toptal.com
Contact us: +1.888.867.7001
Steven Southwick, Finance Expert in Salt Lake City, UT, United States
Steven Southwick

Finance Expert in Salt Lake City, UT, United States

Member since December 16, 2019
A Chicago Booth MBA graduate and CFA charterholder, Steve has worked as a financial analyst, investor, and entrepreneur across the US and Latin America. He was a top-tier investment banking M&A analyst (Barclays Capital), with investing experience in both private equity (Sorenson Capital) and private credit (THL Credit). In addition to developing an education startup, Steve advises clients on capital raising, financing, and M&A transactions.
Steven is now available for hire
Hire Steven

Career Highlights

Education

Select Certifications

  • CFA
    CFA Institute

Case studies

Industry Expertise

  • Education
  • Fintech
  • Blockchain
  • Edtech

Other Expertise

Employment

  • CEO

    2017 - PRESENT
    Pointful Education
    • Founded an education company that creates elective courses for online high schools, focused on new and emerging technologies.
    • Managed a team of ten and all aspects of the business including strategy, marketing, curriculum development, and fundraising.
    • Secured distribution contracts with independent schools, publishers, state charter schools, and international distributors.
    • Raised both debt and equity seed-stage financing.
    Focus areas: K-12 Education, Education Technology (Edtech)

  • Vice President

    2013 - 2017
    THL Credit
    • Structured, underwrote, and monitored investments in senior/unitranche, second lien, mezzanine, and equity securities.
    • Originated deal flow through a network of private equity sponsors, investment banks, intermediaries, and entrepreneurs.
    • Developed and pursued industry theses in select verticals including education, consumer, digital media, and technology.
    • Presented due diligence findings, investment recommendations, and portfolio updates to senior management weekly.
    • Assisted internal/external counsel in drafting, reviewing and editing indications of interest, term sheets, and credit agreements.
    Focus areas: Private Credit, Private Equity, Portfolio Analysis, Credit Analysis

  • Associate - Private Equity

    2009 - 2011
    Sorenson Capital
    • Executed middle-market private equity transactions; tasks included screening, modeling, due diligence, and documentation.
    • Prepared and presented materials to the credit committee for debt restructuring and workout situations.
    • Assisted portfolio companies with post-investment strategic plans, developing performance metrics, and executing add-ons.
    Focus areas: Private Equity

  • Investment Banking Analyst

    2007 - 2009
    Lehman Brothers/Barclays Capital
    • Developed financial models to evaluate the valuation and capital structure impact of cross-border mergers, acquisitions, leverage buyouts, spin-offs, joint-ventures, and recapitalizations.
    • Performed valuation of companies using discounted cash flow, accretion/dilution, leveraged buyout, purchase price ratio, ability-to-pay, sum-of-the-parts, comparable publicly traded company, and comparable transaction analyses.
    • Created Prepared strategic advisory presentations, management presentations, board presentations, pitches, and internal committee memoranda.
    • Ranked in the top tier of investment banking analyst class both first and second years; awarded third-year offer.
    Focus areas: Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Latin America

Other Experience

  • EdTech Industry Analysis & Trends (2020) (Publication)
    https://www.toptal.com/finance/market-research-analysts/edtech-trends-2020
    Education has rapidly evolved away from the red-brick schoolhouse model. About $7.0 billion was invested globally by VC funds into the edtech market in 2019. This is expected to grow 3x over the next decade. Where is the money going? What characteristics do new competitors need to be sustainable?

Education

  • Master's Degree in Business Administration
    2011 - 2013
    University of Chicago Booth School of Business - Chicago, Illinois
  • Bachelor's Degree in Finance
    2001 - 2006
    Brigham Young University - Provo, Utah

Certifications

  • CFA
    OCTOBER 2011 - PRESENT
    CFA Institute

To view more profiles

Join Toptal
Share it with others
Hire the top 3% of freelance finance experts TM