Could you please introduce yourself?
My name is Clément Mallet de Chauny and I’m currently graduating from EDHEC Business School in the MSc Corporate Finance & Strategy. My growing interest towards investment stems from my experience at EDHEC Consulting Firm - where I spent 2 years from Business Analyst to Project Manager - and my desire to create value and sustainable growth for companies. After a first experience as a Private Equity and Restructuring Analyst intern at Keravalon (PE firm), I had the opportunity to join BNPParibas’ Advisory France team as an M&A Analyst intern, which fueled my desire to double down in this sector. The opportunity of a 6-month part-time internship at Odyssey was an obvious choice that enabled me to build on my previous experience while continuing to learn from seasoned M&A professionals.
Why did you specialize in Tech M&A?
In my previous experience, I have almost always had to work on industry deal projects and my desire to learn led me to apply for this opportunity. The technology sector is very dynamic and attractive to undergraduates who want to learn about business models and trends in the sector. In addition, the technology sector is very resilient, which can ensure many deals even in times of uncertainty, such as the one we experienced with Covid-19. Overall, I also wanted to gain a small but rather effective experience in the technology sector to add to my CV.
Could you please describe a day in the life of an intern at Odyssey?
An ordinary day usually consists of three times. In general, we have several internal meetings to review the progress of the various projects. These meetings allow us to exchange information directly with senior management and to achieve unparalleled speed of execution. After that, there are usually one or two meetings with prospects or clients on project-specific topics. During these, I had the opportunity to exchange directly with C-level executives on various topics and really contribute to the project progress. A final time is devoted to the progress of the various deliverables. Odyssey's internal organisation leaves a lot of room for manoeuvre for the trainees, which allows us to be a force of proposal and to work autonomously. This proved very helpful during period of containment or travel restriction measures.
What makes an internship at Odyssey a very unique experience?
The most important point from my perspective is the relationship of trust built with Axel Tombereau (CEO) during these 6 months. Odyssey is a company with a real meritocracy culture where it is quite easy to move up, to get known and to work progressively on important tasks if you show that you want to learn and get involved. If you can show these qualities, then your experience at Odyssey will not be that of a trainee but a full member of the team with the responsibility that goes with it. Indeed, your views will be listened to and the solutions you propose will be carefully considered to ensure that you progress in every way.
Why would you recommend Odyssey to M&A+VC applicants?
Apart from what has been mentioned above, I would then recommend Odyssey to future candidates for the feedback culture that Axel has put in place. Every experience should be a learning one and these 6 months with Axel have taught me a lot. Despite his busy schedule, Axel always takes the time to debrief all the work done with relevant comments and recommendations to ensure continuous learning. In addition, Odyssey has a unique corporate culture, halfway between an investment bank and a start-up, where the management is really willing to help you progress but also to facilitate the most difficult tasks at the beginning.
Collaboration is the key word at Odyssey and the many exchanges between trainees and management definitely support this statement.