Front-Office Curriculum
Valuation & Private Equity
A disciplined, self-directed program for front-office roles in investment banking and private equity. Four weeks of modules, twelve landmark cases, a working model standard, and a final capability assessment - built to be completed, not skimmed.
Purpose and scope discipline
This curriculum exists to make you fluent in the two skills that every front-office desk actually pays for: valuing a business and structuring a transaction around that value. It is deliberately narrow.
In scope
- + Discounted cash flow analysis and the cost-of-capital build behind it
- + Trading comps and precedent transactions as cross-checks, not shortcuts
- + Leveraged buyouts: sponsor return math, debt structures, exit assumptions
- + M&A modeling, accretion/dilution, and deal structuring
- + Reading a deal as a decision: what the numbers say and what they hide
Out of scope
- - Sales, marketing, or networking content
- - Accounting certification exam prep beyond what a model requires
- - Coding, quant, or systematic trading
- - Regulatory or compliance training
- - Anything you cannot build, defend, and explain in one sitting
The discipline is the point. Every module ends in a working artifact you can defend. If a topic does not produce one, it does not belong here.
The six-day cadence
Each week runs on a fixed six-day rhythm: five days of focused work and one day of consolidation. The cadence keeps you building continuously instead of bingeing theory.
Read the module's core material and the assigned reading. Write the one-paragraph thesis for the week's deliverable.
Open the model or analysis. Lay down the framework first: assumptions block, drivers, outputs. No styling, no polish yet.
Populate the model with real inputs. Run the base case, then push scenarios and sensitivities until the output changes for a reason you can explain.
Work the week's landmark case. Map the case's decision to the technique you just built. What did the actual deal get right and wrong?
Draft the weekly deliverable: the memo, the model, or the one-page thesis. Write in plain, precise, defensible language.
Re-run the whole week against the checklist. Fix what is wrong, tighten the memo, and log what you still cannot explain into the NotebookLM backlog.
Four weeks of modules
Sixteen modules across four weeks. Each module lists its focus areas and the actionable tasks that turn reading into a working skill. Every week ends in a deliverable you can defend.
Foundations of Valuation
Build the accounting and discounting machinery every model rests on.
Financial Statement Analysis & Accounting Foundations
Focus areas
- The three statements and how they link: net income flows into equity, depreciation into cash flow, working capital into the balance sheet
- Reading an income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement as one system
- EBITDA, EBIT, unlevered free cash flow, and the adjustments that turn accrual income into cash
- Working capital mechanics and why growth consumes cash
- Non-recurring items, deferred taxes, and other model adjustments
Actionable tasks
- 01Reconcile one real company's three statements by hand: net income to cash flow, and cash flow to the balance sheet
- 02Build the bridge from net income to unlevered free cash flow and annotate every line
- 03Identify and quantify at least three non-recurring items in the company's recent filings
Time Value of Money & Discounting
Focus areas
- Present value, future value, and the discount rate as the price of waiting
- Annuities, perpetuities, and growing perpetuities
- Mid-year versus end-year discounting and when each is appropriate
- Nominal versus real cash flows and inflation consistency
- The relationship between discount rate, growth, and terminal value
Actionable tasks
- 01Derive the growing perpetuity formula from first principles and state its assumptions
- 02Discount a ten-year cash flow stream under end-year and mid-year conventions and reconcile the difference
- 03Prove that a 2% terminal growth rate is worth a specific amount of value in your DCF
Cost of Capital (WACC & CAPM)
Focus areas
- The weighted average cost of capital and its components
- CAPM: risk-free rate, equity risk premium, beta, and the size premium
- Levering and unlevering beta (Hamada), and when to use each
- Cost of debt, tax shield, and the after-tax cost of debt
- Target versus actual capital structure
Actionable tasks
- 01Estimate the cost of equity for your company using CAPM and justify every input
- 02Unlever and relever beta for the company's target capital structure
- 03Build a WACC bridge showing the sensitivity of WACC to each input
DCF Fundamentals
Focus areas
- The anatomy of a DCF: forecast, terminal value, and discounting
- Unlevered free cash flow as the numerator
- Terminal value: perpetuity growth versus exit multiple
- Enterprise value to equity value: net debt, minorities, and options
- The circularity between WACC and capital structure
Actionable tasks
- 01Build a base-case DCF with a five-year explicit forecast and a perpetuity terminal value
- 02Cross-check the terminal value using an exit multiple and explain any gap
- 03Walk from enterprise value to equity value and reconcile with market value
A clean, fully sourced DCF of one operating company: explicit forecast, terminal value, and a cost of capital you built from first principles. One page of assumptions, one page of output, one page of defense.
