Tell me about yourself
Background:
American born and raised in Southeast Asia
Attended university in California where I majored and economics
Following graduation, a brief stint at Moody’s in NYC before moving to Silicon Valley Bank.
SVB:
Consumer Tech Venture Lending team
Managed a portfolio of 20+ high growth series A-C companies across DTC, Gaming, Mkt Places
Lean team environment; CEOs/CFOs, VCs to
Originate diligence and structure venture lending opportunities.
Developed skills in financial modeling, early-stage risk assessment, client advisory
Skills eager to continue to develop in an investment banking role.
FCB:
Join 3 months before bank collapse, chaotic time BUT
Front row, insider seat into how a major strategic decision can reshape an org.
30th to 15th largest bank overnight.
Why IB:
Venture lending taught me early and growth stage financing and client advisory
Want to advise companies at later stages
At their most critical inflection points
Seeing deals through from the start to finish across the full capital structure
Where impact is topdown rather than bottom up
Realised best way to do this was in an investment banking role, and best way to achieve that was through business school.
LBS:
Knew I wanted to work in London, and global network
Why London
Investment Banking Trek approach
Viewed it as a unique networking opportunity,
Opportunity to meet with LBS alumni in NY in banking, and people at MS like Alessandro and Rainy.
But also a chance to visit my brothers and friends in NYC
But my decision to attend LBS was with intent, I wanted to move to London and have a LT career in banking here for a number of reasons personally and from a career perspective.
Why London
Personal
Growing up internationally
Schools I attended were often times very british focused
London north star, I have wanted to be here since I was a kid.
While I was in NYC, frequently visit london visiting my brothers here, childhood friends, and to affirm my decision to move here.
So my decision to move here was very intentional. LBS was a strategic move for me as I knew it would best position me for a career in banking in London.
Career
From a career perspective, speaking in friends in banking or associates at MS
London offers cross-border exposure you don’t get anywhere else.
Being in the “middle timezone” means you can be working on a deal in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
Additionally, I appreicate that the people you work with in London are also from all over.
And to me, that is something that stood out at MS, and is a clear factor about what makes MS so special.
Time you:
- Worked under pressure
- dealt with ambiguity
- Problem solving
I am someone that is structured, so when it comes to pressure or a challenge, I take a step back, understand the task and what I need to move forward, then move forward with that plan.
Situation:
Deal came in at the end of the year for SVBs top VC partner.
Portco needed debt to fund an acquisition that had to close by year-end, or the deal would fall apart.
Given bank collapse, high senior visibility on the deal.
Task:
I was building the model
The challenge I had was: Given early stage nature, the company didn’t have a forecasted BS, and werent going to be able to provide us one until early/mid-December which wouldn’t be enough time to close.
BUT credit wasn’t going to move forward without one, so we were at a bit of a stand still and had a month to close.
I took the initiative to start building out an outline of a forecasted balance sheet
But for it to be strong enough to pass through credit, we needed more detail
But to accelerate the deal process timeline, I only had a few days to get this approved so we could met the clients timeline.
So it was stressful, felt like all eyes on me to get it forward. Had the constant pinging from seniors for updates + client pressure to close.
Action:
I made a step-by-step game plan for what I needed to do:
Firstly, dug into F/S to understand historical BS performance and trends
While working on that, I set up time for my VP and I to speak with the CFO, so we could fill the gaps on items like WC changes, and what fundraising timing would look like post acquisition.
Found a comp company at SVB, that was a helpful baseline
Result:
With all this info I was able to put together a credible balance sheet for credit, and they gave us the green light to move forward, and in a shorter amount of time, and closed in time for the client to make the acquisition.
Rewarding experience I know how important it is to be able to work under pressure, navigate ambiguity to still deliver, and
Time you used:
1) Judgement
2) Ethical situation
3) Disagreed with a VP
Situation:
At SVB, a client was looking to refi their term loan.
Their next round of funding was contingent on raising additional debt, so wanted this done.
The client had just hit over $100MM in revenue.
Great news for them, but from a credit perspective, presented a large hurdle.
Internal risk framework moved from a mid to late stage company, which meant much stricter EBITDA requirements.
And they were at EBITDA negative levels, which risk them being an adversely rated credit.
