Chapter 1: Corporate Finance · Job 3 of 3
Corporate Development
Helps the company grow by buying, selling, or teaming up with other businesses.
What does this person do?
Corporate development, or “corp dev,” is the team that helps a company grow by making deals. That might mean buying another company, selling off a piece of the business, or setting up a partnership.
Investment bankers work on deals too, but they advise lots of different companies. A corp dev person works for just one, so they’re around for whatever happens after the announcement.
What a normal week might include
- Hunting for companies that could be good acquisitions or partners
- Building models to estimate what a company is worth
- Working with lawyers, bankers, and executives during negotiations
- Helping teams merge after a deal closes
Skills that help
- Financial modeling and valuation
- Good judgment about people and strategy
- Patience, since lots of deals never happen
- Communicating clearly with executives
How people get into it
Many people start in investment banking, consulting, or as an analyst inside a company, then move into corp dev after a few years. A finance, economics, or business degree is common, but people with deep experience in areas like tech or healthcare get hired too.
Meet the dealmakers
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