Core Valuation Methods
Turn the DCF into a defensible range by cross-checking it against the market and the deal tape.
DCF Deep Dive
Focus areas
- Forecast rigor: revenue build, margin drivers, and capital intensity
- Sensitivity analysis on growth, margin, and discount rate
- The terminal value as the largest and most fragile input
- Scenario analysis: base, bull, and bear cases
- Common DCF errors and how to catch them
Actionable tasks
- 01Build a three-scenario DCF and present the value range with drivers for each scenario
- 02Run a two-variable sensitivity table on terminal growth and WACC
- 03Audit your DCF for the five most common errors and document the fixes
Comparable Company Analysis (Trading Comps)
Focus areas
- Selecting a defensible peer set
- EV/EBITDA, P/E, EV/Sales, and P/B: what each multiple captures and misses
- Forward versus trailing multiples and the data behind them
- Normalizing earnings and adjusting for non-recurring items
- Building a comps table and reading the range
Actionable tasks
- 01Build a trading comps table for your company with at least six peers
- 02Justify the peer set and the multiple you weight most heavily
- 03Imply a value range from the comps and reconcile it with your DCF
Precedent Transactions Analysis
Focus areas
- Finding and screening relevant M&A transactions
- Control premium and why precedents trade above trading comps
- Deal multiples versus trading multiples
- Adjusting for deal structure, synergies, and timing
- Building a precedents table
Actionable tasks
- 01Compile a precedents table of at least five comparable transactions
- 02Isolate the control premium embedded in the precedent multiples
- 03Derive a value range from precedents and explain its relationship to comps and DCF
Scenario & Sensitivity Analysis
Focus areas
- Building a clean assumptions block that drives the whole model
- Scenario switching without breaking the model
- Sensitivity tables and tornado charts
- Presenting a valuation range with confidence
- Stress-testing the thesis
Actionable tasks
- 01Build a scenario manager that switches base, bull, and bear with one control
- 02Produce a tornado chart of the five inputs that move value most
- 03Write a one-page thesis defending your value range against the bear case
A complete valuation of one company using DCF as the primary method, cross-checked against trading comps and precedent transactions. A one-page investment thesis that states a range and defends it.
Leveraged Buyouts
Learn how sponsors use debt to amplify returns, and build the model that proves it.