Task:
I was leading this process. But my VP wanted to use the mid-stage credit framework as the credit process would be much easier.
I understood his thinking, they were just over the revenue threshold, a top client, and needed this for their next funding round.
But I didn’t feel like this was the right decision as it was the wrong credit framework
I had to make a judgement call:
Challenge my VP, and risk having the deal held up in credit, or worse not approved.
Or move forward using the wrong credit matrix knowing if credit caught this we would definitely delay the deal and have to deal with credit repercussions.
Action:
Before coming to a decision, I wanted to understand
So I:
Dug into the companies EBITDA + two credit frameworks
To see if I could find a way to keep accurately keep them in the mid-stage
Or find a way to keep them from being adversely rated.
Found company negative EBITDA levels were due to aggressive S&M spending
Looking at there forecast, and my notes from a previous conversation with the CFO, this spend was going to be cut next quarter, and they would be at EBITDA + levels.
With this info, I felt confident we could use the right matrix, and keep them from being adversely rated.
Result:
I went to my VP with the risks and benefits of what I found, keeping it as a “this is what I’m seeing” rather than “this is what we should do,” trying to keep the conversation as open as possible and the client in mind first
Through our discussion, we decided that we should go with the late stage framework
And ended up using what I found on EBITDA as the foundation point on our discussion with credit, and keeping them out of being adversely rated.
Why IB
Few reasons:
Execution and advisory focus
To be apart of the full picture
Have a topdown impact.
1) Execution and Advisory Focus:
SVB, I enjoyed and thrived in the high stakes environment of deal execution.
A sense of urgency, working as a team to get a deal done for a client.
Environments like that you have to come in everyday, want to learn and make and impact, which I want.
But i also had opportunity to work closely with management teams and investors at SVB
And enjoyed the opportunity to build and maintain relationships with clients, showing up for them whenever they needed.
But I want to do this working with working with larger scale companies, supporting them at their most critical inflection points
The opportunity to have a seat at the table with some of the most influential companies while working with some of the most driven, hardworking and smart individuals
Don’t get that elsewhere
2. I want to be apart of the full picture:
Debt is obviously a crucial competent of the capital structure, and my experience gave me foundational skills in risk management, financial model, and client advisory
But I want to move beyond the “how can we get comfortable with this deal” to the “whats the best path for this client”
But I want to help advise clients across the full capital structure.
From M&A, capital raises, and restructurings.
3. Top Down Impact
At SVB, my focus was on bottom up impact.
Working with early stage companies, trying to find a market fit to make impact
But I want to transition to advising on transactions with a top-down impact
Whether that is working on deals that:
Reshape companies or deals that
Reshape and ripple through industries
And eventually down to the companies I previously worked with.
You spoke about wanting to work across the full capital structure. What are some of the options you might offer a company.
M&A:
+ Add capabilities, enter markets.
- integration risk, execution uncertainty
Raise Capital/Equity:
+Need runway, leverage constrained, BS strength
- dilution, investor appetite, timing
Debt:
+Fund growth or optimize cost of capital while not giving up ownership
- Leverage, covenants, flexability
Divestitures/care-outs/asset sales:
+ raise cash, de-lever, sharpen focus
- dis-synergies, stranded costs (corp overhands like hr, it, legal) dont just disappear when sell.
Restructure:
When in clear distress, liquidity issues, structural/macro shocks
- reputation problems, stakeholder alignment
Divestiture vs carve-out
Divestiture: Sell entire business unit/sub.
Carve Out: Sell piece of business (selling majority/minority stake or IPO of division)
Why MS
Three reasons: The people and culture, responsibility earned to juniors, and Scale & Momentum
While they are three distinctly different traits, I do believe they are deeply interconnected.
The people & culture:
Cant speak about MS without talking about the culture and people that shape that culture.
Across the board people spoke of the diverse, inclusive, collaborative, and high performing environment at MS.
Seniors often have an open door policy, and juniors are encouraged to build a fan club, and relationships across the bank.
People go above and beyond for their clients, but do the same for their team.
And you have to have that kind of environment to maintain that “Standard of Excellence: MS is known for.
