27 Too Young to Search?

April 07, 2021

by a searcher from Carnegie Mellon University - Tepper School of Business in Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Hello,

I am a first year MBA student at Carnegie Mellon with three years of corporate finance experience. I am very passionate about pursuing a search post grad, but am afraid I might be pursuing a path that is out of my depth with not only the ability to secure funding, but also the ability to execute a deal, and the largest hurdle of earning the respect and confidence of a workforce as a junior leader. Would really appreciate advice or insights one what I should do to pursue this path.

For general background.

Graduated undergrad with double major in Finance and Accounting
Worked corporate FPA at a $300MM Rev/year manufacturing plant for 3 years.
Father owned a small 8 person electrical contracting company growing up, and was able to witness not only the day to day and growth of the business but also the deal process of them exiting 4 years ago. This "micro" experience has been a motivator for my passion to search.

Please let me know if you have any questions and would be happy to share.

Reply by a searcher
from Hillsdale College in New York, NY, USA

Not too young, but all jobs are harder the less experience you have. I was a 25 year old manager at McKinsey managing people ten years older than me and counseling clients 3 times my age. When I coach other young people, a few things stand out:
* How you dress matters -- you have to show that you take things seriously
* Much more importantly: how you behave matters. Confidence mixed with humility is a hard attitude to achieve and a very hard attitude to convey
* Build your network of people who have done more than you have, and never be afraid to use their expertise.
* Find something that you are an expert at or can become an expert at. For example, finance is one thing that most small business owners don't understand; and most MBAs are terrible at finance too. So if you can both understand and communicate finance well, you'll be able to add value and no one will care how old you are.

Reply by a searcher
from Baker College of Muskegon in Kalamazoo, MI, USA

I am turning 34 later this month. I started building my company when I was 21. There is definitely no reason to wait. I wish I'd have saved up a down payment sooner to start acquiring though. When I was in my early 20's, I used to dress in suits to meetings and was very conscious about what I projected. A couple years ago I stopped caring about that and started letting my accomplishments and experience speak for themselves. You should definitely do it, just know at the beginning it is a tough road. No matter what you do, some people might not take you seriously. F--- them, you don't want them on your team. There are a lot of people who will and want to do business with you if you show you have the brains. GO GET IT!

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