Old Grad Club Live

We bring the veteran community together monthly to have conversations with industry leaders in their field. We talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly across impactful industries.

Evan Brainerd: Managing Director, Technology Investment Banking, William Blair

There’s a huge temptation to go after big brands in banking in the same way you go after them for business schools, but I think it’s more important to find the right cultural fit. Where do you find the greatest intellectual challenge? Where do you see the most room to grow? Where do you love the team around you? That becomes vastly more important than chasing after one name or the other.

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Ethan Plater: Leveraged Finance, Morgan Stanley

The first few years as an investment banker are really tough, but once you can get through the high-slope learning curve, your military background will provide a significant value-add. Things we consider basic skills – courage, leadership, initiative – will really come to fruition as you gain experience and seniority.

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Mark Yurko: Managing Director, Spurrier Capital Partners

When I came out of business school in 2002, there was a very clear hierarchy between firms, with the largest banks on top. Since then, boutiques have taken much more market share, while providing employees with greater freedom and autonomy. In fact, many of the competitors we hold the greatest respect for are other boutique firms that provide laser-focused expertise.

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Alex Vichinsky: Summer Associate, McKinsey & Company

For those about to start their MBA, I would recommend waiting until you begin classes to kickoff case prep. I have seen many people become burned out from case interview fatigue, so I would encourage you to trust your school's process. I waited until October to start casing and I had my final round interviews in the first week of January. If you can't sit still and feel like you need to do SOMETHING to prepare before class, I highly recommend the book "Case Interview Secrets" by Victor Chen. The book is free for veterans, so you have nothing to lose by ordering.

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Charlie Lewis: Expert Associate Partner, McKinsey & Company

McKinsey is a big place, providing you opportunities to find your core group of sponsors and mentors. This allows you to identify what problems you enjoy solving and who you like to solve them with. Solving for the people plus the problem creates a great environment to work with people from a variety of backgrounds with similar passions and interests to you.

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Andrew Thoma: Associate Partner, McKinsey & Company

Walking into the client site for the first time was similar to being a 2LT showing up to my unit for the first time; there was a lot of pressure to deliver, and while you have a solid background and education, you’re still unproven. People size you up and are skeptical about what value you may be able to bring. Ultimately, your success will depend on your ability to win over the client team by proving to them you are competent, can deeply understand the problem and the context, and tailor a solution that the organization can deliver.

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Brian Elliot: Co-founder, Faubion

I think advice for people who are thinking about starting is the only barrier to entry is yourself. You could be working on something right after this call. Anything that you think is less than ideal with significant space and is 2/3 of either better, faster, or cheaper and you’re probably going to be wrong but that’s okay. It’s more or less getting over your own self doubt which is the biggest barrier to entry for most folks.

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Alex Pruden: Chief Strategy Officer, Aleo

If you’re interested in a career in crypto, but unsure of the security: in my mind, there’s no going back – you’re not putting this genie [crypto] back in the bottle. There’s enough adoption, interest and proven use cases, and I’ve never felt better about career prospects in this industry. It’s all about getting started, finding your skills and interests, and building your network as you apply them. A lot of companies are hiring as fast as they can to keep up with demand!

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