It’s this rare blend of high standards and humanity, grounded in doing the right thing
Don’t get that at other banks, especially the size of MS.
And that is the environment that I want to be apart of and contribute to
Responsibility Earned to Juniors:
From the top down, it is clear people want to support each others growth
I believe a key part of that is having the ability to earn significant responsibility.
Tim talked how he was encouraged to build relationships with clients
Peifeng talked about being staffed on live deals early
And I think its so special because opportunities like that
Allow you to think critically, try to lead with exceptional ideas, and think like a VP
Are crucial for someone who wants to have a LT career in banking.
Scale & Momentum
MS stands out among peers.
Obviously MS is one of the largest banks in the world, but that doesn’t stifle your ambition
Think about initiatives like:
Being an “Integrated firm” to leverage all parts of the bank
Acquisitions like EquityZen to capitalize on private markets
There is a sense of stewardship at MS, that everyone is a part of its long legacy and go-forward strategy.
With an overarching goal of hitting $10TN AUM
And I want to be apart of and contribute to that growth.
MS Key Facts
Ted Pick CEO/Chairman
Historically tech focused
Tell me more about EquityZen
Announced Oct 2025
Why:
- Strengthen private markets ecosystem as company’s stay private for longer
- Increase demand for access to private shares
- fits into the Morgan Stanley at Work
How would you manage Associate & Analyst Relationship
How do you anticipate managing the Associate & Analyst relationship
View it as a collaborative partnership.
Approach has been setting high standards with humility through clear communication, trust and accountability.
Communication:
Regarding communication, an example at SVB was
The VP sent over rough notes from a call that he wanted the analyst to do a write up on
I had to make sure the analyst wasn’t spinning their wheels on unclear notes and that we delivered a high quality write up for the VP on time.
Action:
I cleaned up the notes into a clear outline, confirmed with the VP it was the right message, and confirmed with the analyst they had bandwidth.
I then sent the notes to the analyst with deal context, an example of a strong write up and the timing.
Result: Analyst turned in a strong first draft, got it to the VP ahead of time. Reinforced, clear communication, context, and ability to manage up to provide that.
Trust & Accountability:
On accountability and trust, there was a time where:
Situation: VP wanted updates to a model, and wanted it done ASAP.
Task: As an associate you are the last line of defense, if something wrong, thats on me, but I still want to give the analyst real ownership.
Action:
I let analyst run the updates. But saw there was an issue with cash linking wrong.
I fixed it, did a final check and sent a clean version to the VP.
After I went to the analyst, and explained what went wrong so they knew how to catch it next time.
Result:
VP got a clean, correct model on time.
Analyst felt trusted with real responsibility, but knew I was there to support not blame, and I could trust they would catch the issue next time.
And thats the kind of trusting and accountable relationship I aim for.
And so I really view it as a two-way street— I know as an MBA associate, you have to prove yourself, you are going to learn from your analyst, but also roll up your sleeves and be right there with them.
A time you failed
Situation/Task:
When I was working at SVB and preparing my business school application
I was trying to balance my work schedule, getting my applications and essays ready, and studying for the GRE.
I had a very scheduled routine for my essays, but didn’t have one for the GRE.
I would read through the prep guides every few nights, and took a practice test and felt like I would be able to get a score to get into my top business schools.
So really preparing for the GRE without structure.
Action:
But I took the GRE, and didn’t do nearly as well as I wanted. And was my wake-up call.
I realized I had been over ambitious and that my prep wasn’t structured enough.
So I did a full-reset on my approach, and made a rigid study schedule, I treated it like a second job
I built out a week by week plan of what topics I would study, and made sure that topics I felt most uncomfortable with, I spent an extra week studying so that I could be as confident as possible going into my exam.
And so even with a busy work schedule, every night I would study for 1 to 2 hours before going to bed
And for the next 2 and a half months, I would wake up at 6am every morning to study for a few hours before leaving for the office so that I followed the schedule that I had made.
Result:
A few months later I retook it and improved my score by 10 points to something I felt good submitting.
More importantly, it showed me that when I miss the mark, I can be honest about why, build a structured plan, and follow through under pressure.
And its be helpful as I have studied for exams in school, but also as I try to best prepare for IB interviews and hopefully a role.
