WSO Weekly Wrap-up

August 09, 2025



Hey WSO Monkey,

Fresh discussions in the forum. Everything from PE horror stories and a guilty conscience confession to advice on when to bail from a bad PM seat. Dive in whenever you get a minute.

-Patrick

Top Discussions

  1. PE Is a Joke - "I don’t think my life could get any worse working a corporate job. I truly believe this. Here is a short list of some of the unreasonable things I have had to do so far in my associate stint: Had to do work on both my rehearsal dinner day and wedding day (not a lot, but still got asked to do things when people knew I was getting married). Had to do work on my honeymoon (same situation as above). I had a pretty serious operation (my team knew about this) that was medically necessary and had to work the next day (it was a Saturday). Had to work on Christmas and New Year’s Day multiple years. Had to work on Thanksgiving multiple years. Had to work on 4th of July multiple years..."

  2. Value Tech Investing Shops - "Completely agree, and think a lot of it comes down to how simple a software business is. If growth slows in a PE backed software business (say a vanilla recurring SaaS with a sticky product), it’s very easy to rip out cost (cut back sales team, off shore developers, etc). So if a business is growing 30% historically at 10% margins and growth starts slowing, any PE fund in the world can quickly turn it into a 10% grower at 20% margins. I think the true value oriented funds that have been successful in other sectors have a much more complex playbook that vanilla PE firms have a harder time executing. If a manufacturer is underperforming, it’s much harder to manage costs or right size a business without screwing up operations and likely takes a unique skill set to go execute. This allows value players to scoop things up cheap and optimize. But if Thoma/Vista/insert any SaaS PE firm has a mediocre asset, they can typically “clean things up” without needing to fire sale it and can likely pick up a lot of the low hanging value creation stuff prior to a sale."

  3. Life After Director in IB - "Post probably deserves more background / detail… but throwing it out there. Currently early Director in BB coverage group. Did A2A out of undergrad so only done banking in my career. Thinking about what my next step is potentially post-IB. Want to maximize what I truly enjoy in next role. The whole do what you love and you’ll exceed more story. Point is… I love to speak to people on the phone. Even talking to a customer service got my rocks off earlier. IB has a fair amount sure, that’s why I’ve stayed. I’m decent at the finance and math stuff, but it’s not a competitive advantage vs. colleagues..."

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Don’t wing your interviews—ace them.

Top Discussions (contd.)

  1. PM is a Nightmare - "Honestly, I disagree with the other poster. I’ve dealt with exactly what you describe and no amount of money would have ever made me want to stay. If the culture truly sucks, leave. Life is too short to deal with people who suck, especially when they demand a lot of you and are unreasonable in that process. If you already have spent a few months there, start looking now. It will take a bit to find the new seat anyways. I’ve seen plenty of people make a move within a year (sometimes less than 6 months).. just don’t do it twice soon..."

  2. Feeling Guilty - "Congrats, you sold your soul. You saw an opportunity and you capitalized. Just remember that it’s suicide to come out about this. Nobody can tell you what to do now. This is something you need to figure out on your own. What kind of person do you want to be? As much as I hate to say it, if it were me, I’d never mention this to another soul and delete this post asap, and I’m aware that makes me a POS. It’s about time you’ve figured out what kind of person you want to be. Last thing, remember that you don’t have to continue being a POS when you come back FT - you have another chance to make yourself whole again."

  3. Best Health and Sleep Tracking Devices for Banking - "This isn't exactly true. If you sleep 6 hours but have more deep sleep than someone who slept 8 hours, you're probably better. Once you start measuring your types of sleep, you can seek out ways to improve them like not eating before bed or alcohol before bed."

New Podcasts Coming in Hot 🔥

  • University of Georgia to Real Estate Private Equity | Chat with Chandler | WSO Academy

  • University of Chicago to JPMorgan | Chat with Juan Pablo | WSO Academy

Hot Jobs 💼

AI Tutor - Finance Specialist - "You will be instrumental in enhancing the capabilities of our cutting-edge technologies by providing high-quality input and labels using specialized software. Your role involves collaborating closely with our technical team to support the training of new AI tasks, ensuring the implementation of innovative initiatives..."

WSO Mentor - "Are you an experienced professional with a background in investment banking, private equity, hedge funds, S&T, venture capital, asset management, equity research, quant finance, corporate dev, real estate finance, or top-tier consulting? Passionate about mentoring the next generation of leaders? Wall Street Oasis (WSO) is expanding its Mentorship Program, and we're looking for outstanding professionals to join our mentor roster—an elite network supporting students and young professionals as they prepare for high-stakes careers. Whether you’re looking to give back, stay connected to rising talent, or sharpen your coaching skills, this role offers you the chance to make a meaningful impact, remotely and on your schedule..."

Venture Capital Associate (Life Sciences, Boston-based) - "The team is seeking an Investment Associate to join as a generalist across their three sector focuses (biotech, digital health/tech, and tools/diagnostics) in Boston metro with an ASAP or Summer 2025 start date..."

Equity Research Analyst - "Buy-side research analyst opportunity with a family office. The analyst will work with the direct investment team and report to the Portfolio Manager. The team employs a fundamentally driven investment process and an owner’s mentality...."

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