About the SBIA’s Uplift Program
The Small Business Investor Alliance’s (SBIA) Uplift Program seeks to expand the talent pipeline into lower middle market private equity by sponsoring students in US-based undergraduate programs through an industry-recognized financial modeling course. Students who complete the course and find the coursework interesting will have the opportunity to be added to SBIA’s exclusive private equity network. In addition, SBIA will maintain engagement post-graduation to keep students apprised of networking and career opportunities within the lower middle market. By enabling undergraduate students to attain meaningful real-world skills prior to graduation, the SBIA Uplift Program aims to increase the number of graduates competitively prepared for entry-level roles in lower middle market private equity upon earning a Bachelor’s degree, and expand access to careers in private equity for students that may not have considered a career in finance.
Candidate Qualifications
- Attends a public university or college
- Has academic integrity and a demonstrated interest in learning
- Is a first-generation college student (neither of your parents completed a 4-year college or university degree)
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Course Highlights
100% online
35 videos, 8 hours of instruction
Access to videos for 2 years
Unlimited exams
No accounting or finance knowledge required
What You'll Learn in the FMC® Program
- Excel Formatting Techniques and Keystroke Efficiency
- Three Statement Model
- Public Comparables Analysis
- Precedent Comparables Analysis
- Discounted Cash Flow Analysis
- Valuation “Football Field”
- Leveraged Buyout Analysis
How to Apply
If you are interested in exploring this opportunity, please reach out to uplift@sbia.org. The link to apply is below.
About the Small Business Investor Alliance (SBIA)
The Small Business Investor Alliance (SBIA) was formed in 1958 to represent the original American venture capital and private equity funds. As the small business investing market grew more complex, so did SBIA. SBIA now includes conventional private equity funds, private debt funds, Business Development Companies (BDCs), Rural Business Investment Companies (RBICs), Small Business Investment Companies (SBICs), and other funds investing in American private small businesses through a range of strategies (e.g., venture lending, growth equity, minority equity, control equity, mezzanine and other private debt, unitranche). SBIA also represents intermediaries, investment banks and the institutional investors, or Limited Partners, that invest in lower middle market small businesses.
FAQ
The FMC® Program consists of approximately 8 hours of asynchronous videos and course materials in the Adventis portal. These are available for two years after enrollment. The videos are designed for candidates to learn financial modeling from scratch and enable enrollees to complete the FMC® Program at their own pace. Enrollees also get free access to our online exams and can take as many exams as they’d like in order to earn our certifications.
By earning our certifications, enrollees develop the skills required to efficiently build properly formatted three-statement financial models from scratch and be proficient in valuation and leveraged buyout concepts. Because getting certified requires candidates to practice building out our financial models from scratch many times, those seeking certification are forced to learn by doing, which greatly enhances retention as well as a technical understanding of financial and accounting principals.
Many enrollees take our program to prepare for internship and full-time interviews for investment banking, private equity, and other competitive fields in finance. Our certification process is highly aligned with their technical interview prep, as it helps them to internalize, rather than memorize, key concepts that are asked in interviews. The certification also provides them with strong talking points, as the certification process enables them to tell stories that demonstrate their financial acumen, work ethic, attention to detail, and resilience.
Additionally, our certifications give enrollees a strong skill set that greatly enhances their on-the-job performance in class projects, case study competitions, internships, and full-time positions.
The FMC® Program is meant for individuals from a wide range of backgrounds. Participants with a liberal arts background that have little to no accounting or finance experience can get a lot out of the FMC® Program. We take participants through each step of building out financial models so they will learn finance and accounting concepts as they progress through the program and without having to do any extra research on their own. Alternatively, if participants have a strong finance and accounting background, they can also get a lot out of the FMC® Program, as we teach them how to build best-of-class financial models quickly and efficiently.
The FMC® Program is most valuable for roles in investment banking, private equity, equity research, and related industries. However, it is also valuable for corporate finance, corporate development, transaction services, valuation services, and a slew of other industries. And it’s also valuable for general roles in business that typically requires work to be done in Microsoft Excel, but doesn’t require financial modeling work, such as accounting, consulting, and treasury.
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* The price goes back to the usual discounted student price of $299 after December 31