Time you showed:
- leadership
- worked as a team
- get up to speed quickly
- Things didn’t go as planned
What was benefit of SVB bank collapse
Bank collapse meant half our team left, and so as an associate, I often had to step up to play three roles, VP, Associate, and a manager to analyst. I enjoyed the challenge, and was a driver in why I stayed.
Situation:
A client had come to us as they were looking for a maturity extension to bridge runway ahead of an expected equity raise.
But the VP who would normally run this process had left the bank, and we hadn’t staffed a new VP on the deal since.
So I was on this deal with my MD, and my analyst.
Task:
And so I lead the deal process from diligence, underwriting, credit committee, and legal.
So I had to get caught up to speed and lead this, while making sure I was balancing my other work.
Action:
I started by setting out a systematic plan, and kept my MD aligned with quick updates.
The plan started with the key steps for getting this approved by credit
Validating the equity story with the investor
Refresh our model with updated projections
Prove sufficient liquidity in downside scenarios.
I recommended to the relationship manager we get on the phone with the CFO and investor to confirm funding intent and timing.
Then I delegated deliberately.
I had the analyst build out the base case, and he would own sections of the UW.
To keep quality high, I send gold standard examples, set deadlines, and check-ins in case he needed support or to course correct.
In parallel, I built downside liquidity scenarios, would work on the judgement heavy sections of the UW, and would drive the credit and docs process.
Result:
It was a stressful process, but my MD and I presented the deal to credit and got them comfortable.
The analyst and I worked as a team to turn the UW quickly, and we closed the extension shortly after meeting the clients needs and timeline.
Gave me the confidence to drive a deal process, manage multiple stakeholders and being an effective and supportive leader. Step up when there is a large learning curve
Time you were:
- Creative
- Went above and beyond
- Thinking outside the box
- Manage multiple tasks
Situation:
Following the SVB collapse, my group lost 50% of our headcount.
For over a year, we operated at less than half-capacity.
But as pipeline grew, I had a portfolio of:
20+ clients vs. 12 for a typical associate
4 deals at a time vs. 2 typically
It was a great learning opportunity, ability to take on more and I had to play the role of VP and Associate.
BUT, we had finally received approval to onboard a new analyst, whose help would be greatly appreciated but created a new bottleneck.
We needed them to be deal-ready, and the SVB training program had been cut from 3 months to 3 weeks.
Task:
Been through program, knew that wasn’t enough time to make the impact needed
Offered to MD to build out our Teams own analyst program, a crash course so they could make the impact needed.
He was worried I wouldn’t have time given my workload, and them joining in less than a month
This was the challenge, I was already working long hours and did not have a lot of free time during the day.
But I knew the hours spent on this would save us double the hours in the future, wanted to do it.
PAUSE
On top of all of this, I was studying for the GRE, working through business school applications, essays that were due in the upcoming months
Action:
Came up with a very structured plan
Found 15-30 minute slots during my day when I wasn’t busy to build out slides, videos, guides for UW, Modeling, systems and credit.
Used notes during my time as an analyst/associate to build this out.
For GRE/Biz school, I did 1-2 hours when i got home, woke up early to get a few hours in before work.
Result:
We implemented the program and I lead this implementation and onboarding
Analyst were able to get up and running much quicker than usual
Between the analysts, my MD, and others on the team, they noted how helpful it was and the lift it provided.
Gone so well we implemented it as our teams official onboarding
And more personally, I was able to get into LBS which was very rewarding.
ST/LT Goals
ST Goals:
ST I want to become the strongest Associate that I can be
As an MBA Associate, I would want to come in and be a sponge, and learn as much as I can from everyone so that in a full time associate role
I can hit the ground running, but really continue to develop and sharpen my:
Technical and leadership skills
While becoming fluent in how to run the deal process.
So that I can be someone my team can trust to drive streamworks and keep the deal process moving.
LT Goals:
After developing the skills to be the strongest associate possible
Want to grow into a senior role, leading on the strategic side of things, leading client relationships and shaping the angle on deals.
But also continuing to be a mentor and support system for developing juniors
Because as someone who has had that, I have seen how much better teams run when they invest in their juniors.
Why not PE
1) Want to be advisor:
- helping a client navigate and evaluate what is likely their biggest prof decision.
