My business fraternity, Phi Gamma Nu, is organizing the first-ever undergraduate Goldman Sachs Private Equity Case Competition at University of Pennsylvania. We've received 21 submissions of buy-out proposals from 84 people (each proposal is by 4 students). I have the pleasure of reading through all these submissions. Naturally, as I'm sitting here and reading, I've become compelled to write a blog entry.
What Reading 21 One-Page Leveraged Buyout Proposals Has Taught Me
- Structure and organization are key. Some of these proposals are just essays -- paragraphs of text with a few numerical figures buried here and there. Of course, quality of content is most important, but effective presentation allows you to communicate your ideas 1000x better. Think about who's reading your work. People are busy and impatient. They want to be able to get what you are saying as quickly as possible. This is why people practice the "30 sec elevator pitch" whether it's to sell yourself in an interview or to sell your idea to a venture capitalist. This is also the key to any consulting case interview ;p
- Use headings and bullets. Don't hesistate to include graphics or charts to better convey an idea. Don't be afraid to bold, italicize, or underline. Headings and bullets allow you to organize your thoughts on paper. You let the reader immediately see how much space you are allocating per section and the relative importance of each. A simple diagram can often explain a concept more quickly (and be visually stimulating). It's time to start using more font formatting features in Microsoft Word ;p
- First impressions matter. I personally am a very visual person. In all honesty, I get excited about fonts, colors, and formatting a lot and am very picky about them. In the professional world, I'm sure most of my investment banking friends can attest to the importance of Powerpoint formatting. Ironically, I'd hate doing that as a job ;p
- Keep things simple and intuitive! Don't overcrowd a page with too much information. Does your page have too much text? Too many diagrams? Numbers? Leave space. Margins are your friend. You shouldn't need a magnifying glass to read the font on the page.
- Apply structure/organization/formatting (SOF) to life! Not just LBO proposals. Professional emails, presentations in front of groups, your own daily routine or schedule, personal goal setting, etc.
technorati tags: structure, headings, bullets, effective communication, organization, formatting