Wrapping up the last week of my internship at Ellery Partners, I cannot express my thanks to Jalen Ross and Orlando Remak for intensively teaching me about the search fund process, sourcing companies, diving into different niche industries, modeling a DCF and LBO, and the mentorship, guidance, and advice. As a rising sophomore, this internship has opened my eyes to a diverse range of companies and industries, along with exposing a new side of finance for me.
Driven by teamwork and branching off of each other’s ideas, the warmhearted, open-minded and welcoming environment of the team allowed for me to feel comfortable sharing my own ideas and asking questions. With the current situation of moving virtual, I feel that communication and team-building becomes more essential and critical; however, through my internship, I was able to improve my skills and effectively communicate with the CEO’s and the other interns throughout the entire process. By receiving constructive feedback on performance, I was able to pinpoint areas of growth and work alongside my partner in addressing any hurdles, assigning roles, and brainstorming ways to improve our industry pitches overtime. Furthermore, the daily scrum meetings tightened our team bond by giving me the opportunity to get to know each intern and Jalen and get updates on what’s happening in everyone’s lives all across the United States! The welcoming nature of the virtual office has led all of the interns and me, working inside of our homes, to become one connected tight-knit team.
Spending the last weeks modeling a DCF and LBO for the first time, from understanding the process of comps to calculating EBITDA and WACC with a sensitivity analysis, the entire process that came with a high learning curve was one of the highlights of my internship. Asking questions to other interns about #ERROR messages I was getting in my Excel Spreadsheet and being able to give back by answering their questions, the intangible merit of learning through others was a memorable aspect of my time here at Ellery Partners.
Recapping my summer internship, I’ve had the great opportunity to learn about the decision-making process of deal sourcing and pitching industries. Researching, analyzing, and reading an abundant number of industry reports, I’ve learned about unique industries, “different” from the typical tech or healthcare pitches, which allowed me to gain knowledge about niche industries, including the Portable Toilet Rental, Solar Panel Installation, and Artificial Grass Turf Installation industry. Breaking down the industries’ megatrend growth, fragmentation, revenue volatility, profit margins, and the potential that the industry held in the future, during the analysis process, I was able to discover another way of conquering the analysis process.
Throughout my time at Ellery Partners I was exposed to as much of the searching/ deal sourcing process as possible. Outreach to potential clients and building strong long-term relationships with brokers helped me improve my email-writing and communication skills. The moment I started receiving responses from potential companies and emailing brokers, the process seemed almost “alive.” Having broker pipeline meetings every week with Orlando allowed me learn more about the valuation process and hear from the interns about the other deals that they were working on, which genuinely brought the team together, interactively asking questions and sharing information that we knew.
Overall, looking back, my experience at Ellery Partners exceeded my expectations and I am genuinely glad and proud to call this my first college internship. Even though I was working remotely with the team, the welcoming, tight-knit team is one to remember. Learning a wide range of new technical skills, I am grateful to have learned from Orlando and Jalen, work alongside a group of highly motivated and open-hearted interns, and grow my career in finance through this internship.