On the 31st of January 2025, the Jesuit Roundup interviewed Clark Durham, a now investment banker at Stephens. As a former Editor-in-Chief, Durham explains how his time at the Jesuit Roundup under Dr. Degen shaped his path to success. He also shares helpful insights into the competitive world of Investment Banking.
Interview
Ben Woodard
How did your experience with the Roundup and the lessons you learned as an Editor-in-Chief help you with your success today?
Clark Durham
The Roundup experience did more to prepare me for my work here now in investment banking than anything that I went through in college or after that. Effective communication is number one and key that you pick up. Dr. Degen’s very stringent standards on how you make an argument and how you convey your message to people in a clear way is something that will serve you no matter what you do. Being able to communicate well and push the right buttons to get what you need out of people is very necessary to succeed.
Ben Woodard
Jesuit during the four years teaches a lot about magis, men for others, and the six profiles of the graduate. Out of those ideals Jesuit teaches, do you think anything specifically applies to Investment Banking that you still use today?
Clark Durham
The magis, going for more, gotta be able to go out and go for more every day. Whether your in finance, law, or any other profession, it is a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll as a wise man once said. And, so you gotta be able to go out and do more and demand more from yourself and other people and not be okay with just good enough.
Barrett Gibbins
Investment Banking is insanely competitive, so how were you able to set yourself apart from the other applicants to stand out and break into investment banking?
Clark Durham
Show you are willing to put in more work, more hours, and more effort than anyone else to get the role. There’s nothing in an entry level job, whether its in finance or another field that is super intellectually difficult. It’s about attitude and drive, so being able to show those things clearly in an interview is the best way to set yourself apart. Another one is to just do your homework, so showing you’ve just done your research, thought a lot about said position, and showing you didn’t just think up your interview points on the way over there that day, but that you really put in that background work needed.
Barrett Gibbins
How is Stephenson is treating the emerging technologies such as AI and the blockchain, and how is that reshaping the way investment banks operate and interact with clients?
Clark Durham Â
I don’t think that AI is going to displace a ton of analysts but it is definitely going to make their lives easier with tools like generating pictures, images, graphs, and charts that are visually appealing. At the end of the day when you’re starting out most of what you are doing is putting together pitch materials and so having tools that will help you creatively visualize things is absolutely critical. I think the blockchain’s going to absolutely revolutionize the the the way that you do payment processing. It’s going to make it a lot more seamless person to person and person to business payment. It’s a really interesting space and everybody’s trying to figure out how they’re going to play especially the AI piece, blockchain is applicable to some industries, but not to others, AI matters everywhere.
Carter Weiss
Obviously there are different kind of investment banks that people can work at, so what do you see in terms of comparisons between elite boutique firms and the bulge bracket?
Clark Durham
The day to day of both of them is going to end up being very similar when you come in, and your the low man on the totem poll putting together pitch materials, working in Microsoft excel, building financial models, and pulling public company comps. When your at a smaller firm, you end up working in a lot leaner deal teams, so if your working on a M&A transaction at a middle market bank you might be an analyst on a deal team with 4-5 people total, and when your at a bigger bank it can be 7-8 or more depending on the size of the transaction. Larger banks are going to end up being more structured. There’s going to be the clear ruts in the road of what your supposed to do as an analyst or as an associate or vice president.
Michael Kovac
What made you pick investment banking over other finance related jobs?
Clark Durham
I consider myself to be an effort guy, and I wanted to find a path where if you come in and you dedicate yourself that the sky is the limit. The compensation piece didn’t hurt, that was definitely a strong consideration. You make a lot more out of school in this role than you do in others, but you also end up working a lot more. Besides that, I knew I wanted to work in finance, I didn’t know the exact direction I wanted to take in that, and investment banking is a fantastic boot camp where you learn the ins and outs of valuing companies and businesses. You can take what you learn in investment banking and apply it to other fields such as private equity, venture capital, a CFO path, etc. I went and did it and ended up wanted to stay in it. This is a business where you have to go out and have hand to hand combat every day to go win new mandates and originate new deals.
Thomas Fino
What advice would you give for someone who wants to break in to investment banking in a non-traditional path. Specifically what advice would you give for someone attending a US service academy who wouldn’t be able to try to break in to investment banking until late 20s and early 30s?
Clark Durham
I think that per capita there is probably more recent veterans, and especially guys that came out of the academies than maybe anywhere else, including ivy league schools. It actually does a fantastic job as a boot camp for what your going to be facing in investment banking. I think being able to show strong work ethic and dedication towards meeting real tangible objectives versus just punching in your 9-5 everyday. Don’t be afraid to come out and do business school right after. I can’t tell you how many guys I see that were in the army rangers or service academies and then go to Harvard business school.
Conclusion
Clark Durham’s words are a valuable look at what it takes to be successful in investment banking. His time at The Jesuit Roundup with Dr. Degen was where he learned to communicate, and he considers it more valuable than anything he learned in school. He reiterates that good and effective communication is crucial to any profession, but particularly to finance, where persuasion is everything.
Durham also refers to the magis, desiring to work harder than expectations, which aligns with the demanding nature of investment banking. He reiterates that success is only hard work, preparation, and desiring to work longer and harder than the next person. His guidance regarding standing out during interviews and finding one’s way into the business supports the emphasis on drive and industry.
In the end, Durham’s story is a testament to the strength of hard work, preparation, and flexibility—traits that are not limited to investment banking and can result in success in any endeavor.
