Andrew Mak, COL ’25, Fresh Meadows, NY
I worked at a lower middle market private equity firm in New York City this summer. Here I had the opportunity to become part of the due diligence and deal team. I honed both my soft and hard skills in this fast-paced environment while learning the internal processes that run a buy-side deal. More importantly, this immersive experience has led me to truly understand how everything in finance is connected, from the accounting statements to the interactions between the sell and buy side.
Throughout the internship, I was mainly involved with the due diligence team in analyzing potential targets for the firm to acquire. I was allowed to lead the research and discussions on companies I deemed fit our investment criteria. These steps were vital and acted as the primary deal pipeline in which we would then conduct further research to determine fit through management, sales, gross margins, and various other metrics. Additionally, I had the opportunity to look at multiple market trends, specifically on the consumer end. As I became more familiar with how our firm operated, I took on more responsibility and met the founders/leaders of various consumer companies across the consumer space. The opportunity to listen, present my ideas, and lead these conversations was genuinely inspiring and pushed me out of my comfort zone. This ultimately made my internship more rewarding and allowed me to continue to learn how these founders got to where they are today and how they sell their companies to a private equity firm. Many of these topics were reinforced through our weekly seminar, in which I learned directly from the firm’s founder on various topics such as accounting, valuation, etc.
Other than due diligence, I had the opportunity to work on a past live deal where I led the entire meeting of my company. I talked to relevant experts, did my market research, and presented my findings to the board at the end of the summer. It was a rewarding experience, as it taught me a lot about how to analyze a company and the metrics to look out for—especially market trends and how this company will potentially be able to capitalize on these trends. After my presentation, I was given feedback on how I did and how to improve myself as I continue to pursue a role in finance in the future. With these experiences, I am confident that I have a firm grasp of what it’s like to work in private equity and the process and talks that go into an investment decision.
This opportunity was enriching and reinforced my beliefs about how I would like to pursue a role in finance. Not only did I learn about the importance of excellent management but also what the numbers mean on the accounting statements. Both the culture and work were something that I looked forward to being a part of everyday as well, and I am very thankful for the opportunity to participate in this internship.
This is part of a series of posts by recipients of the 2023 Career Services Summer Funding Grant. We’ve asked funding recipients to reflect on their summer experiences and talk about the industries in which they spent their summer. You can read the entire series here