LBO Fundamentals
Focus areas
- What a leveraged buyout is and why debt is the return engine
- Sources and uses: equity, senior debt, mezzanine, and equity co-invest
- Sponsor return math: IRR and MOIC
- The debt capacity question and cash-flow coverage
- Why sponsors care about deleveraging over the hold period
Actionable tasks
- 01Explain, in one paragraph, why leverage increases sponsor IRR
- 02Build a sources and uses table for a sample buyout and balance it
- 03Calculate IRR and MOIC by hand for a simple three-year hold
LBO Modeling
Focus areas
- The three-statement model as the backbone of an LBO
- Debt schedule mechanics: mandatory amortization, cash sweep, revolvers
- Modeling the circular reference between interest and cash
- Exit value: exit multiple versus exit year EBITDA
- Return waterfall and sponsor equity value
Actionable tasks
- 01Build a full three-statement LBO model with a debt schedule and cash sweep
- 02Model the circular reference and verify the model balances
- 03Compute IRR and MOIC under the base exit and two stress exits
Debt & Financing Structures
Focus areas
- Senior debt, term loans, and revolving credit facilities
- High-yield bonds and mezzanine debt
- Covenants: leverage and interest coverage tests
- Pricing, fees, and the cost of each layer
- Capital structure trade-offs and credit ratings
Actionable tasks
- 01Map a realistic capital structure for a mid-market buyout and price each layer
- 02Test the structure against the coverage covenants and flag the risk
- 03Explain how a ratings downgrade would change the cost of each layer
Private Equity Deal Process
Focus areas
- The deal lifecycle: sourcing, diligence, pricing, closing, ownership, exit
- Commercial, financial, legal, and operational diligence
- Valuation in an auction versus a bilateral negotiation
- The investment committee memo and its structure
- Ownership period value creation and exit options
Actionable tasks
- 01Draft the skeleton of an investment committee memo for your LBO
- 02List the diligence workstreams and what each must clear
- 03Describe two value-creation levers and how they show up in the model
A three-statement LBO model with a sources and uses table, debt schedule, and an IRR and MOIC output. A one-page memo stating the sponsor's thesis and the exit assumptions that make it work.
M&A and Advanced Skills
Put the toolkit together on real transactions: mergers, restructurings, and the judgment that closes deals.
Merger & Acquisition Modeling
Focus areas
- Purchase price, consideration mix, and deal structure
- Sources and uses for an acquisition
- Goodwill and purchase price allocation
- The combined company's financial statements
- Synergies: revenue, cost, and financial
Actionable tasks
- 01Build the sources and uses for an acquisition and allocate the purchase price
- 02Model the combined income statement with synergies
- 03Identify the synergies a deal must realize to make the price rational
Accretion / Dilution Analysis
Focus areas
- EPS accretion and dilution and what it does and does not tell you
- The impact of deal financing on EPS
- Cash, stock, and mixed consideration
- When accretion/dilution matters and when it is noise
- Linking the analysis to strategic value creation
Actionable tasks
- 01Run an accretion/dilution analysis for a sample merger in both cash and stock
- 02Explain why a dilutive deal can still be value-accretive strategically
- 03Present the EPS bridge and its key drivers
Distressed & Restructuring
Focus areas
- When value is in the capital structure rather than the equity
- Enterprise value versus equity value in distress
- Chapter 11 and the reorganization plan
- Debt-for-equity swaps and creditor recoveries
- Distressed valuation methods
Actionable tasks
- 01Value a distressed company from the debt side and estimate recoveries
- 02Explain the priority of claims and who gets paid first
- 03Walk through a debt-for-equity swap and its effect on the cap table
Deal Structuring, Negotiation & Integration
Focus areas
- Valuation versus price: where they diverge and why
- Earnouts, escrows, and contingent consideration
- Representations, warranties, and indemnities
- Post-merger integration and value capture
- The judgment that separates a good banker from a model
Actionable tasks
- 01Design a deal structure that bridges a valuation gap using an earnout
- 02Draft the negotiation points that protect value after signing
- 03Write the integration risks that could destroy the deal's modeled synergies
An accretion/dilution analysis of a merger plus a one-page deal thesis memo for a real transaction, applying the valuation and structuring skills from the first three weeks.
Twelve landmark deals
Each case is a decision to be made, not a story to be read. Work the numbers, form a view, and defend it. The cases span LBOs, M&A, and distressed situations.
RJR Nabisco
1988The archetypal leveraged buyout and the deal that defined the 1980s. A management-led buyout collides with a hostile bidder in a bidding war that pushed the price far beyond intrinsic value.
Themes
Exercise
Reconstruct the sources and uses, estimate the sponsor IRR, and argue whether the winning price was justified by cash flows or by auction dynamics.
