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07 May 2022, 13:56
Kudos
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Hi everyone,
Thank you for your time.
I was hoping to get some feedback regarding admission probability and opportunity costs for my situation.
Age: 30 (31 in June)
Education: 3.9 at large state school, BS in Finance + Honors College, several undergrad finance clubs and fraternity. CFA level 1
GMAT: TBD, historically not best test taker but frankly have confidence I can score near 700. Assume 650 for now.
Work experience: JPMorgan and Citi investment banking, then private equity at $1bn shop in northeast. I left PE to start my own investment bank at 26 y/o and successfully sold a company for $20mm to a private equity firm in NY. I decided that while unfortunate, the perception of my age and credentials would be a large barrier to securing a healthy funnel of new sell-side M&A clients. So, I went to mega fund private credit / debt capital markets shop in Chicago as a VP at 27. Left mega fund for newly created position by CEO of portfolio company of the fund ($65mm investment that I led), where I now run / lead the entire New York market for growing our M&A service provider business (includes selling to CEO/CFO, private equity, M&A law, new service development, relationship management, presenting data, etc.). I have since been promoted to Senior Director, closed the firms largest deal and hold over $1bn in assets under management (AUM) personally.
Volunteerwork: limited; junior board of two nonprofits several years ago but nothing since
Reason for HBS: HBS network and credential will accelerate the buildout of my investment bank and allow not only a strong source of deal opportunities from HBS network but also credibility / trust from new clients.
References: current CEO, managing director from prior PE firm, managing partner of small PE firm I interned at (Columbia MBA alumni), potentially global head of investment banking at Citi.
Demographic: white male, grew up in NJ suburb in middle class family; father self-funded his education and was a technology consulting entrepreneur and mother was stay at home.
Assuming I could get in, I will need sign off from my CEO/firm to pursue the program, and my absence will result in a massive void for the company as I bring in 20% of the company’s revenue. This is likely to permanently result in the loss of my current high paying, low stress position. I currently have a lot of responsibility and bring in over 200 deals a years, but my lifestyle is actually near ideal. I’ve made enough client connections and setup various systems/processes that make success in my job relatively easy. My wife and I have plenty of time together and I thoroughly enjoy life every day, with more than enough time for sports and hobbies (i.e., golf and basketball, traveling the world, managing my investments and personal relationships, etc.) and I am clearing about $650k a year (but in NYC with meaningful taxes and cost of living). The loss of this position has meaningful impact on my decision to go, since my opportunity cost is not only $700k in after tax 20 month earnings, I’m also out of pocket for HBS since the company has no reimbursement plan in place. I am also unlikely to get either another position making $650-$1mm out of school immediately and my own firm will require some capital investment and a significant revenue runway to get off the ground and comparatively break even.
Referring back to the why HBS, our board is comprised of PE folks (one ex-Blackstone and two partners at large PE firm) and executives. For me to be CEO I believe I’ll need an MBA from a top school for them to put me in the CEO position down the road. This goes for other CEO positions at other companies as well since my undergrad is a state school and that is the upper limit to my education (besides CFA). Looking at most publicly traded company CEO’s or CFO’s the significant majority have MBA’s from top schools. I could of course create my own leadership position through my own business, which I’ve outlined as a possibility but also the relevant challenges above. I also understand that the cost/benefit analysis is quite difficult and predicated on future earnings / my business traction, but I wonder how many HBS students left jobs making $500k-$1mm a year. But I am also nearly 31 and the window of opportunity is closing.
One might say just stay in your current role, but my financial goals are much greater than $1mm/year pretax. I would ultimately love to be in the drivers seat at the top as the CEO and have meaningful equity in whatever I am building out. I have confidence in my ability to do so and lead an organization, but credentials for the finance business or CEO/CFO roles for middle market+ companies are important to secure the role (not required, but important). Leading business development for NYC for a great company is fantastic, but it is certainly limited professionally compared to my goals.
I should also note that I am extremely grateful every day to be in this position, and understand that even if HBS does not work out that I will still be in a good position, with at least the possibility to achieve my goals through other routes. I understand that many people are simply less fortunate and I again am truly grateful for the luck I’ve had so far (not only in my career but since birth). I was not born into a rich family, but I had parents and family that loved me and instilled the value of integrity and hard work and the hope I can achieve my goals and I’m thankful for that (and hope someday if I do have significant financial resources that I can start a non profit to help others who were not as lucky).
Thank you again for your time!
Posted from my mobile device
Thank you for your time.
I was hoping to get some feedback regarding admission probability and opportunity costs for my situation.
Age: 30 (31 in June)
Education: 3.9 at large state school, BS in Finance + Honors College, several undergrad finance clubs and fraternity. CFA level 1
GMAT: TBD, historically not best test taker but frankly have confidence I can score near 700. Assume 650 for now.