- Unique seat at table hearing how mgmt team, sponsors, strategic think about biz.
2) Execution: Multiple deals, I like the urgency, the team work, and the feeling of a successful outcome for a client. Not just 1 off investments
3) Work and learning: You are working across the capital structure, you are constantly having to learn, understand what is best for a client. Im less interested in operational improvements/1 investment.
Senior mistake
How would you deal with a situation in which your senior made a mistake in a meeting:
Think its very situational, you have to read the room
you have to understand the context of the call, the client, and how your senior works.
But regardless of the situation, you need to be private, find a solution, and never make it seem like a mistake the senior had made.
Ex:
For example, an MD and I were on a client call and he described an EBITDA covenant as a monthly covenant, but our approved term sheet from credit was tested monthly, calculated on a trailing 3-month basis.
While he wasn’t speaking, I sent a quick ping and a follow-up, but he didn’t see it.
I knew the client was going straight to investors after the call, so we needed to clarify in real time — and I’d only step in if I was 100% sure.
When the client asked about covenant mechanics and it was my turn to speak
I framed it as a definition check: ‘Just to confirm on mechanics as the definitions can be a little confusing — we test it monthly, but it’s measured on a trailing three-month basis.’
My MD quickly picked up on it, and was able to course-correct, and just said something right after I was speaking like, that is correct, this will be tested monthly on a TTM basis.
And the client didn’t notice or probe.
And after the call my MD thanked me, and said like good catch I forgot about that.
If it isn’t time-sensitive, I wouldn’t correct it live — I would draft out an email with the correct language, so right after he or I could send a follow up with the right language.
10MM AR Line of Credit
Closed $10MM AR Line of Credit for $90MM+ DTC food brand: developed underwriting analysis with AR benchmarking to evaluate risk & mitigating factors; presented analysis to Co-Chief Credit Officer.
Snapshot:
10MM AR Line of credit, for a high-protein cereal company in the better-for-you consumer vertical.
The company had seen significant growth and were expected to hit 100MM vs. 80MM the previous year.
Transaction Rationale:
They had come to us because they were scaling and pushing into wholesale from DTC, which would change their working-capital profile materially.
But with the shift to wholesale, the company was expecting about $7MM of new A/R and wanted an LOC with maximum availability to support AR growth
The challenge was, credit was uncomfortable with a line of credit with no guardrails on the AR line.
How I Helped:
I led the underwrite focusing on researching the market, risks and mitigants, and key credit highlights.
Built out AR benchmarking using comps analysis with downside modeling and line structuring
How I got credit comfortable:
We were able to get credit comfortably because of sufficient liquidity in downside scenarios and investor support to fund the company in a low liquidity situation,
And the AR line structure I proposed, included protective guardrails which alleviate concerns of unproven AR.
With this structure, my VP and I presented to credit committee and the co-chief credit officer and got approval to move the deal forward.
Risks/Migigants:
Concentration Risk: Capped exposure to any single retailer, meant not taking credit risk on one retailer.
Unproven AR: Would only lend against high quality AR (AR greater than 90 days, excluded from borrowing base) + customer payments collected through bank to pay down line.
Macro: Showed high retention on subscription service, high margins, new co-manufacturer which reduced costs, had higher margins, and a general willingness from consumers to pay for health even in downturns.
——————————————————————————————————————————————
What was the protective structure:
Have 80% availability so we lend 80 cents to the dollar not 1v1.
Capped exposure to any single retailer
Only lend against high-quality recent invoices.
Customer payments would collected through the bank to pay down the line.
Key credit highlights:
Investor: High Post Capital, Jeff Bezos’s VC/PE firm, led Series B, said would inject more capital if needed.
Runway: History of growth Improving EBITDA which approaches positive levels. Had 30Mm in cash, over 12 months runway.
Strong Mgmt Team: Brought in a CFO with 10 years experience running 7th generation large consumer goods company.
AR comps:
Similar product at similar wholesalers
Look at what DSO would look like, aging mix, concentration, dilution.
($45MM CapEx Term Loan + Revolving Line)
Daniel Chulsky & Tysawn Jones
($45MM CapEx Term Loan + Revolving Line)
Snapshot:
45MM CapEx Term Loan and Revolving LOC, for a 3PL company in the logistics vertical.
