Into City Prep

27/08/2023

At Into City Prep, we're more than a platform—we're a bridge connecting ambitious firms, students, and grads. Our mission: foster collaboration and open doors in the finance industry.

🚀 Empowering Connections: Unite firms seeking talent with eager students/grads, enriching finance as a whole.

🔍 Breaking Barriers: Streamline entry to finance. Our resources and expert guidance empower students and grads.

🤝 Professional Mentorship: Seasoned pros mentor students and grads, nurturing the next finance generation.

🌐 Focus Areas: Explore hedge funds, private equity, asset management, trading, venture capital, investment banking, and wealth management.

🚀 Training Internships: Gain hands-on experience through field placements and 1-1 expert training.

🔍 Guided Success: Navigate CVs, psychometric tests, interviews, and more with personalized guidance.

🌟 Edge in Finance: Secure your spot early for exclusive training internships and personalized mentorship, giving you a head start in your finance career journey.

🏆 Proven Results: Countless transformed careers through Into City Prep's guidance.

📚 Stay Ahead: Finance evolves; we keep you current.

Ready to realize finance aspirations? Discover more at intocityprep.com or contact us at:

[email protected].

Your path to finance excellence begins here.

We arrange elite banking internships with 1-on-1 training for ambitious students in Investment Banking, Asset Management, and more.

05/04/2023

Break a bad habit by doing this.

One of the best ways to change your behavior is to start by changing your identity.

And one of the most effective ways to do that is through visualization.

So, here's a little tip that might help: try visualizing yourself succeeding! Imagine yourself throwing away those ci******es, or choosing healthy foods, or even waking up early feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the day.

Whatever habit you want to break, picture yourself crushing it with a big smile on your face.

When you visualize yourself succeeding, it creates a clear picture in your mind of what you want to achieve.

This image can then serve as a guide for your actions and help you stay focused on your goals.

Plus, visualization can activate your brain's reticular activating system (RAS), which helps filter out distractions and keep you on track.

But it's not just about seeing yourself breaking bad habits. You can also picture yourself building a whole new identity!

Imagine what it would be like to be the kind of person who doesn't smoke, who eats healthy, or who wakes up early.

Visualize yourself as that person, and start taking steps to become that person.

So, my friend, remember that visualization is a powerful tool for change.

Give it a try and start picturing yourself as the amazing, successful person you want to be!

03/04/2023

📊 One-Page MBA: Excel Sheet & 6 Topics

Do you want to learn the entire MBA in one page? Here are the 6 topics that you need to know:

🔹 Unit economics

Product-level unit economics to company financials

Metrics: ROAS, CAC, LTV/CAC, gross margins, unit contribution margins, and more

Model to compare two diverging products

🔹 Accounting

Unit drivers flow into revenue, variable COGS, and variable SG&A

Simple cash flow statements & balance sheets
Translate GAAP into meaningful business logic

🔹 Operating ratios

Unit drivers output financials, financials output overall business ratios

Metrics: revenue growth, EBITDA growth, EBITDA margins, contribution margins, net debt-to-EBITDA, net debt % of EV

🔹 Valuation

Drive valuation on multiples or a DCF

Terminal multiple determined by discount rate minus growth rate

Map DCF to multiples to show how they connect

🔹 Corporate finance & DCFs

DCF math using CAPM

Get the WACC - the theoretically correct discount rate

DCFs are assumption-laden, but banker/analyst will make the math work out

🔹 Sensitivities & the hard part

Sensitize equity value and multiples to unit and price growth

The hard part: filling in the numbers and making them happen

31/03/2023

Get ready for a big shift in the global financial landscape!

Russia, Brazil, India, China, and South Africa have announced their plan to develop a new currency to rival the U.S. dollar as the world reserve currency.

The U.S. dollar has enjoyed its status as the world's dominant currency for decades, but recent geopolitical developments could change everything.

Here are some of the most significant events that have happened in the past few weeks:

Saudi Arabia has joined forces with China to build a massive $12.2 billion oil refinery, and they've agreed that Saudi Arabia will acquire 10% of another Chinese oil refinery for $3.6 billion.

To top it off, Saudi Arabia has also joined the Shanghai Cooperation Council as a "dialogue partner."

China and Brazil have decided to trade using their own currencies, and France and China have already completed their first LNG trade settled in Yuan.

All of these moves are major blows to the USD as they take away the dollar's longstanding position as the world's preferred currency for international trade.

What's all this mean for the USD?

Well, the petrodollar system that's been in place since the 1970s could be in jeopardy.

The petrodollar system is how countries that export oil receive payment for their exports in U.S. dollars. Those dollars then find their way back into U.S. investments, providing liquidity to financial markets and keeping interest rates low.

If countries like Saudi Arabia start moving away from the dollar and looking for alternative currencies, then the overall demand for dollars could decrease.

This shift could cause borrowing costs to rise for businesses and consumers worldwide.

All this talk about a new reserve currency begs the question: what would it be backed by?

