n this episode of The Coffee Chat Podcast, Ben sits down with Jimmy Johnston, a rising junior at the University of Illinois who just secured a sophomore summer internship at Morningstar and a junior year investment banking internship at JPMorgan, both in Chicago.
In this episode, Jimmy walks through how a Prime M&A info night in his first month of college set him on the path to IB, how he became an Adventis Lead Trainer (completing the full model and valuation suite in under 60 minutes), and how that modeling depth helped his team be the only one to correctly call United Natural Foods overvalued in a live case competition.
We also get into his Chicago-focused recruiting strategy across 15 processes and 5 super days, why he recommends finding "battle buddies" for technical prep, and the lessons he learned from making mistakes during the recruiting process.
Sign up for the Adventis Financial Modeling Certification (FMC) program at https://adventiscg.com
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Edited by Jamie Regan - @CreatedByRegan
Hosted by Ben Dowell
Guest: Jimmy Johnston
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0:00 — Introduction & Jimmy's Background
0:52 — Why University of Illinois: Network, Culture & Chicago Roots
2:07 — Jimmy's Goal: Investment Banking in Chicago
4:21 — Prime M&A: The JV League That Got Jimmy Hooked on Banking
5:43 — The Case Competitions: Winnebago and Traeger Pitches
7:50 — Strategy: Why Committing to Chicago Early Was a Smart Move
9:21 — How Prime Led to the Investment Banking Academy
10:35 — Growing Up Wanting to Take the Train to Chicago
12:10 — The Double Win: Morningstar This Summer, JPMorgan Next Summer
14:29 — Why Credit Analysis at Morningstar Will Pay Off Later
15:39 — 15 Processes, 5 Super Days: What That Volume of Recruiting Looks Like
16:19 — In-Person Office Visits: Chicago & New York with the IB Academy
18:17 — Advice for Rising Freshmen: Don't Jump in the Deep End Immediately
19:06 — Testing Consulting, Law & Education Before Committing to Banking
21:04 — The Go/No-Go Decision Point: Summer Before Sophomore Year
23:29 — Technical Prep: Breaking Into Wall Street Guides & Note-Taking Old School
24:42 — Using AI to Understand Concepts You Can't Grasp from a Guide
25:35 — Don't Prep Alone: Finding Your Battle Buddies
26:25 — Mock Interviews: Technical AND Behavioral — Both Matter
27:08 — Brain Teasers: 10 Ways to Use a Pencil (Not Including Writing)
28:15 — Becoming an Adventis Lead Trainer: The Full Model in Under 60 Minutes
30:36 — How Modeling Mastery Gave Jimmy the Edge in the IB Academy Case Competition
33:26 — Calling United Natural Foods Overvalued — and Being Right
35:39 — Organization: The Skill Jimmy Wishes He'd Built Earlier
37:11 — Making Mistakes in Recruiting & What They Taught Him
38:57 — Why a Typo in a Networking Email Is the Same as a Typo to a Client
41:15 — Final Advice: Go Together, Stay Focused, Enjoy the Ride
43:21 — Closing Remarks & Congrats to Jimmy
