and related services and enabling technologies ..."

Director of M&A - "...formed to be the best long-term home for independent companies that provide unique data, content or information focused on small but important niches and are owned and operated by founders."

Sr Discretionary Researcher / Trader - Fully Remote - "We are a discretionary, event-driven proprietary trading firm and hedge fund specialized in the digital asset space."

Marketing Manager - West Coast, US - "The Firm is an early-stage venture capital firm with $300mn in assets under management and a deep commitment to supporting the next generation of groundbreaking technology..."

Research Associate (Equity Small Mid Cap) - New York, NY - "This position will support the Small/Mid-Cap Equity research team and initially be responsible for covering multiple sectors in support of current team members."

On Deck - Training 🎓

All in Eastern Standard Time

Stay Strong,
Patrick Curtis
CEO and Founder, WallStreetOasis.com

WSO Mobile App: iOS | Android

PS - We're also always looking to add resume reviewers and WSO Mentors to our team. Set your own pay (from $40/hr to up to $400/hr) to increase or decrease mentee flow. To submit an application, go here.

PPS - Think you have an interesting story? Want to share it with our podcast listeners? Hit reply and let me know!




* PE Interview Bootcamp includes lifetime access to the PE Interview Course
** FMV Bootcamp includes lifetime access to the Elite Modeling Package
*** IB Interview Bootcamp includes lifetime access to the IB Interview Course