Valuation Manager, Deloitte

>> Well, specifically, we help clients that are going through any sort of phase of a transaction. So whether they are looking to acquire companies, looking to figure out how much something is potentially worth, whether they're looking at tax restructurings, or really trying to understand how MNA can potentially help them grow their business, or get into markets they haven't currently served. That's really the unique aspect of my job, because I get the opportunity to not only interact with the finance and the accounting side of a company, but I get to work with marketing and operations, as well as talking to some of the sales force to really get a full, more holistic picture of how the company actually operates. And in doing so, we get a better understanding of who their potential customers are, the types of products and solutions, and what potential international markets may benefit from working with these companies. Quite often, I think we always ask ourselves, how do we get that done? Because in the client service environment, the deadlines always change; the facts always change, so it's quite difficult. I think some of the memorable ones is, even recently, we helped a large, international pharmaceutical company that was looking to get into the vaccine business. And got the opportunity to learn about vaccines that was just really crazy diseases that you've never really heard of in far east Asian countries that you're just trying to get a handle on, and seeing the pictures was [inaudible] devastating for me, but having the opportunity to really work with that and get understanding of how the whole life science vaccine market works was really quite fascinating for me. It requires someone that has the ability to synthesize information really quickly. So, we obviously have a large variety of databases at our grasp that we can pull from, kind of get analysts' reports and so forth. But what it really requires is, I actually had a baseline understanding in this so I studied premed along with business in college, and really had a passion about the industry going in. And one of the things that our company focuses on is really delivering that kind of industry knowledge to clients. And so from the very beginning I'd already started researching how these industries work. Now, more specifically to your question about vaccines, though, and really understanding how the vaccine market works, there's a ton of research out there. What we really try to focus on, or what I focused on is, what would be value drivers when it comes to vaccine? So in terms of, if I want to buy or sell, manufacture a vaccine what are the critical inputs that I need to understand about how the vaccine business works? And that really led me down the path of understanding market sizes and what the potential demographics of who you could sell these vaccines to, as well as, what are the potential costs of developing a vaccine? The risks of developing a vaccine? And really figuring out how the financial aspect would really tie into that analysis. So there's no set work schedule, I would love think nine-to-five give or take. Client service, though, is what the client wants when the client wants it. Unfortunately with deals as well, they're a living animal; it's not just "Hey, we'll do this and then that." It's consistently negotiations and you're a part of that, and I think that what's also kind of addictive about the job, is you're a part of something as it's happening and the results that you provide, end up showing up on, you know, NBC or some news network on a deal that you did. You know there are some very late nights. On average it's not anything that's overwhelming, and you know I still get to partake in my other passions in life, bet it surfing or golf, or whatever it is. But it can be difficult sometimes dealing with some of the needs placed by clients.