Real Career Insights: Breaking into PE, M&A & Startups

Curious how to break into Private Equity, M&A, and the startup world—and build a career that moves across all three?

Join us for a candid and energizing session with David Wolinsky, a senior executive with 20+ years of experience in M&A, private equity, operations, and investment banking. David’s career spans across Investment Banking → M&A → Private Equity → Startup Co-Founder. David helped scale Palm Tree from a 5-person startup to 120+ professionals. He recently launched Athena—an end-to-end training program designed to help students move beyond classroom modeling and case studies into the real work of evaluating, structuring, and executing deals.

David will walk through the real decision points, the skills that actually matter, and the mindset that enables career mobility across finance and entrepreneurship. Whether you are actively recruiting or simply curious about IB, PE, M&A, or entrepreneurship, this conversation will offer practical insights, frameworks, and real world perspectives. 

David is a senior executive with 2+ decades of experience in M&A, private equity, operations, and IB – including working at Goldman Sachs  and Jeffries. Co-founder of Palm Tree, a leading M&A advisory and consulting firm, he scaled the organization from a five-person startup to more than 120 professionals. His expertise spans evaluating acquisition opportunities, optimizing operations across portfolio companies, and managing complex divestitures.