Decoding Wall Street: I-Banking & Private Equity [Jennifer Hwang]

In this episode, I speak with my Stanford classmate Jennifer Hwang. She’s an absolute boss in the professional finance world and she gives the download on recruiting for and working in investment banking, private equity, and hedge funds. Jenn also balances warmth, kindness, and silliness, which is why she is one of my closest friends that I met at business school. I am so excited for you to join our conversation. Let’s dive in!

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⌚️Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
02:09 Start of podcast
02:53 Cherie’s goals
03:44 Biggest lessons as a content creator
05:22 How has the GSB changed Cherie?
06:19 Dealing with conflict at the GSB
09:06 Jennifer’s background
10:40 IB vs PE vs Growth Equity
13:11 Funding by company stage
14:05 Private equity explained
14:55 Investment banking explained
15:48 Public vs private investing
16:51 Public investing roles defined
18:58 Hedge funds explained
20:28 Traits needed for IB and PE
22:16 Transition from IB to growth equity
25:06 Process from IB to PE roles
25:32 Lack of diversity in finance
26:35 Are IB analysts prepared to jump to PE in only 3 months?
27:34 Training process for new grads
29:24 How research in undergrad influenced Jennifer postgrad
30:21 Cherie’s experience in research labs
32:42 Sacrificing your 20s for future success
36:00 Compensation structure for finance
37:39 Base + bonus for PE junior analyst
38:27 Base + bonus for PE VPs
40:50 What Jennifer likes about growth equity
42:43 Jennifer’s favorite brands
43:39 Traits needed to succeed in finance
44:45 Late nights in finance
45:56 Finance or “finance”
46:39 Protected weekends
48:48 “In-day” at LinkedIn
49:37 Investment banking long hours
51:04 What has Jennifer learned in the last 5 years?
52:12 GSB being a break from the work world
53:40 Life giving vs life draining endeavors
54:31 Importance of mental health in work
55:28 Should you make your passion your job?
57:33 The next 5 years for Jennifer
59:15 Where did Cherie see herself today as a child?
01:00:29 Did Cherie want to be an entrepreneur growing up?
01:02:15 Jennifer’s favorite class at GSB
01:03:52 Cherie’s favorite class at GSB
01:05:20 Why are Stanford students so passionate in class?
01:07:28 Cherie’s legacy
01:10:42 What Jennifer looks forward to in remaining time at GSB
01:11:52 Closing thoughts


ABOUT ME
Hello friends, thanks for watching! My name is Cherie and I'm a content creator, Stanford MBA student, & former LinkedIn senior product manager 👋🏻 I share personal career stories on Cherie's Corner Podcast via YouTube and Instagram, so you can learn from my friends and our successes and failures, all while owning our authentic selves and living happier lives.

Music produced by Sammy Signal https://open.spotify.com/artist/2Hsyk...