Biz schools prep students for private equity careers

Explosive growth in private financing markets in recent years has opened new career opportunities, and several of Virginia’s business schools are expanding curricula and extracurricular activities to help students land in-demand jobs at private equity and venture capital firms.

Assets in the private market are projected to grow at more than double the rate of public markets, reaching as much as $65 trillion by 2032, according to an August 2024 estimate from global management consulting firm Bain & Company. As the finance segment is growing, so too are the number of associated jobs, along with interest from students interested in careers in private equity.

To prepare the next generation of leaders in these fast-growing segments of finance, the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business launched three initiatives in 2021. Focusing on venture capital, real estate and private equity, the trio of initiatives are designed to expand classroom learning, experiential learning and networking opportunities. And they represent some of the biggest changes Darden has made to adapt to the growth in private markets since 2019, when Rodney Sullivan became executive director of Darden’s Richard A. Mayo Center for Asset Management, which oversees the initiatives.

“It was pretty clear that the asset management industry was at an inflection point, and it was a great opportunity for Darden to position ourselves in a way to support careers and learning in private capital and to become known for this,” Sullivan. “If we didn’t do this, it would be noticeably absent.”

Other business schools across the commonwealth have similarly taken notice of the shifting dynamics in private and public markets, including the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech, the University of Richmond’s Robins School of Business, the Costello College of Business at George Mason University and the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business.

“We are making tweaks to our curricula to make sure that students are well aware of the functioning of the private capital markets, as well as our more traditional emphasis on the public trading markets in capital markets,” notes Steven Beach, a professor of practice at Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College. Such changes, he says, are in anticipation of an expected growing demand among students to pursue careers in the private market.

Adding new coursework focused on venture capital and private equity is a logical starting point, though business schools also seek other ways to help students forge paths to these careers. Experiential learning opportunities, including clubs and other extracurricular activities, can give students more real-world experience before they enter the business world. Finally, by leveraging their extensive alumni networks, business schools can help students make valuable connections that may help open doors after graduation — or further down the road.

Coursework is key

Many Virginia business schools have increased coursework focused on private equity and venture capital in recent years. That’s a response both to the shifting dominance of private markets and interest among students.

“You hear a lot of students, because of the opportunities that are opening up, they’re very interested to understand the industry dynamics,” says Rashed Hasan, an executive in residence at George Mason’s Costello College of Business who teaches an MBA course on venture capital. What’s more, there are “a bunch of different offerings” at the university that are also available to undergrads or students pursuing a master’s degree in finance.

Likewise, U.Va.’s Darden School has ramped up the number of courses focused on venture capital and private equity in response to growing demand among students. This year, Elena Loutskina and Rus Abuzov, professors of business administration in Darden’s finance department, will offer new courses on private equity and venture capital, respectively. Loutskina’s course will focus on the investment phase and financial intricacies of deal-making in private equity, while Abuzov’s goal is to equip students with the skills needed to make informed investment decisions in early-stage investing.

“The amount of effort that is dedicated to helping students prepare better for careers in venture capital, private equity or as entrepreneurs is very big at Darden,” notes Abuzov. These new courses, along with current offerings and experiential learning opportunities, may also appeal to students who wind up in very different roles postgraduation. “If you’re a C-suite person, it’s going to be important that you understand these markets,” Sullivan adds.

Pathway to private markets

Even if graduates of bachelor’s and master’s degree programs are eager to jump into private equity and venture capital, they often face an obstacle beyond their control. That’s because many of these firms have yet to veer from a long-held preference to hire people who already have a few years of experience, often at investment banks or consulting firms or as proven entrepreneurs.

“Private equity and venture capital are very, very competitive to get into out of undergrad,” notes Cory Bunting, director of capital markets at VCU’s business school.

What’s key is helping students land a first job that feeds into a second job in private markets, adds Michael Kender, a professor of practice at Virginia Tech’s Pamplin. Helping to place students in roles at major investment banks or consulting firms can lead to those second jobs in private markets. And both universities have seen success in raising their profiles within the industry in recent years.

Compared with five to 10 years ago, a broader range of recruiters now descend on Richmond each year to recruit VCU grads, Bunting notes. “We want to grow our reputation so that more private equity and venture capital firms see VCU as a target for recruitment,” he says, adding administrators are “pleased” with the progress they’ve made in recent years.

Likewise, Virginia Tech has made progress breaking into the big, New York-based investment banks that often have a list of schools they’ve targeted for recruitment for decades. “You don’t crack into those overnight,” Kender says.