Transaction Rationale:
It was an interesting deal to work on, as it was one of the few clients that were benefitting from the tariff announcements.
As companies reshoring inventory, their pipeline grew 3x to $450MM and as such needed to increase inventory storage capabilities and expanded fulfillment needs.
Management and the investor had aggressive projections with revenues growing to $125 from 75Mm the year before, and wanted to be rewarded with looser covenants, in particular the minimum cash and EBITDA covenant.
How I Helped:
I was leading the underwriting research of the market, risks and mitigants, and key credit highlights.
I also lead the model build out and covenant structuring with multiple downside scenario situations to understand default situations.
How I got credit / client comfortable:
We were able to get credit and the client comfortable with the new covenant levels were:
I built out various less restricted covenant level situations, testing covenant margins and ability to service their debt payable in multiple downside scenarios.
Using this, we were able to determine appropriate covenant levels that supported the clients’ ask while still allowed credit to feel comfortable.
And so the covenant analysis and downside models became the backbone for our negotiation with management and our credit committee, but we received approval and were later able to close the deal.
Key Risks and Mitigants:
Pipeline conversion: Company had signed 200MM of signed contracts for the coming years, sticky contracts with expensive break clauses
Liquidity: Company had runway that was over 20 months, and investors would put in additional capital protecting our minimum cash covenant
EBITDA: Had been impvoed quarter over quarter, revenue growth was significant, while expenses would not rise proportionally, and so bottom line was protected.
Competition: They had competition but stood out
New covenant levels:
15MM Min Cash to 10MM -> would still liquidity for our revolver, interest payments, and investors said they would fund if needed
EBITDA;How that would impact debt payback, liquidity, and covenant margins.
And used that to run the discussions between the client, the investors, and credit.
We landed on a structure that credit was comfortable with, but still provided the company flexibility.
For example, reducing the minimum cash from $15MM to $10MM, and a TTM EBITDA with breakeven levels rather than positive.
Even in a severe underperformance scenario, the company would have liquidity to pay debt through 2027, and wouldn’t trip covenants until 2H 2026, at which point investors noted they would provide additional capital if needed.
70MM mezz
Lawrence Herman (CFO)
Overview:
70MM Mezzanine Term Loan for an all-in-one laundromat platform in the local services subvertical.
The Company had recently acquired a payments company, and were looking for debt to support growth.
Rationale:
The company was scaling and were expecting revenue to grow from 50MM in 2024 to over 80MM in 2025, approaching its first year of CF+ levels.
The challenge we faced was, this was a competitive deal process, and as such, we had to strip any covenants from our term sheet and credit had concerns on the company’s exposure in China and quarterly Earnout payments.
How I helped:
I led the underwrite focusing on market research, risks and mitigants, and key credit highlights.
Built out the model and downside scenarios to understand impacts of increasing costs related to tariffs and liquidity position post earnout payments.
How I got credit comfortable:
Company had sufficient liquidity in downside scenarios to pay earnout payments and interest payments
If they didn’t investors would come in with additional liquidity.
Key risk and mitigants used in underwrite, got credit comfortable on tariff impacts.
Risk:
Chinese production: High marins, could pass down cost + in talks with US and german producers
Earnouts: 1-2MM a quarter, they had runway with these payments of over 12 months still.
Investor: Strong investor support from strong investors
History of financial growth and success
Strong management team.
Tell me about a deal
HSG acquisition of a majority stake in the Golden Goose Group: Dec 2025 / Summer 2026
Background:
I have been following HSGs majority investment in Golden Goose, which was announced in Dec 2025, expected to close summer 2026.
Valued at an estimated 2.5Bn, Golden Goose is a Next-Gen Luxury Italian Footwear and Fashion Brand
Along with HSG Temasek is coming in as a minority investor and
Permira is rolling a minority stake forward after buying GG in 2020 for 1.3Bn
Rational 1: clear growth lever in Asia:
Luxury demand has continued to increase in Asia
GG had only 10% of sales in Asia vs traditional luxury players having over 30%
HSG + Temasek can make that happen, having done it in the past bringing western brands to Asia.
