Wall Street Diaries

On this episode, Max talks with Emilie Carrel, UK CEO of Edge Skills and a former investment banker in London. Emilie has personally helped more than 100 students land offers at banks like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, working alongside mentors from firms including Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, and Perella. This episode talks about how UK investment banking recruiting works, why spring weeks set off a domino effect for the rest of your career, what happens inside a UK assessment center, why acceptance rates can fall below one percent, and why networking might matter even more in London than it does on Wall Street. 0:00 Trailer 1:47 Meet Emilie Carrel 2:19 The Three Phases of UK Recruiting 7:29 What Is a Spring Week 11:53 Inside the UK Assessment Center 16:14 Why Networking Matters in the UK 25:32 US vs UK Behavioral Interviews 28:57 UK Technical Interviews and Modeling Tests 31:38 Compensation and Lifestyle in London 35:27 The UK Bank Landscape 42:31 What Edge Skills Does 46:35 Advice for US Students Targeting London 49:36 Conclusion ✉️ Connect with me Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wallstreetm... LinkedIn: / maxbradleyadams Book a call ☎️ https://wallstmastermind.com/apply/?h... Website https://wallstmastermind.com/?hts=you... If you have any questions, feel free to comment below ⬇️ #WallStreetDiaries #WallStreetMastermind #InvestmentBanking #UKInvestmentBanking #LondonBanking #EdgeSkills #FinanceCareers #careeradvice

On this episode, Max talks with Sam Morell, senior production analyst on CBRE's Debt and Structured Finance team in Nashville, closing over $1B in loan volume across 50+ transactions a year. Sam's path wasn't traditional--after stints in tech, venture capital, and structured real estate debt at Chatham Financial, he built his own deal models on his own time to prove himself before the interviews even started. They get into how commercial real estate debt brokerage actually works, what defeasance is, why Nashville is one of the hottest real estate markets in the country, and how proof-of-work and relentless networking can get you hired from a non-target school. 0:00 Trailer 1:16 Meet Sam Morell 3:02 What CBRE's Debt Team Does 6:41 Inside The Billion-Dollar Pipeline 11:06 Finding Real Estate At Chatham 18:45 What Is Defeasance? 26:33 From Chatham To CBRE 39:03 Breaking In From A Non-Target School 41:46 Rapid Fire ✉️ Connect with me Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wallstreetm... LinkedIn: / maxbradleyadams Book a call ☎️ https://wallstmastermind.com/apply/?h... Website https://wallstmastermind.com/?hts=you... If you have any questions, feel free to comment below ⬇️

On this episode, Max talks with Michael Paretzky, co-founder and CEO of Podstock, an analytics and operations platform used by some of the biggest names in podcasting. Michael left M&A consulting after testing the podcast industry for 20 hours a week on the side, then built Podstock after stints at Odyssey, Cadence13, and Stanford GSB. They get into how to actually test a career pivot before quitting, what makes a good cofounder, and why podcasting is still dramatically undermonetized despite its reach. 0:00 Trailer 1:44 Meet Michael Paretzky 2:39 Life In M&A Consulting 9:48 Testing Podcasting On The Side 10:40 Joining Odyssey 14:02 Making A Big Leap 19:04 Path To Stanford GSB 22:10 Finding A Cofounder 26:04 Business Of Podcasting 32:00 A Podcast Superfan 34:50 Going International 38:03 Breaking Into Media 39:11 Recap ✉️ Connect with me Instagram: https://tinyurl.com/3dv9ff3b LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/mrxd9fvu Book a call ☎️ https://tinyurl.com/2rvxtjmn Website https://tinyurl.com/c3advtcv If you have any questions, feel free to comment below ⬇️ #WallStreetDiaries #WallStreetMastermind #PodcastBusiness #CareerPivot #StartupFounder #StanfordGSB #MandAConsulting #Entrepreneurship #PodcastIndustry #CareerAdvice

Veronica Shay went from internal audit in Eastern Europe to product manager at a fintech startup to AVP at Aeon Group in Manhattan — with no target school, no legacy connections, and no traditional finance background. In this episode, she breaks down how she sent 4,000- 5,000 cold emails to land her first US role, why she chose a talent-based green card over the work visa lottery, what it's really like being the only woman at every firm she's worked at, and where she sees the best opportunities in fintech, healthcare, and blockchain right now. 00:00 Trailer: Cold Emails and Grit 00:52 Intro: Meet Veronica Shay 02:26 Building a Finance Career From Scratch 06:49 Breaking Into the US With No Network 09:08 5,000 Cold Emails and 200 Calls 11:17 Do Credentials Actually Matter? 12:34 Visa Lottery vs. Talent Visa 15:52 Inside Aeon Group: Secondaries and SPACs 18:36 Early-Stage vs. Late-Stage Investing 20:57 Hottest Sectors and AI's Impact 26:15 What VC Actually Looks Like 27:40 Why Cross-Border M&A Is Hard 29:56 Product Manager to Banker 32:27 Being the Only Woman, Honestly 38:26 Resilience, Mistakes, and Becoming a Founder 43:27 Final Advice and Rapid Fire Questions ✉️ Connect with me Instagram: https://tinyurl.com/3dv9ff3b LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/mrxd9fvu Book a call ☎️ https://tinyurl.com/2rvxtjmn Website https://tinyurl.com/c3advtcv

Matt Winterholler didn't take the traditional path into finance. He completed ten internships before landing his first offer, broke into banking from a non target school, and eventually left Mizuho to join a fast growing tech company willing to trade banking hours for a four-day work week. In this episode, Matt walks Max through what corporate development actually looks like day to day, how he made the leap from Mizuho TMT to PDQ and eventually to Governor Solutions in GovTech, and why he believes his career is more luck than skill. He also breaks down the cold email mistakes that got him corrected by an MD, and what actually separates people who level up fast from those who plateau. 0:00 Intro 5:55 Inside Corporate Development 16:06 His Career Trajectory 21:19 His Take on AI 23:41 Why He Skipped the Safe Route 28:04 Landing the Governor Opportunity 30:59 What Is GovTech 33:05 Moving to the Operating Side 35:23 Trading Banking Perks for a 4 Day Week 37:21 Inside the Actual Deals 40:29 What He Wishes He'd Known 42:08 Breaking In From a Non Target School 50:56 Balancing 10 Internships 53:06 What Actually Worked Breaking In 56:41 Giving Back and Mentoring 58:19 Cold Emails and Confidence 1:01:59 What Separates Fast Growers From the Rest 1:03:21 Recap and Rapid Fire ✉️ Connect with me Instagram: https://tinyurl.com/3dv9ff3b LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/mrxd9fvu Book a call ☎️ https://tinyurl.com/2rvxtjmn Website https://tinyurl.com/c3advtcv 🔔 Subscribe for weekly videos about investment banking recruiting @WallStreetMastermind If you have any questions, feel free to comment below ⬇️ #investmentbanking #corporatedevelopment #privateequity #wallstreet #financecareers #mergersandacquisitions #financerecruiting #ibanalyst