What today is for
- Set your expectations for what this class is about when you are not at your firm
- Meet your peers, and see where your projects are similar and where they differ
- Know the class deliverables and dates
Today's agenda
- Introductions
- What is the PE Field Study?
- Advice from previous students
- Credits and protecting your time
- Grading and deliverables
- Weekly reports, deal blockers, alumni speakers
- Class norms
- Research databases
- This week's assignments
Show of hands
How much time should the project take you each week?
- Half a day
- A day
- Two days
- As long as it takes
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What is the PE Field Study?
A distinctive experiential learning opportunity to work directly with PE firms on real-world projects.
- Work with PE firms, not for them
- Self-contained research projects (deals, portfolio, strategy)
- Mission-crucial but not mission-critical work
- ~1 day/week effort with 30+ min weekly firm contact
Not an internship: unpaid, hours capped at usual class time
Two learning tracks
| Component | Focus |
|---|---|
| Internship | Execute research projects; apply frameworks; navigate PE operations |
| Classroom | Peer problem-solving; discuss PE industry trends |
The goal: Support your internship, and bring classroom learning into practice
Learning to work in new environments
The internship isn't just about modeling and IC work. For many students, the biggest learning is navigating an unfamiliar professional setting.
Common transitions:
- Consulting (e.g., McKinsey) to PE: completely different workflow
- Large-cap PE to lower-middle-market: entrepreneurial, less infrastructure
- Structured corporate roles to independent sponsors: no HR, no templates
Learning to operate without structure is itself a valuable, transferable skill. Your weekly reports will help you reflect on this.
Course structure
| Weeks | Content |
|---|---|
| Week 1 | Introduction and expectations (today) |
| Weeks 2–3 and Week 9 | Alumni speaker series (2 speakers per session) |
| Weeks 4–12 | Current topics, peer learning, student presentations |
Format: Tuesdays, 2:20–3:30 PM, Kravis 630
What previous students say
- Scope and success criteria, settled in the first two weeks
- A standing weekly touchpoint, and boundaries you set yourself
- Relationships beyond your direct supervisor, in person where you can
- The live-deal work goes to the people who ask for it
What previous students say (cont.)
- Triangulate when the data is thin, and verify anything an AI tool gives you
- A credible v1 in weeks 3 and 4 buys more trust than a polished deck later
- Preparation before day one: portfolio companies, CIMs, systems access
- The class cohort is a resource, and outside it you represent CBS
What did you see in the advice slides that stood out?
Who is Professor Ewens?
Who are YOU?
- Name and PE firm
Who you are and who you're working with - The problem I'm solving
Describe the problem you are solving for the firm - What I'm most nervous about
One genuine concern; you will not be the only one with it
Credits and protecting your time
This is a half-credit course (1.5 credits).
What that means
Class meets 70 min/week (not 3 hours)
Roughly one day a week, with some weeks heavier than others
Your PE partner knows the constraints
Setting boundaries
Be explicit about availability upfront
The professor will intervene if needed
Contact happens every week: at least 30 minutes with your firm in each of the 12 weeks, in person, Zoom, or phone.
How you'll be evaluated
| Component | Weight |
|---|---|
| Participation | 35% |
| Weekly reports | 30% |
| Individual presentation | 15% |
| Midterm summary | 10% |
| Final summary | 10% |
PE Fellows
This class, and its successful completion, is the first step to joining the PE Fellows program:
- Complete the LBO model test
- Service requirements: details on the website and at the info session
- Complete PE electives, including Capstone
- Participate in events
- Find a mentor
PE Fellows Info Session
- Tuesday, Sept 15 at 12:30 pm
- Kravis 370
- Free lunch
Goal: talk through all the logistics of the PE Fellows program
Weekly reports
Due before each class via Canvas.
Purpose:
- Reflect on your work with the PE partner
- Track progress and learning
- Develop professional reporting skills
Why? Help you review progress, help me track things (mainly concerned about downside risk).
Weekly reports: standard questions
Every week you'll answer:
- Did you meet with anyone at the partner firm? (Y/N)
- Did you have 30+ minutes of contact time?
- Brief meeting description (1–2 sentences)
- Work completed this week (1 paragraph)
- Plans for the coming week (2 sentences)
Weekly reports: phased learning cycle
| Phase | Weeks | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | 1–4 | What happened? Describing, observing, building awareness |
| Phase 2 | 5–8 | So what? Analyzing, identifying patterns, connecting theory |
| Phase 3 | 9–12 | Now what? Synthesizing, planning future application |
Each phase has additional reflection questions that build on each other.
Deal blocker presentations
What: Present a specific hurdle you face and get actionable advice from peers.
Format: 3–4 presenters per session, roughly 16 minutes each (Sept 29, Oct 6, Oct 20, Oct 27, Nov 10)
How it works:
- You present your deal blocker (8 min)
- Your assigned discussant opens the discussion
- Open discussion with the class
Each student presents once during the term.
Deal blocker: what to present
Good challenges:
- TAM calculation for niche market with no standard data
- Sourcing acquisition targets with ambiguous criteria
- Scope creep: firm expectations expanding beyond a day a week
- Conflicting data sources: which to trust?
- Analysis suggests deal doesn't work, but partner is committed
NOT: Generic updates, completed work, vague questions
Deal blocker: your four slides
| Slide | Content |
|---|---|
| Slide 1 | Firm profile: name, sector focus, key details |
| Slide 2 | Project summary: overview of your internship project |
| Slide 3 | A novel way you or your firm uses AI |
| Slide 4 | The blocker: specific challenge, constraints, what you need help with |
By the Sunday before: send your assigned discussant a short summary of your blocker. Deck due Monday 11:59 PM on Canvas.
