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Upcoming Synergist Events:

Boston: 
Session with Ratio Advisors
November 19 (Thurs.) | 5:00pm PT / 8:00pm ET 
(Open to everyone; Please click here to RSVP)
Join Synergist Boston for an open discussion on career paths for second year associates within venture capital, growth equity and private equity featuring representatives from Ratio Advisors

What Works: Advancing Gender Equality in PE/VC
December 2 (Wed.) | 4:00pm PT / 7:00pm ET
Please join us for a virtual conversation with Siri Chilazi to discuss her research on gender equality in the workplace and pragmatic advice on how to build more inclusive recruiting practices and work environments. To RSVP, please sign up HERE

San Francisco: 
Entry-Level Buyside Recruiting Workshop / Panel
December 3 (Thurs.) | 6:00pm PT / 9:00pm ET
Hear from current associates about their current roles and experience going through recruiting. RSVP here!

Synergist Senior Sound Bites - November 2020:
Lindsay Rosenstein

Vice President, Crestview Partners 
B.S. Cornell University, M.B.A. The Wharton School
Background

Lindsay Rosenstein is a Vice President at Crestview Partners, a value-oriented private equity firm based in NY that is focused on the middle market. Lindsay originally joined Crestview as an Associate and rejoined as a Vice President after receiving an M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where she was a Palmer Scholar and McGowan Fellow. As an Associate and now as a Vice President, Lindsay evaluates, executes, and monitors investments across a variety of industries. 
 
Recently, Lindsay was also named Head of Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) at Crestview. In addition, Lindsay leads Associate recruiting for the firm and oversees Crestview’s partnership with SEO Alternative Investments Leveraged Investing Training and Education (“AI LITE”).
 
Prior to Crestview, Lindsay was an Analyst in the Global Power and Utility Group within the Investment Banking Division of Morgan Stanley. She received a B.S., summa cum laude, from Cornell University in Applied Economics and Management.
 
Tell us a little bit about your decision to go into investing.

To get there, I have to first share a bit about my decision to go into investment banking, which is where I learned about investing/private equity. In both instances, I was fortunate to get to know individuals (first upperclassmen, then colleagues) who were a couple of years ahead of me with similar professional interests. This greatly improved my understanding of different, possible career paths.
 
Based on those conversations and my own research, I decided to pursue investment banking. I secured internships with Morgan Stanley, through which I tested out the environment, lifestyle, and overall fit, and I returned for two years after graduating from Cornell. While I gained great transaction experience and forged strong relationships there, I became eager to switch from an advisor mentality to that of an investor/owner; I wanted to understand the broader strategic vision, the operating execution. Through countless conversations, I learned more about private equity and the Associate role, which seemed like an incredible learning experience, and eventually pursued PE recruiting, focusing heavily on firm culture/leadership, a generalist value-oriented approach, and growth opportunities for junior/mid-level team members. After joining Crestview as an Associate, I immediately experienced the steep learning curve and became further excited by the opportunity to learn from and work with a high caliber team.
 
Can you tell us more about your decision to return to Crestview after business school?

Again, it’s helpful to start with the first step here, business school itself. Attending business school is a personal decision, but it was one of the best investments I could have made in myself. After four years of working hard in fast-paced environments, I relished the opportunity to meet classmates with diverse backgrounds and interests, immerse myself in new experiences, and perhaps most importantly, take the time to reflect. After spending much of my first year exploring different career paths and triangulating my values, professional ambitions, and personal goals, I committed to returning to private equity with a new level of conviction. Once I made that decision, I reconnected with the Crestview team and was grateful to receive an offer to rejoin the firm. The decision there was more straight-forward on my end – I felt lucky to have found such a good culture fit pre-MBA, knew there was still much to learn from the team there, and I was excited by the potential growth trajectory, both for myself and the firm more broadly.
 
What is your favorite part of your job?

I am constantly learning, and I get to do so from and alongside a great team; on a given day, I am learning about new companies, industries, business models, bespoke structures, how to be a better manager/team member/partner to management teams, how to build relationships and source opportunities, how to build out an ESG program, to name a few.  While I try to reflect and take stock of my development on an ongoing basis, it is always most evident at the end of a project or upon reaching a milestone. Think Aristotle said it best, "the more you know, the more you know you don't know." While this was intimidating early in my career when I felt like I should’ve known what I didn’t know, this now fuels me to push past any self-doubt and gives me the confidence to tackle what’s ahead.
 
What is the most challenging part of your job?

Time is always the scarcest resource!
 
What are some skills needed to be successful in your role?

Strong communication, intellectual curiosity, and authenticity.
 
Do you have any advice for women just starting their careers?

Talk to as many people as you can whose stories/roles resonate with you. Learn what they do, what does a typical day look like, what did they wish they knew when they were in your shoes. Many times, I felt overwhelmed, unsure of my “end game” professionally. Conversations like these helped reinforce that careers make a lot more sense in hindsight, and that the most important thing today, is to do your research, speak to people, listen to your gut, and make the best decision that you can based on the available information. There will be sure to be bumps along the way!
 
Once in a role, focus on understanding what are the expectations, what does it look like to excel, is this the right environment for me, and ask for feedback. It’s important to remember that it takes time to develop skills and build careers, but it’s hard to do a really good job if you don’t know what you are working towards (even if that changes along the way!).
 
Lastly and perhaps most importantly for me, build friendships with those in your field; these relationships have played a crucial role in my life; these friends are often my support system and sounding board on decisions big and small and have made work/life more fun along the way!
 
How much did you consider your personal life before taking a senior role in investing?

A lot! I’ve always wanted to work in environments where I could be my authentic self. I am at my best when I am not only engaged at work, but when I also get to spend quality time with my family and friends, be active outdoors, recharge, and give back to my community.
 
In a deal-driven, real-time environment, there is naturally some amount of unpredictability. Balance means different things at different times, and firm culture is very important here. I try to be realistic when in a sprint for a deal, but on average, I have found that with strong communication, teamwork, and accountability, there is often a way to make things work.
 
Who is a female leader you admire (in your industry or another), and why do they inspire you?

Fortunately, there are more and more female leaders in the investing realm with each coming day! Someone who I have been fortunate to get to know personally and admire greatly is Seema Hingorani. Seema is both a highly accomplished professional and a true champion for women in investing. I am deeply inspired by how she has leveraged her experiences, relationships, and voice to create change and lift up others. Most notably, through her founding of Girls Who Invest, which is an incredible program, but also through her day-to-day at Morgan Stanley, ongoing work with several organizations, and her commitment to investing in the next generation.
 
Are there any books, articles, podcasts, or other favorite media you would recommend?

Books – I love to read and find it is a great way to recharge and quiet my mind before bed. For this group, I would highly recommend The Confidence Code by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman, which I read when I was in banking and genuinely thought the authors were inside my head. Some more recent favorites are Before We Were Yours, Just Mercy, The Dutch House, and The Last Days of Night.
Podcasts – The Daily and Planet Money
News – I subscribe to several newsletters but generally think highly of Axios (Axios AM, Pro Rata, and Generate)


 Thank you for your time, Lindsay! To learn more about Crestview Partners, click here.
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