How Goldman Sachs analysts present when David Solomon is watching
Presenting is a delicate art that everyone approaches differently. Some people are naturals, merging the talent of flicking to the next page and giving additional context like a well-drilled professor. Some people are more boring, reading off the page in an inconsistent voice to simulate excitement. And then there’s Goldman Sachs analysts.
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Goldman’s analysts are some of the finest young minds in the world, with one of the most competitive entry processes in the world – just 0.7% of applicants become Goldman interns. Being a Goldman intern, however, is no guarantee of anything.
For example – the firm just yesterday hosted the final of its 11th annual Analyst Impact Fund – an opportunity for analysts to present, in teams, on behalf of a charity of their choosing. Goldman makes a generous donation ($250k) to the charity whose presentation wins. Finalists included WattTime, a non-profit that promotes renewable energy use for AI data centres.
This year, more than 1,000 analysts participated in the competition – around a fifth of Goldman’s analyst cohort. Around 65 of the firm’s 400 partners also participated in some way, either as coaches or judges or mentors.
The presentations were live streamed and amusing yet informative. Analysts spoke at radically different volume levels compared to how they spoke just several sentences ago. They left the stage to talk to the front row and came back. One team did the good old “look under your chairs” card trick. At one point, one of the teams put on hard hats.
The team representing Every Cure, a non-profit that uses AI to repurpose affordable, non-prescription drugs to treat non-related diseases, won. It was well-deserved; they were quite clearly the best presenters, so it was no surprise.
The analysts were likely very nervous performing in front of Goldman Sachs’ senior leadership, CEO David Solomon included. Solomon was even the one who handed out the prizes, while seeming a bit tired. Conveniently, the losing teams were dismissed in the order they were closest to the exit, including the overall second-place team which won the “Fan Favorite” award. “Everyone’s a winner,” Solomon said, although “someone’s got to win, and someone’s got to come fourth.”
Asahi Pompey, the firm’s head of corporate engagement and president of the Goldman Sachs foundation, was slightly more animated in her presentation, introducing Goldman’s board members who served on the award’s judging panel: Ellen Kullman, Michele Burns, and Kimberley Harris, alongside 38 of the firm’s partners. Sitting right in front of them, next to David Solomon, was global co-head of investment banking Kim Posnett.
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