Deal blocker example: firm profile
- Firm: Lakeview Capital Partners (LCP)
- Strategy: Lower-middle-market PE (control buyouts), $750M AUM
- Focus: B2B services + vertical software (healthcare and compliance-heavy industries)
- Stage: Active diligence on a vertical software platform; targeting close in 2–3 weeks
- My role: Part-time associate supporting IC materials + market workstream
Deal blocker example: project summary
- Target: "RegWorks", compliance workflow + audit management software
- Customer: Mid-market healthcare providers (multi-site clinics / specialty groups)
- Business model: SaaS subscriptions + implementation; ACV ~$20–60k; 110 customers
- Why we care: Attractive gross margins, sticky workflows, regulatory tailwinds
- My deliverable this week: 1-slide market overview for IC including a defensible TAM and growth narrative
Deal blocker example: the blocker
The blocker: I can't produce a single TAM that feels defensible because the market boundary is unclear.
Why it's hard
Category is fuzzy: customers use spreadsheets, EHR modules, or outsourced consultants
"Customer definition" drives 5–10x TAM swing
48 hours, no clean dataset, sponsor wants one IC-ready number
What I've tried
Top-down from "healthcare software spend": too broad, not credible
Bottom-up from "# of clinics × assumed budget": assumptions feel arbitrary
Competitor-based triangulation: comps bundle products, hard to isolate
What advice do you have for me to get this moving forward?
Alumni speaker series: weeks 2, 3 and 9
Who: Previous field study students presenting their internship experiences
Schedule: Two alumni speakers per session, six speakers total
Engagement: These sessions count toward your participation grade: laptops closed and be engaged
Goal: Active dialogue and engagement rather than passive slide presentations
Who is speaking
| Week | Date | Speaker | Firm |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 2 | Sept 15 | Videhi Shah | Sun New Energy Capital |
| Aman Johal | HarborWell Capital | ||
| Week 3 | Sept 22 | Mollie Berger | BroadSky Partners |
| Matteo Boidi | Verlinvest | ||
| Week 9 | Nov 3 | Shahar Yona | MFG Partners |
| Marc Knapp | Riverside Company |
Other deliverables
| Deliverable | Description |
|---|---|
| Project plan | Week 2: scope, milestones, success criteria |
| Midterm summary | 10-page PPT on progress and plans |
| Final summary | 15-page PPT on lessons learned and skills gained |
Class rules
No laptops. You definitely don't need them.
"Not listening to peers is disrespectful and you miss learning opportunities."Previous student feedback
Be present:
- Attendance tracked via Acadly
- First class is mandatory (you're here!)
- Excused absences only with prior notice
Participation expectations
35% of your grade is measured by attendance and in-class contributions, tracking questions and engagement during alumni presentations and deal blockers.
Students are excused for appropriate absences (e.g., illness). Unexcused absences are not permitted and will negatively impact your participation grade.
This class succeeds through active dialogue, not passive listening.
Research databases
You need to research a niche industry. Where do you start?
Available through CBS:
- CapitalIQ
- PitchBook
- Grata
- FactSet
- Refinitiv
- Tegus
WRDS: an underused resource
Wharton Research Data Services: all CBS students have access.
A centralized platform for clean, structured datasets:
- Compustat: Public firm financials (income statement, balance sheet, cash flow)
- IBES: Analyst forecasts and recommendations
- SEC filings: Full text of 10-Ks, 10-Qs, proxy statements
- CRSP: Stock prices and returns
Why it matters: Point-and-click downloads, perfectly organized. If you master WRDS, you don't need to fight with CapitalIQ exports; you can query the underlying data directly.
Access: wrds.wharton.upenn.edu (log in with Columbia credentials)
Private markets data: trust but verify
The hard truth: Do not trust financial data for U.S. private firms.
Reliable
Employee/headcount data: sourced from LinkedIn, generally accurate for active firms
Deal activity: transaction dates, buyers, sellers
Fund-level data: AUM, vintage, strategy
Unreliable
Revenue, EBITDA, margins: private firms don't disclose; databases estimate or scrape
Balance sheet data: rarely available, often fabricated from models
Valuation multiples: based on unreliable revenue/EBITDA inputs
Hidden gems: Form 5500s (Dept. of Labor) reveal employee counts and benefits data. Industry associations, conference sponsor lists, and state licensing databases can surface targets no platform covers.
PitchBook: bulk data access
I have the full academic PitchBook feed on my computer.
If you need a large dataset for your project, e.g. all mid-market PE firms that raised funds in the last 3 years, or all Series B financings in a sector, just ask.
How to make it easy:
- Run your search in PitchBook with the filters you want
- Send me the shareable link from the search
- I'll pull the full dataset and send it back
Use me as a resource: I'd rather you not have friction on the data side.
This week's deliverables
| Assignment | Due |
|---|---|
| NDA | Tuesday, Sept 8 at 2pm (2 pts) |
| Advice checklist check-in | Tuesday, Sept 8 at 2pm (2 pts) |
| Weekly report (reflection) | Wednesday, Sept 9 at 2pm (7 pts) |
Acadly setup
Before you leave today:
- Download the Acadly app
- Register for the course
- Confirm your account works
Acadly tracks attendance and may be used for in-class polls.
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Questions?
Office hours: Tuesdays 3:45–4:45 pm, 732 Kravis Hall, or email for another time
TA: Videhi Shah (VShah27@gsb.columbia.edu)
Next class (Week 2)
Alumni speaker series begins
- Two alumni presenters
- Laptops closed and be engaged
- Counts toward your participation grade
Before next class: Complete your first weekly report