Alex Graham

Mexico City, Mexico

Member since December 17, 2016

Alex is a Mexico-based CFA, originally from the UK. He enjoys freelancing to keep abreast of industry trends and to reinforce his career experience from venture capital, consulting and fixed income/currency trading. With a technical skill set and an engaging communicative touch, he is proficient at valuations and market analysis. His breadth of work has ranged from projects with the Bank of England to helping a jewelry entrepreneur to fundraise.

Valuation Comparable Company Analysis Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)Three Statement Operating Model Market Research Financial Modeling Fundraising Venture Capital Pricing Analysis Revenue & Expense Projections Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)Show more

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Career Highlights

Principal
Velum Ventures
Strategy Consultant
Bizcorps
Portfolio Management and Treasury Dealer
Investec Bank plc

Academic Highlights

Master's degree (MBA)
IE Business School
Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
CFA Institute
Bachelor of Science (Hons)
University of Bath

Portfolio

Personal Financial Models for Banking Projects
- Financial Modeling
- Discounted Cash Flow Analysis
- Bootstrapping
Venture Capital Valuation: LATAM Fintech
- Venture Capital
- Valuation
- Market Sizing
- Strategic Analysis
- Unit Economics
Total Addressable Market Analysis: Uber
- Market Sizing
- Writing
- Market Research
- Critical Analysis
Private Equity Valuation: European Retail
- LBO
- Private Equity
- Capital Structure Analysis
Market Research and Financial Analysis of Hyatt Hotels
- Technical Research
- Stock Analysis
- Market Research
- Positioning
Venture Capital Valuation: Difference Capital
- Venture Capital
- Valuation
- Modeling

Industry Expertise

Venture Capital

Other Expertise

Currencies
Customer Acquisition Costing
Fixed-income
Investment Strategy
Strategic Planning
Total Available Market (TAM)
Treasury & Liquidity Management

Employment

Principal
Velum Ventures
2017 - 2017
- Monitored the current $12 million portfolio (12 investments) and assisted with the board-level strategy.
- Built a deal pipeline and outreach channels.
- Created a new investment thesis and fundraising plan.
- Mentored in local accelerators.
- Built modeling scenario projections for liquidity events.
Focus areas: Angel/Seed Funding, Valuation, Business Plan Development, Deal Sourcing, Market Sizing, Fundraising, Venture Capital
Strategy Consultant
Bizcorps
2016 - 2017
- Designed, budgeted and executed new online media strategy for Client A to diversify the business away from struggling printed material focus.
- Led ongoing fundraising for Client A concerning an angel round of $200,000 and successful application for a $30,000 grant from Startup Chile.
- Prepared for Client B: a financial model, equity recapitalization, and pitch decks for $550,000 investment round.
- Planned for Client C: an expansion into the US market with a full budget and market segmentation analysis.
- Re-engineered for Bizcorps: an internal consulting business model—building a business plan that expanded from 1 to 3 lines.
Focus areas: Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Budgeting, Business Plan Development, Venture Funding, Working Capital Management, Digital Marketing, Strategy, Pitch Decks
Portfolio Management and Treasury Dealer
Investec Bank plc
2008 - 2013
- Researched and implemented new innovative FX hedging strategies that increased annual profits by £2 million over 3 years.
- Sourced, screened, performed due diligence and executed asset purchases for a £550 million long-dated fund. The same fund was later sold for a 16% IRR.
- Collaborated with colleagues in South Africa to introduce innovative internal repo trade structures that offered yield with capital efficiency. This contributed to the average capital risk weighting of portfolio lowering from 20% to 4%.
- Worked within negotiations surrounding the renewal of £200 million of vital short-term loan facilities from 30 banks during volatile European market conditions.
- Demonstrated client flexibility by modeling the unwind of an esoteric 10-year old gold trade within 2 days for a profit of £5.5 million.
- Increased productivity by building an automated (and more transparent) deposit pricing algorithm into a retail product group.
- Gained extensive budgeting and scenario analysis experience from the integration of M&A companies into the business and the consolidation of duplicated group activities into London HQ.
- Traded daily FX exposure and cash balances across 20 currencies.
Focus areas: Portfolio Analysis, Financial Modeling, Financial Benchmarking, Portfolio Management, Liquidity Management, Currency Risk Management, Capital Structure Analysis, Trading, Fixed Income, Treasury, Asset and Liability Management
Operations Intern: Corporate Actions
Morgan Stanley
2007 - 2007
- Built a VBA corporate action calculator that rated and ranked new equity events from just an ISIN/CUSIP indicator.
- Aided the transition and training of the risk team from London to Glasgow—completed the move early and below budget.
Focus areas: Corporate Actions, Financial Risk Assessment, Financial Modeling
Operations Intern: Credit Card Projects
HSBC
2005 - 2006
- Involved in the strategic implementation of firm-wide projects (i.e. the Asian call center migration) into a retail bank.
Focus areas: Offshoring, Profitability Analysis, Business Intelligence

Other Experience

A Deep Dive into Elon Musk’s Investments: The Makings of a Billionaire (Publication)
https://www.toptal.com/finance/venture-capital-consultants/elon-musks-investments
Everyone is familiar with Elon Musk the Entrepreneur, but what about Musk the Investor? In this article, we will look at how Musk has funded his ventures and managed his personal angel investments over his career, clever tactics that he has applied, and lessons learned from his experiences.
Three Core Principles of Venture Capital Portfolio Strategy (Publication)
https://www.toptal.com/finance/venture-capital-consultants/venture-capital-portfolio-strategy
Many newcomers to venture capital fail to appreciate some of the nuances that distinguishes venture investing from traditional forms of financial investing. This article delves into three areas in particular that new venture investors should look to understand.
Term Sheet Templates - Clauses to Look Out For During Negotiation (Publication)
https://www.toptal.com/finance/fundraising/common-term-sheet-mistakes-founders-make
Despite the large increase in resources aimed at helping founders navigate the fundraising process, many still struggle when it comes to particular term sheet clauses that can have unintended consequences if misunderstood. These clauses can lead to founders losing control of their company or payout structures upon exit down the road, regardless of how much capital they succeeded in raising. This in-depth post by Toptal Finance Expert and VC Alex Graham fills the knowledge gap by breaking down the term sheet's trickiest clauses and the implications thereof.

Education

Master's degree (MBA) in Business Administration
IE Business School - Madrid, Spain
2014 - 2015
Approved Person in Financial Markets
Financial Conduct Authority - London, UK
2010 - 2013
Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) in Investment Management
CFA Institute - London, UK
2010 - 2013
Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Business Administration
University of Bath - Bath, UK
2004 - 2008

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