Hertz
2005A leveraged buyout of a capital-intensive rental business with a large fleet. The deal tested whether a sponsor could generate returns in a business that eats cash.
Themes
Exercise
Model the fleet as the key working-capital driver and test whether the business can service the debt through the cycle.
Safeway
1986A leveraged buyout of a supermarket chain followed by aggressive asset sales and restructuring. A study in how operational improvement, not financial engineering, drives value.
Themes
Exercise
Quantify the value from store disposals and margin recovery, and separate it from the value created by leverage.
Revco
1988A drugstore chain LBO that ended in bankruptcy. The canonical case of a deal that overpaid and under-delivered, and a lesson in the limits of leverage.
Themes
Exercise
Identify the assumptions that broke the deal and build the base case that would have kept it solvent.
Sealed Air
1989A defensive leveraged recapitalization of a packaging company. The case shows how a company used debt to change behavior and create value without a change of ownership.
Themes
Exercise
Evaluate the recap as a value-creation event and quantify the change in operating behavior it induced.
Federal Express
1973-1975The early days of FedEx, when the company nearly ran out of cash. A study in forecasting cash needs and the value of a network business at the edge of survival.
Themes
Exercise
Build the cash-flow forecast that shows when the company ran out of money and what the equity was worth at each stage.
Disney-ABC
1995Disney's acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC. A strategic merger that combined content with distribution and paid a large premium for synergy.
Themes
Exercise
Estimate the synergies the deal required to justify its premium and assess whether they were realistic.
Exxon-Mobil
1998The merger of Exxon and Mobil, a mega-merger that combined two integrated oil majors. A benchmark for cost synergies at enormous scale.
Themes
Exercise
Model the cost synergies and accretion, and evaluate how the market priced the deal at announcement.
Kraft-Cadbury
2010Kraft's hostile acquisition of Cadbury. A cross-border deal with a contested price, a large premium, and a hard look at post-deal value.
Themes
Exercise
Assess whether the price paid for Cadbury was justified and what Kraft needed to deliver to make it work.
Vodafone-Mannesmann
1999-2000The largest hostile takeover in history, a cross-border telecom deal fought with stock. A landmark in valuation under uncertainty and in the power of equity as currency.
Themes
Exercise
Value both companies and analyze the exchange ratio, then judge which side got the better terms.
Microsoft-LinkedIn
2016Microsoft's acquisition of LinkedIn at a substantial premium to market. A strategic bet on a network asset and a test of how to value a business with modest near-term cash flow.
Themes
Exercise
Build the DCF that supports the purchase price and identify the growth assumptions the market had to believe.
Union Carbide-Dow
1999-2001Dow's acquisition of Union Carbide and the subsequent restructuring. A case in industrial M&A, integration risk, and the gap between announced and realized value.
Themes
Exercise
Analyze the deal's announced synergies against what was actually delivered and explain the gap.
Model standards & formulas
A model is a claim you can defend. These standards keep every model honest, and these formulas are the ones you must know cold for the final assessment.
One source of truth
Every input lives in a single assumptions block. No hard-coded numbers in the middle of a model. Change an assumption once and the whole model updates.
Clean color discipline
Blue for inputs, black for formulas, and a distinct color for links to other sheets. Anyone should be able to open the model and know what to touch.
The model balances
The balance sheet always balances, in every period and every scenario. If it does not, the model is wrong, not the accounting.
Circular references are explicit
Interest and cash-flow circularity is handled deliberately, with iterative calculation on and a documented break, never accidentally.
Every output is traceable
You can click from any output back to the driver that produced it. A number you cannot trace is a number you cannot defend.
One page of defense
Every model ships with a one-page note stating the assumptions, the key drivers, and the three risks that would break the thesis.
Unlevered Free Cash Flow
Cash available to all capital providers before financing decisions.
Weighted Average Cost of Capital
Discount rate for unlevered cash flows, weighted by target capital structure.
