PE ➡ VC ➡ MBA ➡ Growth
Investing all along the growth curve
Mattia is a mentor with BeenThere and recent graduate from Wharton. Following his undergrad at University of Virginia, Mattia moved directly to private equity at BankCap Partners and then venture capital at Greenspring Associates. After getting his MBA, he’s now an Associate at Radian Capital, a NYC-based growth equity firm.
You took a pretty unique path out of undergrad by going directly in private equity. How were you able to achieve that? What was that experience like?
100% luck. I was an undergrad business major at UVA and a small firm in Dallas was doing on-campus recruiting, so I applied through career services. The firm was looking to bring on their first junior level hire and didn’t want to pay an “MBA premium” so they decided to test the waters at UVA (where one of the managing partners attended school). I’m originally from Dallas, which they liked, and I guess I showed enough in the interview to convince them to take a shot on me, so I got the offer.
The experience was incredible, but not without trade-offs. I immediately got deal experience, and I think got a very good sense for how the PE world operates. Being the only junior investment team member, I got to wear a lot of hats — fundraising, sourcing, working with existing portfolio companies, interfacing with LP, all on top of day-to-day deal execution. That said, I missed out on more of the rigorous technical training you get working in investment banking first. Overall, if you have the opportunity, I think it is worth it as long as you’re honest with yourself about the opportunity costs.
You then moved directly into venture capital. What drew you to Greenspring? Was there much of a learning curve? What was most different?
The PE firm I was at invested in the commercial banking space, and after close to three years in that world, I was looking for a change. I’d always been passionate about technology, and knew that a pivot to VC/tech investing made a lot of sense. I got a warm intro to the team at Greenspring which was growing like crazy and sits at a really compelling intersection in the venture world, doing both fund-of-fund investing as well as later-stage direct investing.
I’d say the biggest change was the size/scale of the firm — Greenspring was a multi-billion investment firm with close to 50 employees, so deal velocity was high. There was definitely a learning period to get comfortable with their investment strategy and understanding the ins and outs of the broader market, but ultimately the “deal process” was pretty similar, so I was able to on-board reasonably quickly.
Why did you want to get your MBA at Wharton? How was that additive to your career trajectory? Was there anything that you didn’t expect, but really valued?
My wife and I decided to apply to schools together. We figured that, in the event admissions didn’t swing our way (we wanted to attend the same program), we could always wait a year and try again. We were fortunate to both be accepted to Wharton, so it was a no-brainer decision. The combination of the stellar brand of the program and the network (both in my class and the alumni community) have been — and will continue to be — highly additive. Given I studied business in undergrad, I didn’t expect to get as much out of the academics as some others, but I was pleasantly surprised, and several of the electives were incredibly interesting.
Post-school, you moved into growth equity. Why’d you choose to go that route? What is different vs. what you saw before school?
I went into school targeting growth roles. I viewed the industry as the happy medium between VC and PE — focus on fast growing, innovative companies, but with enough of track record to rigorously underwrite the businesses. In my opinion, growth is much closer to PE than VC — power law dynamics aren’t in play, and we expect to make money on every investment.
I think the biggest surprise has been just how important your network is in this space, both in terms of dealflow and just keeping your finger on the pulse of the industry. My business school experience has already been helpful on this front, and I’d expect it to be even more important over time.
Any advice for those seeking to break into VC/growth/PE?
Don’t rely on the career services department or job postings. Sure, a few of the larger firms do annual on-campus recruiting, but most hire opportunistically and based on referrals from their networks. Look for warm intros to firms operating in spaces you are knowledgeable about, and then come up with ways to add value.
I got my internship with Radian by proposing an idea for a strategic project I could tackle over the summer that would help on the dealflow side. I think the team appreciated that I came in with a clear suggestion of what an internship would look like, had a good understanding of the firm’s strategy, and could point to specific ways the project would help with dealflow.
Additionally, I’d suggest applicants spend time getting smart on one or two areas they’re excited about — proptech, fintech, HCIT, whatever. Understand the high-level trends impacting the space, and then identify one or two companies that are interesting (bonus points if they’re tailored to whatever firm you’re talking too).
If you’re interested in VC, check out our previous blog post, Venture Interview Guide and other follow-up resources.
For questions on your career search or MBA application, schedule a free consultation with one of our founders, or search and connect with a mentor like Mattia by creating a profile on beenthere.mba!