Work experience: JPMorgan and Citi investment banking, then private equity at $1bn shop in northeast. I left PE to start my own investment bank at 26 y/o and successfully sold a company for $20mm to a private equity firm in NY. I decided that while unfortunate, the perception of my age and credentials would be a large barrier to securing a healthy funnel of new sell-side M&A clients. So, I went to mega fund private credit / debt capital markets shop in Chicago as a VP at 27. Left mega fund for newly created position by CEO of portfolio company of the fund ($65mm investment that I led), where I now run / lead the entire New York market for growing our M&A service provider business (includes selling to CEO/CFO, private equity, M&A law, new service development, relationship management, presenting data, etc.). I have since been promoted to Senior Director, closed the firms largest deal and hold over $1bn in assets under management (AUM) personally.
Volunteerwork: limited; junior board of two nonprofits several years ago but nothing since
Reason for HBS: HBS network and credential will accelerate the buildout of my investment bank and allow not only a strong source of deal opportunities from HBS network but also credibility / trust from new clients.
References: current CEO, managing director from prior PE firm, managing partner of small PE firm I interned at (Columbia MBA alumni), potentially global head of investment banking at Citi.
Demographic: white male, grew up in NJ suburb in middle class family; father self-funded his education and was a technology consulting entrepreneur and mother was stay at home.
Assuming I could get in, I will need sign off from my CEO/firm to pursue the program, and my absence will result in a massive void for the company as I bring in 20% of the company’s revenue. This is likely to permanently result in the loss of my current high paying, low stress position. I currently have a lot of responsibility and bring in over 200 deals a years, but my lifestyle is actually near ideal. I’ve made enough client connections and setup various systems/processes that make success in my job relatively easy. My wife and I have plenty of time together and I thoroughly enjoy life every day, with more than enough time for sports and hobbies (i.e., golf and basketball, traveling the world, managing my investments and personal relationships, etc.) and I am clearing about $650k a year (but in NYC with meaningful taxes and cost of living). The loss of this position has meaningful impact on my decision to go, since my opportunity cost is not only $700k in after tax 20 month earnings, I’m also out of pocket for HBS since the company has no reimbursement plan in place. I am also unlikely to get either another position making $650-$1mm out of school immediately and my own firm will require some capital investment and a significant revenue runway to get off the ground and comparatively break even.
Referring back to the why HBS, our board is comprised of PE folks (one ex-Blackstone and two partners at large PE firm) and executives. For me to be CEO I believe I’ll need an MBA from a top school for them to put me in the CEO position down the road. This goes for other CEO positions at other companies as well since my undergrad is a state school and that is the upper limit to my education (besides CFA). Looking at most publicly traded company CEO’s or CFO’s the significant majority have MBA’s from top schools. I could of course create my own leadership position through my own business, which I’ve outlined as a possibility but also the relevant challenges above. I also understand that the cost/benefit analysis is quite difficult and predicated on future earnings / my business traction, but I wonder how many HBS students left jobs making $500k-$1mm a year. But I am also nearly 31 and the window of opportunity is closing.
One might say just stay in your current role, but my financial goals are much greater than $1mm/year pretax. I would ultimately love to be in the drivers seat at the top as the CEO and have meaningful equity in whatever I am building out. I have confidence in my ability to do so and lead an organization, but credentials for the finance business or CEO/CFO roles for middle market+ companies are important to secure the role (not required, but important). Leading business development for NYC for a great company is fantastic, but it is certainly limited professionally compared to my goals.
I should also note that I am extremely grateful every day to be in this position, and understand that even if HBS does not work out that I will still be in a good position, with at least the possibility to achieve my goals through other routes. I understand that many people are simply less fortunate and I again am truly grateful for the luck I’ve had so far (not only in my career but since birth). I was not born into a rich family, but I had parents and family that loved me and instilled the value of integrity and hard work and the hope I can achieve my goals and I’m thankful for that (and hope someday if I do have significant financial resources that I can start a non profit to help others who were not as lucky).
Thank you again for your time!
Posted from my mobile device
Archived HBS Discussion
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08 May 2022, 21:20
Kudos
Bookmarks
tthebert:
Thanks for sharing so much of your background with the GMAT Club community! Two thoughts for you:
(1) Given that you are coming from finance, you really need to get at least a 700. A 650 won't cut it. Realistically, you need to get somewhere in the 720-740 range to really be a candidate.
(2) You have an interesting story, but you are going to have to communicate it in a much more grounded, compelling way for the HBS essay, which is your only opportunity to tell your story besides potentially the interview. You have a lot of meat here, but the narrative has to be much more streamlined for starters. My team is happy to help on this, so please reach out for a free consultation if interested.
https://admissionado.com/free-consultation/
Thanks for sharing so much of your background with the GMAT Club community! Two thoughts for you:
(1) Given that you are coming from finance, you really need to get at least a 700. A 650 won't cut it. Realistically, you need to get somewhere in the 720-740 range to really be a candidate.
(2) You have an interesting story, but you are going to have to communicate it in a much more grounded, compelling way for the HBS essay, which is your only opportunity to tell your story besides potentially the interview. You have a lot of meat here, but the narrative has to be much more streamlined for starters. My team is happy to help on this, so please reach out for a free consultation if interested.
https://admissionado.com/free-consultation/
23 May 2022, 05:48
Kudos
Bookmarks