Cost of Equity (CAPM)
Risk-free rate plus a risk premium scaled by the asset's systematic risk.
Unlevered Beta (Hamada)
Removes the effect of leverage so betas are comparable across capital structures.
Terminal Value - Perpetuity Growth
Assumes a constant growth rate into perpetuity; sensitive to both g and WACC.
Terminal Value - Exit Multiple
Prices the terminal period at a market multiple; must be consistent with the perpetuity.
Enterprise Value
The value of the operating business before capital structure.
Equity Value
Enterprise value adjusted for the claims that sit ahead of equity.
Sponsor IRR
The discount rate at which sponsor cash flows net to zero over the hold.
Multiple on Invested Capital
A simple return measure that ignores timing; pair it with IRR.
Accretion / Dilution
Whether the deal raises or lowers EPS per share after financing.
Common model errors
| Error | Why it matters | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| Hard-coded inputs | Untraceable, un-updatable numbers | Route everything through the assumptions block |
| Unbalanced balance sheet | The model is internally inconsistent | Check that assets equal liabilities plus equity in every period |
| Wrong discounting convention | Value is mispriced by half a year or more | Apply end-year or mid-year consistently and state it |
| Terminal value dominates | The answer is the assumption, not the model | Cross-check with an exit multiple and disclose the share of value |
| Ignored circularity | Interest and cash flows disagree | Turn on iteration and document the break |
| No scenario testing | A single point masquerades as a range | Build base, bull, and bear from the same assumptions block |
Final capability assessment
The program ends with a demonstration, not a quiz: a timed, closed-notes exercise that tests whether you can build, stress, and defend a full valuation or LBO on your own.
Financial statement fluency
Reconcile the three statements and build a bridge from net income to unlevered free cash flow without notes.
Cost of capital
Estimate WACC from first principles and defend every input, including the beta adjustment for leverage.
DCF construction
Build a complete DCF with a defensible terminal value and walk cleanly from enterprise to equity value.
Relative valuation
Build trading comps and precedents, justify the peer set, and reconcile the implied range with the DCF.
LBO modeling
Build a three-statement LBO with a debt schedule and compute IRR and MOIC under multiple exits.
M&A analysis
Run an accretion/dilution analysis and identify the synergies a deal must realize to justify its price.
Case judgment
Take a landmark deal, form a view on the price, and defend it against the strongest counterargument.
Model hygiene
Deliver a model that balances, traces, and documents itself under the program's six-rule standard.
| Level | Score | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Foundation | 0-3 | Can follow a model someone else built and explain the outputs, but cannot construct one independently. |
| Working | 4-6 | Can build a clean model from a template and defend the standard formulas, with occasional help on judgment calls. |
| Independent | 7-8 | Builds models from scratch, makes sound assumptions, and defends the output under questioning. |
| Front-office ready | 9-10 | Builds, stress-tests, and defends a full valuation or LBO under time pressure, with the judgment to know what matters. |
Thirty readings
Thirty pre-2021 works grouped into five categories. Read them as a front-office analyst would: for the framework, the judgment, and the vocabulary.
Valuation Theory
The intellectual foundation of how value is determined and defended.
Investment Valuation (3rd ed.)
Aswath Damodaran
Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies
Koller, Goedhart & Wessels
Creating Shareholder Value
Alfred Rappaport
Financial Statement Analysis and Security Valuation
Stephen Penman
Security Analysis
Graham & Dodd
The Essays of Warren Buffett
Lawrence Cunningham (ed.)
LBO & Private Equity
How sponsors use leverage, governance, and operational change to build value.
Barbarians at the Gate
Burrough & Helyar
King of Capital
Carey & Morris
Investment Banks, Hedge Funds, and Private Equity
David Stowell
Private Equity: History, Governance, and Operations
Cendrowski et al.
The Private Equity Primer
PwC
The New Financial Capitalists
Baker & Smith
M&A
The mechanics, strategy, and execution of mergers and acquisitions.