But the progress in recent years is notable, Beach adds. “Virginia Tech has done an incredible job in the finance program in growing enrollments and the number of graduates dramatically over the last 10- [to] 15-year time frame while also raising the profile and access for our students to potential investment banking placements and the like.”

Alumni advantage

Alumni are a crucial component in providing a leg up for some of these Virginia-based business schools to better compete with prestigious Ivy League schools that enjoy a great deal of name recognition.

Bringing in alumni who work in the industry generates a lot of excitement and lively conversation in the classroom because students can learn about the real-life challenges they face, says George Mason’s Hasan.

Yannis Bellos, an associate professor in the college, agrees: “In my electives, I make sure that I do bring [in] alums who work in this space, and this is always the highlight of the course. The students love connecting with the alums and learning about how they’re implementing things.”

But it can also be helpful to meet alumni where they work. Virginia Tech faculty members take students on field trips from Blacksburg to New York, Charlotte, North Carolina, Richmond and Northern Virginia to connect personally with alumni. The path to a career in venture capital looks much different than private equity, Beach says, and networking is “so critical” for students. “Our Hokie network is very strong,” he says.

U.Va. alumni are likewise an “amazing” resource for students, and they pitch in to help with career coaching and job placement or come back to Charlottesville to share some of their experience, Sullivan says. Alumni also play an integral role in Darden’s Friday learning series focused on venture capital and private equity — informal classes that allow students to dive deeper into these topics, he adds.

For students who want to skip a traditional first-step job in investment banking, it’s particularly helpful to see examples of students who have done just that. Some graduates of the University of Richmond’s Robins School of Business have gone straight into private equity roles after graduation, according to Joe Farizo, an assistant professor of finance. On field trips to New York, students have an opportunity to meet with alumni to learn more about their careers — and what’s possible, he adds. “We really are proud of what they’ve been able to do.”

In addition to providing further context to what’s taught in courses, networking with alumni is valuable for job hunting. When Eloise Richter came to Richmond, she was thinking about a potential career in marketing until she took a finance course Farizo teaches that sparked her interest in private equity. “I loved that class,” she says.

But she took the course during the second semester of her sophomore year — when investment banks are already recruiting interns for the following summer — and Richter says she felt “late to the game” compared with peers who already had their eyes on a career in private equity. Still, she persisted in scouring listings for summer internships at private equity firms.

“They’re pretty far and few between,” Richter says of internship opportunities open to undergrads. She credits “a little bit of luck” to finding an internship at NewSpring, a midsized private equity firm based in Philadelphia. She asked Farizo if he knew any Richmond grads who worked there, and he put her in touch with two analysts whom she was able to ask about the hiring process for interns.

Richter worked that internship in summer 2024 and, just a few weeks after she graduates in May, she will rejoin the firm as a private equity analyst. “I’m really excited about this job,” she says.

Experiential edge

All the business schools interviewed for this story offer students an opportunity to get some real-world experience — even before they land an internship — via student-managed investment funds or clubs. In these extracurricular groups, students invest real endowment money.

As general manager of Richmond’s fund, Richter says the experience aligns with her future career in private equity because the thought process of evaluating companies is similar — and she also can hone skills like writing an investment thesis and pitching to a group.

Participating in these schools’ clubs or funds offers valuable experience and networking opportunities, notes Bunting. What’s more, doing so can bolster students’ résumés, giving them another advantage when job hunting, Kender adds.

George Mason faculty actively seek out opportunities to provide students with real-world experiences that complement what they’re learning in class. “We are very intentionally supporting and doubling down on experiential learning,” Bellos says.

For students interested in careers in venture capital, entrepreneurship clubs or other on-campus startup initiatives can be valuable because many firms recruit successful entrepreneurs or people who have startup experience. The Spider Business Hub at the Robins School of Business is an opportunity for budding venture capitalists to work with Richmond-area businesses and learn about some of the challenges they face, Farizo says. “We think that all of this combined is an integrated and comprehensive way to prepare them for private equity and venture capital.”

Experiential learning also is a cornerstone of Darden’s education model, along with networking and coursework. The initiatives the school has launched in recent years focusing on venture capital and private equity are part of a broader mission to create curricular and co-curricular opportunities to expand networking and job opportunities for students, Loutskina says.

“We’re thinking about building a well-rounded leader,” Loutskina says. “My goal is to help students find a productive career to be happy.”

Directory of business schools in Virginia