Rationale 2: Financials look strong:
FY’24 revenue grew to 13% to about $655MM and EBITDA of 227 vs 70MM in 2020.
Margin profile of 33% so on par for luxury brands
DTC focused, control pricing, idnentiy and control inventory
Operational improvements HSG, could move some production to China.
Rational 3:
For Permira, clean alternative to an IPO
Try to bring them public in June 2024 on Milan SE but pulled it due to market volatility and tariffs.
This gives them liquidity and price certainty with the risk of an IPO.
Risks:
Macro and luxury softness
Failed IPO precedent
Leverage
My thoughts:
But overall, I think the pros outweigh the risks.
There is a very clear growth lever in Asia and HSG and Temasek are the right type of partners to scale that while keeping the Italian heritage as they have done for other luxury brands,
There will always be macro and consumer risk, but they have seen growth through a decline and have found a niche in the market
Risks:
Macro and luxury softness
They have shown 13% YoY growth despite luxury goods seeing 2% decline
They have scaled, and strong margins so can absorb market softness
DTC lever (higher control, margins, pricing control)
Asia still large player
Failed IPO precedent:
IPO was based on market volatility, not business specific risk
Think private ownership makes more sense:
Operational change, rollout to asia, without public scrutiny.
Feels like permira still has confidence in a future exit keeping minority stake.
Leverage:
480MM of debt before hand set to mature 2031 that will be redeemed to reset cap structure
Leverage about 2.4x, cash of 150MM, gives flexibility
EBITDA expansion opportunities.
FCF expected to be 40-60MM
Regulatory:
ITaly and the EU have strengthened foreign investment screening for strategic assets, which could extend timelines or impose conditions on production or governance.
Why did HSG and Temasek do this:
HSG:
Flagship european asset, and diversification of portfolio
Clear Asia expansion strategy (deep connections to bytedance and red note)
Ami Paris, Marshall
Bought at a discount:
EV/EBITDA of 11x vs 16x among peers.
Permira avoids busted IPO
Smaller scale brand with less geographic reach than peers.
Temsaek:
Diversify tech-heavy portfolio
Asia experience and clear asia expansion (Monclear, Zegna)
They are known for long holding times, not in a rush.
Debt:
800 to 900MM in debt (High Yield Bonds)
Leverage ratio at about 2 today, would be closer to 3.5x
Strong EBITDA profile and clear operational improvements to manage risk.
Low capital intensity
Time things didnt go as planned, stakeholder management, unresponsive VP
Unresponsive VP:
VPs get busy and may not be responsive, start with a short ping, and then a short email that makes it easy to reply “yes/no/ok”.
If I still don’t hear back, and I am confident I will keep moving forward using my best judgement but keeping the VP aligned.
If I am unsure, connect with another VP to see if they can provide more clarity and continue to move forward
Situation:
At SVB, at the beginning of the US-China tariff announcements. We had a fire drill
One of my clients, who historically had 100% of production in China, was randomly selected by internal audit for a credit reassessment.
We essentially had to re-underwrite and justify the rating in a week
At the same time, the VP was out of office, and I was working on two other UWs.
If didnt go as planned say: so nothing was going to plan
Task:
I needed to deliver an audit-quality reassessment on a tight timeline, without my VP, and without missing deadlines on my other deals.
Action:
Action I took:
I aligned with the other VPs I was supporting and confirmed only one of the UWs had to be done by EoW.
I then reviewed what the analyst and I would need to do to get this done.
With my VP OOO, I sent a quick note on my plan and timeline to keep us moving but aligned.
I sent the analyst a gold-standard example, set timelines, and check in points to course correct if needed.
I delegated the work by strengths, and I owned the the judgement sections which i sanity checked with another VP quickly
In parallel got clarity of CFO on tariff impacts and investors thoughts.
Result:
By later that week we had finished the reassessment, and the VP had come back and reviewed before we were sent to credit.
My VP appreciated the leadership, communication and quality of work, and I was able to complete the underwrite for my other deal.
Gave me confidence in my ability to effectively lead in uncertainty while balancing multiple asks.