Commodity-backed currencies, like gold, have been used in the past, and some countries are exploring the idea of using energy resources as the backing for a new reserve currency.

This is all leading to a rapidly changing world order that's moving away from the USD.

It's a critical time to pay attention to these developments, as they could have significant implications for the global economy, markets, and financial systems.

21/03/2023

The Fed Since 2020:

1. Mar 2020: Inflation won’t be a problem

2. Jan 2021: Inflation is “transitory”

3. Sept 2021: Interest rates won’t rise until 2024

4. Jan 2022: Recession is needed to lower inflation

5. Dec 2022: Disinflation has begun

6. Feb 2023: A “soft landing” is possible

7. Mar 2023: Banking system is “stable”

Not a single statement was correct.

By The Kobeissi Letter

07/03/2023

Best formula to make your CV stand out:

Every every bullet should have the following...
✅ At least 1 metrics or hard skill
✅ Start with an action verb
✅ Showcase impact
So let's give an example: suppose you’re a financial analyst…instead of you saying:

❌ Presented investment opportunities to investors, helped raise $30M.

Imagine you said instead:

✅Conducted 14 meetings weekly with potential investors, including high-net-worth individuals, family offices, and institutional investors, to present investment opportunities, increasing total investments raised from $10 million to $30 million in 16 weeks.

CRAZY CHANGE.

24/02/2023

The secret truth about fear.

Fear can be paralyzing and prevent us from reaching our full potential in work and life.

However, the things we fear the most are often the ones that hold the greatest potential for growth and success.

In the story of dragons hiding treasure, the dragon is depicted as a terrifying beast that guards great riches and rewards.

Those who seek the treasure must face their fears and approach the dragon head-on, taking calculated risks to overcome the obstacle and reap the rewards.

In a work setting, facing fear may involve taking on a new project or role, speaking up in a meeting, or confronting a difficult situation with a coworker or manager.

These challenges may be intimidating, but by embracing our fears and taking calculated risks, we can demonstrate our abilities, learn new skills, and make valuable contributions to our teams and organizations.

What we fear the most might just be the thing that holds the greatest potential for our growth, reward and success.

13/02/2023

Employees don't abandon their careers.

They escape:

Bad bosses.

Meager pay.

Toxic work environments.

Stunted growth.

Lack of backing.

If your top performers are bailing, it's time to make some changes

11/02/2023

Little Saturday Thought!

Life is a journey filled with experiences, opportunities, and challenges. It’s not a competition.

Everyone has their own unique path to follow and their own timeline for growth and success.

Rather than constantly comparing ourselves to others and striving to be better than them, we should focus on our own personal growth and development.

Life is about learning, growing, and discovering who we are and what we want to achieve.

Embrace every experience, whether good or bad, as a valuable lesson that will help you become the best version of yourself.

And remember, there's no finish line in life, so enjoy the journey and don't be afraid to take detours or try new things. 🙏🏻

30/01/2023

Do you know the 3 Main Cash Flow Drivers?

Operating Cash Flow is generated from:

☑️ Revenue Growth
☑️ Operating Profits
☑️ Working capital efficiency

How does it work?

The formula for Operating Cash Flow (CFO or OCF) is as follows:

=Revenue
-COGS
-Operating Expenses
+Depreciation and Amortization
+Other non-cash items (e.g. gains/losses on assets sales)
+/ Changes in Working Capital

Here’s how each of these components impact your ability to grow your Operating Cash Flow:

0️⃣ Depreciation, Amortization and other non-cash items do not impact cash because no cash actually changes hands in those transactions.

1️⃣ Revenue growth refers to the increase in your company's sales over time.

A higher rate of revenue growth generally leads to more cash flow, as more money is flowing into the business.

🎯 What drives revenue growth:

☑️ Sales volume: the number of units sold to new and existing customers
☑️ Pricing strategy: price increases for new and existing clients

2️⃣ Operating Margin refers to the operating income divided by revenue.

A higher operating margin means that a larger proportion of revenue is being converted into profit, which can further be used to generate cash flow.

🎯 What drives operating margin growth:

☑️ Reduction of COGS relative to revenue: better contractual agreements with suppliers, automation

☑️ Reduction of Selling, General and Administrative costs relative to revenue: marketing, payroll, overhead, shipping costs

3️⃣ Capital Efficiency refers to how effectively a company uses its assets and liabilities to generate cash flow.

If your company is capital efficient it means it is able to generate a higher return on its shareholders’ investment and has better access to funding, which can help it generate more cash flow.

🎯 What drives capital efficiency?

☑️ Efficient use of long term capital assets (PPE): your company’s ability to generate profit from the operation of its assets (ROE)

☑️ Efficient use of short term working capital assets: your company’s ability to optimize its cash conversion cycle (Days Inventory Outstanding, Days Sales Outstanding, Days Payable Outstanding)

So here you have them, the 3 levers you have available to improve cash in your business:
>> Revenue
>>Operating Margin
>>Capital Efficiency

23/01/2023

☮️