Currently, Ryan serves as an M&A Analyst at AlpineX Group but at the time of the interview he was an Investment Banking Analyst at Parella Weinberg Partners.

Where do you work (or where have you worked) and what is (or was) your position? Tell us a little bit about your career path or intended career path.

I currently work at Perella Weinberg Partners. We’re an independent advisory boutique investment bank, specifically focused on mergers and acquisitions and financial restructuring. I guess where we fall on the spectrum relative to other banks people think about – so you think of your large household name banks, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley’s of the world, they kind of do everything, from financing to other products like M&A. We specifically focus on a couple specific products that don’t rely on your company having a large balance sheet.

And then, a little bit about my career path, I’ve kind of always done finance stuff. In college, I did a couple of other finance-type internships (one actually was with the place I currently work), but I also worked for a smaller financial restructuring shop actually with a UVA alum. And then even before that I was working for a small industrial-focused VC which actually kind of compared pretty well to what I’m doing now. Because I work in our industrials M&A team here, I focus a lot on businesses in the infrastructure space, chemicals, building products, and timber, paper, and packaging – things like that. And I guess going forward with my career path, I see myself staying in finance at least for a few more years. I think it’s a really great place to build skills, especially for a first job. Every day I feel like I’m learning something new, whether it’s in terms of actual things I’m doing on my job, whether it’s data analysis or having a better understanding of company business models or things like that. And you also, I think, which is a little underrated kind of, really just come up to speed with being an adult and handling this very professional life very quickly. I think there is a major dichotomy between where you are when you’re in college, where you have a lot of free time, to working a job where I feel like there is a lot of structure. But I think [it’s] in a good way, where you just become really good at how to manage being professional – I don’t think I really understood that until I started this job.

What does (or did) your position entail? What, essentially, do you do on a daily basis?

I think that’s actually a great question because I think people hear the words investment banking and [it’s] in some ways a really catch-all. I know people that are also technically in seats that are considered investment banking and we do incredibly, incredibly different things. So, I mentioned before, I am in our industrials M&A team, so we focus specifically on a handful of different verticals within industrials. If we’re working on something live, like a live deal, generally that’s a lot of process-oriented work. So I’ll be building financial models, I’ll be doing a bunch of different types of valuation methodologies. So there are, for example, a couple that are more intrinsic to the company itself. You might be building a discounted cash flow model or things where it’s like a relative valuation based on previous transactions that have been done in the industry or against peer companies that we’re trying to value. And I think a lot of the job too, especially when you’re not working on something that’s live, is a lot of business development and just trying to understand the space that you cover. So like we’ll do a lot of work where, I would argue, it’s more qualitative and we’re trying to build themes. So for example I work a lot with our partner focused on aerospace and defense and I am working on a couple of, I guess I would call them broad marketing materials, where he’ll go on a roadshow essentially – and working on, alright, here’s all the things going on in the defense and contracting space. And kind of trying to pair these in a way where we can drum up future business opportunities with these companies. So I think it’s multifaceted in the sense of like, yes when you are working on live things, it’s a little more what I think people think of when they think of investment banking, but also you’re supporting a future pipeline of work that you’re trying to acquire in the future as well.

What did you study during your time at UVA?

At UVA, I was an Econ and Comm major, so double. It’s actually funny, I actually didn’t come in thinking I was going to do finance. I mean, I did have an interest in that stuff from the get-go. But it was more like I came in thinking I was going to be an engineer, and I joined a couple of finance-related clubs, including the McIntire Investment Institute my first semester. So it’s definitely something where I was like, alright, I like finance and maybe it would be more of just a good skill to have. I think everyone can really benefit from having a good understanding of money and things of that nature. But then I actually (I forget exactly [when], it was during my second semester) just [realized] I was enjoying those things way more than I was enjoying my engineering classes. For better or for worse, I ended up switching gears. I was Econ and Comm, and I think for a lot of people that’s like, “oh, I’m a Comm student and I just finished some of my extra Econ classes”. I would definitely say I was an Econ student before I was a Comm student. Where my interests really [lay] within that spectrum was, I was super interested in economic history, so Mark Thomas was a professor I really liked to take classes with. And I think what finance really was was just a way to have a practical application of that, you know, to kind of turn it into something you could have as a career without sticking in more of an academia track, because that wasn’t something I really wanted to do.

When and how did you know you were interested in pursuing a career in investment banking?