Mini-case: colleague drops pitch work the night before client meeting
Mini-case: colleague drops pitch work the night before client meeting
Take a step back and understand the ask
Understand what the must haves that need to be included in the client meeting and focus on those
If you cant bring anyone else in to support you, keep it lean and clean, presenting to a client you cant have sloppy work.
If you can bring someone in, split up the work, set clear task and still prioritize
Afterwards:
Try to have a private 1:1 and an open conversation to see what happened, and if there is a way you can get ahead of it next time.
Situation/Task
Prospect term sheet process, client unexpectedly push up timing for all term sheets to be submitted from EoW to the next afternoon.
We had gotten updated financials the day before
So we would have to update the model and prep the credit pitch as we had to go to credit first thing in the morning.
Task:
My VP pinged me in the late afternoon with our updated timeline
The challenge was, this was something we thought we had 3 days to do, but just had overnight.
Action:
I took a list at what we had done, and made a list of must-haves for credit in the morning:.
1) Updated model 2) a clean pitch on business, investors, risks, mitigants, and financial summary and projections with updated numbers.
I connected with my VP, and aligned him on what the analyst and I would 100% be able to get done by tomorrow.
I asked the analyst update the model while I drafted our credit pitch that we could fill in when we had updated numbers
Once the model was done, I checked it, and updated and sent the package to the VP that night so he could review.
Result:
VP reviewed first thing in the morning, we made a few quick refinements, went to credit that morning, and had a term sheet out by the afternoon.
The takeaway for me is fire drills happen—so you assess the damage fast, prioritize what’s essential to move things forward, communicate early so expectations are aligned, and then execute.”
Time you took a risk
For me, business school was a huge risk
Situation:
Things at SVB were finally stabilizing after the bank failure
And I was on track for a promotion within a few months before leaving
Task/Risk:
But I have know for a long time that I wanted to transition into investment banking, live and build my career in London
And I was willing to bet on myself
Action:
Before I made the decision I did treat it as a calculated risk.
I thought about the financial side of things, social, and career elements.
Spoke with mentors, family, and LBS alumni to determine if this was a smart move
Made pros and conts, looked at both ST and LT considerations.
Allowed me to see the full picture, understand the risk, and make the best decision that I could.
Result:
And so far, I am extremely happy with the decision
The MiF has been a great opportunity from an educational standpoint, but also building my network among peers, but also with LBS alumni.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths:
Detail-oriented, Adaptable and a take initative
Detail Oriented:
SVB lean team meant had to be detailed oriented to be successful
Worked directly with D/MD on deal. They couldnt check every minute detail of a model, UW or deck.
So I had a high bar for myself of being detailed in the work I did.
I tried to be as analytical in the way I worked, I made checklists for the models, decks, and UWs I worked on to make sure I hit that standard.
And on top of that, given everything that had happened at SVB, the way that I showed up for clients, and the work for them had no margin for error, had to be to the highest standard
Adaptable:
Given everything that happened at SVB, meant adapting and learning on the fly. I would have to play three roles, the VP, Associate, and managing the analyst.
If VPs weren’t staffed on deals, that meant I would lead the deal process from end to end
Othertimes, I would get pulled into a deal or a call with a CEO with little prior context and have to learn the business quickly to be ready for a client call later that day
It was challenging, but I genuinely enjoyed it as it pushed me to keep learning everyday.
Take initative:
Realized early on seniors had to juggle a million things. Client meetings to calls.
Tried to make their lives easier by getting ahead of what was needed
Ex: if new we had a client, investor or committee call
Prep materials early, think of questions and answers to those questions we may get, think of questions for them
Would do this and send this to team/senior to make lives easier and save time.
If someone was under-water, would try to help out in whatever way I could.
Feel like naturally want to try to solve problems and figure things out by myself
But also don’t want to bother people when I know they are slammed.
Team was lean at SVB, people were constantly bouncing between calls, credit meetings, and IC so early on had mindset of “let me just grind this out and not take up anyone’s time”
But quickly realized that can just slow everything else down
Learned that a 90 second gut check from a VP can save hours of work, and that people want to help especially if they know you have tried to solve it.
Gotten better at knowing when something is becoming inefficient to do alone after not being able to resolve it myself, and ask.
Made a lot of progress on that, but its something that I still keep an eye on.
