Perspectives / The Job
The Business Case for Buying the Offer
You're learning to value businesses. Here's how to value the most important asset you'll ever work on—your own career. A real DCF of the IB offer.
Career Valuation
You advise companies on acquisitions, capital raises, and restructurings. The core skill is modeling expected value under uncertainty.
Apply it to yourself.
You have deployed CapEx—tuition, networking hours, opportunity cost. Now evaluate the acquisition: the IB offer. Before deciding how much to spend on due diligence, model the target.
The Asset
Illustrative comp trajectory based on street compensation. Conservative—adjust upward for elite boutiques or outperformance.
Illustrative Street Comp (Base + Bonus)
Enterprise Value: ~$5.6mm
An offer represents $5.6mm in present value. This understates reality—top-bucket performers, PE carry, or MD track push significantly higher.
Marginal Probability
Every recruiting action increases or decreases your probability of landing the offer.
On a $5.6mm asset, each 1% probability increase is worth $56,000.
Financing Options
ISAs (Equity Financing): Some programs take 10% of first-year comp. That's ~$17,500 if you land the offer. Expensive equity—you surrender upside on a levered bet.
Cash (Balance Sheet): Pay $100–$1,000 upfront for structured technical prep, coaching, or practice reps. You retain 100% of upside.
Use the cheapest source of capital available.
Investment Committee Memo
1. The Asset is Mispriced. You undervalue the terminal value of the IB credential. The DCF above is conservative.
2. The Spread is Massive. Accretion vs. corporate baseline is seven figures. The IB path dominates on any reasonable assumptions.
3. The Call Option is Cheap. Probability via prep is mispriced. The recruiting funnel is unforgiving at every stage. Small probability investments compound across each cut.
You built the factory (tuition). You have the product (GPA, resume, story). Now spend the marketing budget (prep) to close the sale.