I would say that even today I wouldn’t even be like, “oh investment banking is the thing forever for me”. I just think investment banking is really great because it’s an avenue where there is a very structured path for new grads to come into it. Actually some of my best friends from UVA are doing other things in the finance space, whether it be private equity, venture capital, or things like that. And not to say that those are not great opportunities to also learn, but I think I came in looking at this job as, okay, here’s a chance to learn a lot of stuff in a very short amount of time. And then if you like it you can of course stick with it – but I guess that was my basic premise. And investment banking is a way to get your foothold into the industry that has been pretty tried and true for the greater part of the last half of the century. So I think there is a value in there being a real track record of like, you know, we have a big cohort that comes in and we have a very structured way to teach you all these different skills. So I think that was something that really appealed to me. But I guess specifically when I decided I knew I wanted to do that [was] when I was working for the UVA alum who had this small restructuring shop in DC. I really enjoyed that experience. It was him and a couple other senior more operating guys. For anyone listening to this, [restructuring] is a lot of working with companies that are in stress, [but] not necessarily in a Chapter 11, which is when a company is actually bankrupt. In the case of what I was doing that summer, it actually was with a bankruptcy. So the senior guys were all really operational focused, so then me and the other one or two UVA interns really got to handle all of the financial modeling and things like that. But it was just really cool having that level of opportunity to run with these things that I felt like I had been learning in these clubs and these classes. That was really intellectually stimulating; it was challenging but also it felt really rewarding to do it.

How do you recommend preparing for a career in investment banking during your undergraduate years?

At its core, actually people at my job say this all the time, investment banking is kind of like an apprentice-based career, at least for the first couple of years. I mean again, there is so much nuance that it’s just impossible to replicate [it] in the classroom or in a college environment. I would say the best way to prepare yourself in really getting down to brass tacks, is definitely trying to take relevant finance courses, trying to get a basic handle on different valuation methodologies. Even joining clubs that are focused on investing and things like that; they’re not like-for-like I guess with investment banking, because with investment banking you kind of take a different seat relative to the investor. But just building up skill sets of understanding companies, understanding industries is super helpful. I think one of the things that people really don’t get about investment banking – well I guess people understand that there’s rigor – but the rigor isn’t necessarily the most rigorous thing. Like, I would say there [were] things I did in school that were more difficult. It’s that you are put on a ton of projects all at the same time and it’s like, hey, we need you to do this thing and yeah, maybe in like a vacuum, you could do it in eight hours – but we need you to do it in three hours because you have all these other things going on. So it’s like, being good at it and also being able to do it with a big time crunch. So getting a good handle on these things that are applicable skills beforehand will allow you to come off that curve quicker and be able to be more efficient sooner.

Are there any particular internship positions you would recommend as good preparation for a career as an investment banker?

I can totally plug the company I work for, Perella Weinberg Partners. I think I had a really good internship experience last summer. So again we’re a boutique investment bank. We actually used to do MBA recruiting but now it’s pretty much only through our undergraduate pipeline unless you’re a pretty senior hire. Mainly we do recruiting for sophomores in the spring for their junior summer internship, which would be, I guess, 15 months after that. I definitely think that we have a bunch of good opportunities across a bunch of different industries. You don’t just have to be industrials or something, we have a ton of different verticals, we also have a restructuring team. I also worked for a small VC shop, it’s called New Stack Ventures in Chicago. I kind of mentioned it in passing earlier; they’re focused on a bunch of cool cutting-edge space stuff. I actually got connected to them through an older UVA student who I worked with then. Just opportunities in places like those; you can even make connections yourself. I know so many people that actually kind of just cold-called places and found opportunities and I think that’s a super possible avenue as well.

Do you recommend attending graduate school? If you did attend graduate school, was it a useful experience? If you did not, do you wish you had?

I would say, to preface my answer to this, I think I am not the best person [to answer this]. I’m a few months out of school, so just contextualize [my response] that way. I think graduate school can definitely be useful. For me, I don’t plan on going to graduate school but that can totally change. I think it’s really good, especially if you plan on switching career paths, whether it’s within finance or to another industry. I think it’s a way to communicate interest, like, hey I’m very seriously considering doing something else, this is why I went back to school. I think if you’re going to do something in your direct field and your company doesn’t explicitly require it, I don’t know if it’s necessarily the most cost efficient thing – because you have to factor in both the cost of tuition and the opportunity cost of the money you would be making in industry. But that’s not to say that it’s something you shouldn’t do. I think there’s value in just attending school, because learning and gaining knowledge is just something that is such a fun experience. I think undergrad was one of the best parts of my life – and, of course, on the social side as well. But I mean just in the core part of why you’re there, seeing classes and being a student, I think that was such an interesting and unique part of the experience. So I think, definitely if you have an interest in it, yes go for it, but in terms of how it relates to investment banking, I don’t think you necessarily need it.

What parts of the investment banking industry do you see as being trend-setters and what parts do you see as being increasingly less relevant? In other words, what trends have you observed?

Actually I think you can kind of cut that along two different ways. The first thing that pops into my head is on an industry basis, like what parts of the broader economy do we see as growing because investment banking kind of touches everything. Because at its core what we do is life-changing transactions for companies. Well I mean I guess investment banking generally, whether it’s on the financing side or on buying or selling other companies, spinning off divisions of your company. Because of that, investment banking kind of plays everywhere. So something that I think is a major gigatrend almost, because it’s huge in the economy broadly, it will be huge in investment banking. It’s this major energy transition; you see everywhere the net-zero 2050, all these different Paris Accords, all these things. But you’re actually starting to see that more in practice in terms of all of these climate-focused companies, climate-focused funds, things of that nature. Actually two of the people I work with just recently left my team within the last month, both going to different climate funds, focusing only on the companies involved in this climate revolution. So that’s something I definitely see as trend-setting over the next 10, 20, and 30 years. And I guess, on the flip side, what in the broader economy is becoming redundant, becoming less relevant. I would say some of the more traditional energy, whether it be oil or things like that. I mean I don’t think tomorrow that stuff is going to be defunct, but I definitely see things like that, that are just becoming less important and we’re trying to shift away from them.

