A Meaningful Internship in the Age of COVID

by | Jul 8, 2020

How meaningful and hands-on can a summer internship truly be during the COVID-19 pandemic? In my experience, it has already surpassed what I had hoped for.

Allow me to begin with a brief introduction. My name is Nima Malek Khosravi. I’m a current JD-MBA at Northwestern University with a background in finance and consulting. As part of the JD-MBA program, we have the opportunity to pursue summer internships for academic credit (to help us graduate in three years). That is what brought me to Virtas Partners; a professor sourced various internships for students, and we were given the opportunity to pick our placement. Notably, Virtas was on the list because David Kirshenbaum, who is now my manager, knows the professor and has hosted a multitude of interns over the years. I chose Virtas for its wide array of financial expertise, not to mention a personal interest in acquisitions, turnarounds, and restructuring.

The best way to describe my initial experience at the firm is with two of the first emails I received from my managers, David and Adam Alexander.

  • A link to “The Keys to a Successful Work-From-Home Internship” from the WSJ.
  • “Let’s talk… to discuss some of the deals we are looking at. If you have a chance… I am interested to get a list of the largest coworking operators (a) HQ, (b) # of locations, (c) spread of geography/number of cities, (d) ownership if discernable, (e) # of users if discernable, (f) debt level if discernable. If [you have] questions give me a call.”

I share this for two reasons: to express the speed with which work began and to demonstrate the level of the immediate ask. COVID-19 has truly reshaped our working world, from remote work to economic strain, the pandemic is redefining dynamics; not to mention the clear socioeconomic, political, and cultural difficulties that have been brought to the forefront.

I’ve heard of countless summer intern programs being delayed or cut altogether due to the global health crisis. So, as I began my rotational internship at Virtas, I was cautiously optimistic and expected the work to begin slowly. But that simply hasn’t been the case. In my first two weeks with the firm I have worked on five projects, not to mention ad-hoc tasks

  1. Co-working Operator BD Work: the original ask from my manager in the email above, in a field that happens to be of personal interest. This ongoing project involves in-depth analysis of the health and financial position of firms that offer shared office space and the larger coworking market, with particular emphasis on the impact of COVID and how Virtas Partners can utilize its expertise to assist these firms.
  2. Financial Analysis and Potential Sale of a Biophilic Design Company: I spent my first day with Virtas at the client site diving into meetings with David and the acting CEO of the client. Since my first day, we’ve had four other meetings with the CEO, VP of Sales, and VP of Products. It’s truly been an amazing opportunity to sit down, as an intern in my second week, with the management team of a client and get a feel for the company, walk through financials, and finalize steps regarding the deliverables needed to begin the process of finding a buyer.
  3. Capital Structuring for a Biomedical Startup: towards the end of my first week I participated in a Zoom meeting with a biomedical startup looking to assess its capital structure and associated regulatory obligations.
  4. Cash Flow Modeling: in my second week I was also staffed with Erin McNamara, a Director who specializes in finance and accounting advisory. Spending hours in excel digging through the General Ledger, I’ve modeled the Statement of Cash Flows for a renowned fashion company.
  5. Analysis of an Industrials Company: Management of Virtas was looking to win work negotiating the debt financing of a large local industrials company and needed a brief company overview. I worked with an Associate at the firm, Vitas Hrynkiewicz to organize material providing the history, structure, financial position, and products of the company. As a side note, Vitas happens to be a former professional football player. How many interns work alongside professional athletes?

Outside of my deliverables, my manager Adam has spent hours with me discussing different potential projects and reviewing a recently completed CIM for an innovative gaming platform. We talked through the process of working with the client, emphasizing the unique aspects of the project and numerous tools Virtas was able to bring to the table.

From meetings with a client’s CEO, to constructing a Statement of Cash Flows, to business development in a field of vested interest, I am still shocked not only by the breadth, but also by the substantiveness of the work I’ve been assigned in just my first two weeks. Working at Virtas has proven demanding, educational, and incredibly engaging, everything a summer internship should be.