Career guidance, plain-language explanations, public events and a record of the Club’s 2015–2017 speaker series, maintained as an independent resource.
Understand the field, see how recruiting works, and test your thinking on real cases.
Read the record, send a correction, or suggest an event or a speaker.
Counted from the Club’s archived posts: 16 posts, of which 15 record a Club event. The sixteenth reports a Carey event and is not counted.
Events in the archiveOct 2015 to Nov 2017; 14 with the year stated
Speaker sessions13 invited speakers
Partner organisationsNamed in the recaps
Guests, Mar 9, 2016Joint event with ACG Maryland
Each learning is summarised from one original recap and links to it. Nothing here is a quotation; figures are as reported in the recaps.
At VCIC 2015, eight student teams acted as venture capitalists. They heard six startup pitches, ran due diligence, wrote a term sheet and defended their thesis to judges who played the partners. Two teams then negotiated the final deal in front of all participants.
As recapped, the speaker contrasted the two: private equity has lower volatility and measures returns as a multiple of money, commonly 2–3x. He also described large firms becoming multi-asset managers, and technology as a source of disruption across industries.
Venture capitalists use a standardised due diligence process but, the recap reports, still rely heavily on experience and instinct, and sometimes miss great companies. Venture valuations are often not tied to a company’s current operating numbers.
In a search fund, MBA graduates raise a standalone fund to buy and run one small business. The recap describes a search that can take a year or more and calls for discipline and perseverance. It cites a Stanford analysis of 134 search funds reporting an aggregate pre-tax IRR of 34.9%.
The speaker cited a Cambridge Associates report (March 2017) finding that U.S. small-cap managers had on average outperformed mega-cap managers over 10-, 15- and 20-year periods. Manager performance varies widely, so access to the top managers is critical.
The speaker urged investors to ask whether a company’s financial statements fit its underlying performance. The recap gives two examples of warning signs: a CFO leaving just before an earnings release, and a change in revenue recognition that turned a 21% sales decline into a reported 1% decline.
Five tracks, how each recruits, and when. Reviewed October 2026.
| Track | What the work is | How hiring works | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Venture capital | Sourcing, diligence and support for early- and growth-stage companies. | Small teams with few seats; networks, startup or operating experience, analyst programmes. | Rolling |
| Growth equity | Minority investments in profitable, growing companies. | Mostly off-cycle at middle-market and growth funds; networking and headhunters. | Peaks Feb–May, Sep–Nov |
| Buyout | Acquiring companies with debt; LBO modelling and diligence. | Large funds recruit on-cycle through headhunters; MBA seats via schools and networks. | On-cycle, no fixed date |
| Search funds | A searcher raises capital to buy and run one small company. | MBA programmes and investor networks. See the Club’s May 10, 2016 session. | Rolling |
| Secondaries and LP roles | Buying existing fund interests; allocating capital to funds. | Small teams, usually experienced hires; entry via banking, consulting or institutional roles. | Rolling |
41 terms, from GP and LP to DPI, each with related terms and examples from the archive.
The share of a fund’s profit, commonly 20%, paid to the general partner after investors have received their capital back and, usually, a preferred return. Often shortened to carry.
Distributions to paid-in capital: cash returned to investors divided by the capital they have contributed. It counts only money actually received.
The usual shape of a fund’s reported returns: negative in early years as fees are paid and investments are written down, rising as holdings mature.
A vehicle in which an MBA graduate raises capital to find, buy and run a single small company. Also called entrepreneurship through acquisition.
Open private-markets events near Johns Hopkins, with links to the organisers. Nothing is hosted here. Last checked 26 Oct 2026.
| Date | Event | Organiser | Location | Type | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 5, 2026 | Independent Sponsor Finance: An Emerging Asset Class | ACG Maryland | The Maryland Club, Baltimore | Panel | Event page for Independent Sponsor Finance: An Emerging Asset Class |
| Dec 10, 2026 | ACG Maryland Holiday Party | ACG Maryland | The Elkridge Club, Baltimore | Networking | Event page for ACG Maryland Holiday Party |
| Jan 21, 2027 | ACG Maryland Deal Market Update | ACG Maryland | The Elkridge Club, Baltimore | Briefing | Event page for ACG Maryland Deal Market Update |
No upcoming events are listed. The list was last checked 26 Oct 2026; the organisers’ own calendars are the authority.
Dates, venues and registration are set by the organiser and can change; check the event page before attending. Listing an event is not an endorsement.
The most recent recaps. The full dated list is under Events and learnings.
Nov 8, 2017