But also cutting across the second thing I mentioned, I think it’s also important to look at it on a function basis. So like, what in investment banking is becoming more relevant, becoming less relevant. I think [about] some of the more trading seats [which] some people bucket in investment banking, some people don’t. The salesman trading stuff I think is becoming more and more automated with everything in AI, things of that nature. Like for example one of my really close cousins is here in Manhattan as well and he works on a trading desk. He just literally tells me it seems like everyday that something else becomes automated, something else becomes more and more outside the hands of the actual traders themselves. He totally sees – and I also see this myself in general – kind of a lot of jobs that will just, not necessarily be irrelevant, but just won’t be something that a human functions.

Given that these careers are often very demanding, what is lifestyle like? How do you balance personal and professional life?

I’m not one to come up with a fake answer. There’s definitely a lot of truth to that I would definitely say. I definitely work a ton, just to be upfront. I think a lot of it, though, depends on what you care about. I forget who said this, but someone that I was reading about recently said something along the lines of, you want to orient your life so that everything feels like play, no matter what you’re doing. And I enjoy what I’m doing, so, despite it being a lot of time, I don’t feel trapped in it I think the way some people do. I guess on the point of balancing personal and professional life, I think you actively have to advocate for yourself; no one will advocate for you. People will try and squeeze every ounce of your day if you give them the opportunity to. So it’s being very clear about, hey, I’m taking time to do this. Or, on the weekends, trying to unplug whenever possible. Because if you give them an inch, they’ll take a mile – it’s kind of like in any job I think, you know, people are always looking for more. But, again, you’re a human being first and an investment banker second when you’re in this job. So it’s definitely super important to focus on doing those basic things that I know some people definitely neglect. I work with some people that very much forgo a lot of their sleep, and I’m not saying you need eight hours everyday necessarily, but [they will] consistently limit themselves to four or five hours which I just personally don’t think is sustainable.

Any other advice or recommendations?

On an advice point, I just went through all of that stuff. I guess it was more sophomore year, when I was actually recruiting for jobs like this because it’s so crazy early and accelerated. I would just say don’t get caught up in a lot of the comparison stuff. Like if you’re considering a career in investment banking, make sure you’re considering it because that’s something you’re actually interested in. I feel like some people I knew were only doing it because they saw their peers were doing it, or thought, hey, this seems like something that people respect or something – I don’t even know really how to put that into words. But like, not because you’re genuinely interested in it. So I would definitely, if you’re considering a career or you’ve already made that career choice, just make sure that the reason you’re orienting yourself to this career path is for the right reasons – because the second you step into the workplace and you’re actually doing this job in your everyday, the actual work itself is what you’re doing, not this gilded idea that you might have created in your mind when you’re in school. Because it’s really easy, you recruit for this stuff when you’re a sophomore or junior in college and it’s easy to be like, oh yeah I got this internship or I got this job, now I don’t need to worry for the rest of college, and you just keep it in the back of your mind for two years. But you [will] actually step into the job eventually, so definitely make sure that’s something you want.

And I would also say, on the recommendation side, this industry is very early. There’s this weird first mover advantage – both on the company’s side and on the student’s side. So if possible, if you do know that this is something you want to do, preparing yourself as early as possible will make your life as easy as possible to break in. Like I know so many people that were juniors and seniors who were like, maybe I’d be interested in doing investment banking, and realizing that all of the opportunities kind of had already shut for first opportunities straight out of school. So, if you are a freshman or you are a sophomore, and you know that this is something you are interested in, maybe try and read a little bit more and make sure you understand that a lot of recruiting for junior summer internships happens when you are in your sophomore spring. I love all of the Econ and the Comm career stuff, but it felt like when I was going through all that stuff freshman and sophomore year, I wasn’t getting the correct information on timelines, and it was all kind of outdated – because if you think like 10 years ago, a lot of the recruiting would happen later, like maybe Junior fall or Junior spring for Junior summer. And that’s just really not the case anymore. Maybe there’s one or two places that will do that, but by and large, it is earlier. So make sure you’re asking peers, you’re kind of plugging into older people that have recently gone through the process, like juniors or seniors or fresh grads because that’s where you’re going to get the most updated information on how these things work. And again, I don’t blame any of the career centers or anything. These things change year-to-year so much that it’s impossible for them to keep up without having conversations like we’re having right now. So I would definitely say leverage older students [and] fresh grads because those are the people that [are] going to be able to really have a great handle on what [you] actually need to do, and when are actually these actual timelines, [and how to] best put yourself in a position to get a job like this if that’s what you want.