My Background:
Demographics: Male, 33 years old, currently finishing T15 Executive MBA this year
Current Package: $210k salary plus $100k equity compensation
Professional Journey:
- Big4 audit and transaction services: 4 years (earned CPA)
- FP&A leadership at private firm: 3 years
- Strategic Finance Director at fast-growing fintech: 4 years (company grew from $150M to $500M revenue, achieved unicorn status)
My present position involves significant deal work including managing debt financings, secondary rounds, and equity transactions. I also oversee our FP&A and Strategic Finance departments. The aspects I find most rewarding are the project-driven transaction work, intense deadline pressure, and collaborating with sharp professionals from investment banks and advisory shops. I particularly enjoy building financial models, performing valuations, and crafting compelling narratives.
Target Opportunities:
I want to use my Executive MBA to transition into a position with consistent deal exposure. Given my non-traditional background for investment banking or private equity, I’m exploring multiple paths:
- Corp Dev roles
- Middle-market investment banking
- PE/VC operational positions or deal advisory
- Management consulting with transaction focus
- Big4 transaction advisory or valuation services
Potential Obstacles:
- Current age (33)
- Executive MBA format versus traditional full-time program
- Extended period away from Big4 environment
My Advantages:
- Financial flexibility allows for compensation reduction
- No family planning constraints, can handle intensive schedules
- CPA certification, prestigious EMBA, and substantial deal experience
How feasible are these career moves, and what strategies would you recommend for making this transition successful?
Management consulting with a transaction focus is probably your best bet. Firms like Bain Capital’s consulting arm or strategy practices at McKinsey and BCG are starving for people who get both the operational and financial sides of deals. Your path from audit to strategic finance to deal execution tells a great story - you’ve seen transactions from every angle and can talk shop with buyers and sellers alike. Being older actually helps in consulting since clients want seasoned expertise, not green MBAs. Plus you’ll get exposure to all kinds of deals across industries, which helps you figure out what you want to specialize in long-term. Your EMBA classmates will be gold here - many are decision-makers who could become clients or send referrals your way. Skip campus recruiting and go straight to executive search firms that focus on experienced hires. They’ll love your deal background and the fact that you can add value to client teams from day one.
Your unicorn fintech deal experience is gold! Corp Dev and transaction advisory are perfect matches for your background. Hit up your EMBA classmates hard - tons of them probably work at companies you’re targeting. Having a CPA plus actual transaction experience beats the typical route any day. Go for it!
you’re definitely not too old at 33, especially with real deal experience. skip the bulge brackets and target boutiques - they actually care about what you can do, not where you went to school. that fintech growth story is gold, so hammer it in every interview. start networking now while you’re finishing the emba.
You’ve got a huge advantage most candidates don’t - flexibility on comp. Middle-market IB is totally doable since they want experienced people who can jump right in, not MBAs they need to train from scratch. Your best bet is probably the Big4 transaction advisory route. You’ve already got the CPA and Big4 background, so firms like EY-Parthenon or Deloitte Corporate Finance actively hunt for people like you. Target deals that match your fintech background - growth equity, venture debt, tech M&A. The Executive MBA timing is perfect too since you can network while still working, so you won’t have the scheduling nightmare that comes with interviewing.