Applied Mergers and Acquisitions
Robert Bruner
Mergers, Acquisitions, and Corporate Restructurings
Patrick Gaughan
Mergers, Acquisitions, and Other Restructuring Activities
Donald DePamphilis
Takeovers, Restructuring, and Corporate Governance
Weston, Mitchell & Mulherin
Investment Banking: Valuation, LBOs, M&A, and IPOs
Rosenbaum & Pearl
Mergers and Acquisitions from A to Z
Andrew Sherman
Financial Statement Analysis
Reading the statements as the raw material every model is built from.
Business Analysis and Valuation
Palepu & Healy
Financial Statement Analysis: A Practitioner's Guide
Fridson & Alvarez
Financial Statement Analysis
K. R. Subramanyam
Financial Statement Analysis & Valuation
Easton, McAnally et al.
Warren Buffett and the Interpretation of Financial Statements
Buffett & Clark
The Dark Side of Valuation
Aswath Damodaran
Case Studies & Classics
The landmark deals studied in this program, read as decisions to be made.
RJR Nabisco (case)
Harvard Business School
Hertz Global Holdings (case)
Harvard Business School
Safeway LBO (case)
Harvard Business School
Sealed Air (case)
Harvard Business School
Vodafone and Mannesmann (case)
Harvard Business School
Microsoft's Acquisition of LinkedIn (case)
Harvard Business School
NotebookLM study setup
A single NotebookLM notebook is the study engine for this curriculum. Set it up with the readings and cases as sources, keep it clean, and drive it with the prompts below.
Setting up the notebook
- 1. Create one notebook named for the program.
- 2. Add the readings as sources, one per work, named by role.
- 3. Add the case materials as sources, named by deal.
- 4. Add the model-standard rules and core formulas as a single source.
- 5. Use the prompts below for study, synthesis, and interview practice.
Source quality over quantity
Upload only the canonical source for each idea. A clean, primary source (the textbook chapter, the case, the course notes) beats ten duplicate summaries.
One concept, many sources is the exception
Keep multiple sources only when they genuinely disagree or cover different angles. Otherwise consolidate to a single authoritative source.
Name sources by what they teach
Label each source by its role (e.g. 'DCF - Koller ch.6', 'LBO - Rosenbaum ch.4'). A well-named notebook is a notebook you can search.
No raw scrapes
Never paste unstructured forum threads or unedited web dumps. Clean the text to the idea before it enters the notebook.
Keep formulas with their assumptions
Every formula you save must carry the assumption it hides. A formula without its caveat is a trap in an interview.
Prune weekly
At the Day 6 consolidation, delete sources that never get cited and merge duplicates. A lean notebook is a trustworthy notebook.
The prompts
Explain the concept
Cross-source synthesis
Formula drill
Case decision
Interview simulation
Thesis defense
Error audit
Concept map
Verified official links
The official NYU Stern and LSE pages this curriculum points to - the institutional sources for the valuation and finance theory you study here.
NYU Stern School of Business
NYU SternThe official site of the NYU Stern School of Business, home of the finance faculty and programs this curriculum draws on.
https://www.stern.nyu.edu/
Aswath Damodaran - Valuation
NYU SternProfessor Damodaran's official NYU Stern page: valuation data, spreadsheets, and the teaching material behind the valuation theory in this program.
https://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/
NYU Stern Finance Department
NYU SternThe official finance department page at NYU Stern, the source of the academic foundation for corporate finance and valuation.
https://www.stern.nyu.edu/experience-stern/about/departments-centers-initiatives/departments/finance
London School of Economics
LSEThe official site of the London School of Economics and Political Science.
https://www.lse.ac.uk/
LSE Finance Department
LSEThe official LSE Finance Department page, covering the academic study of corporate finance, valuation, and markets.
https://www.lse.ac.uk/finance
LSE Business Review
LSELSE's official business review, with analysis of valuation, private equity, and deal activity by LSE faculty.
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/