Recent Alumni Profile: Tara Smith Kacher '08

This is the first in the series of profiles of successful recent alums to provide insight into the Anderson experience and post-graduation career paths.

TARA SMITH KACHER ‘08  

Hometown:  Encino, CA

Current City: San Francisco, CA

College & Major:  Stanford University, Economics & History

Pre-Business School Experience:  Private Equity Analyst at Key Principal Partners, Analyst at Harris Williams & Co.

Internship:  Summer Associate at Riordan, Lewis & Haden

Post-Anderson: Associate at Harris Williams & Co

Current Role: Vice President, MidSpan Partners

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PRE- ANDERSON

What did you want to be when you grew up?  A doctor. Clearly plans changed.   

Why business school?  After several years in both banking and private equity, I was at an inflection point in my career.  I didn’t have an undergrad business education and I wanted the academic business perspective as well as the opportunity to evaluate what I wanted to do going forward. 

Why Anderson? The people.  I had visited a number of campuses prior to Anderson.  After meeting with current students and observing the discourse in the classroom, it was quickly apparent that it was a community of people who I wanted to interact and learn from.  The school is comprised of down-to-earth, likeable individuals with impressive backgrounds and career trajectories. 

 

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ANDERSON

Activities & Leadership:   Orientation Section Leader and ACT coach.  Member of the Investment Finance Club (now IFA), Entrepreneurs Association (EA) and Wine Club.  Admissions interviewer and A-Days committee.

AMR Project Designing a customer loyalty program for the clothing retailer BCBG.  I came from investment banking, so I had to quickly learn the ins and outs of fashion marketing.  I also had to dive into the company and their operations. As a result, I gained a perspective on the sales and marketing function within a company. [Editor's Note: There was also definite change in Tara's waredrobe as well]

Favorite Anderson Event: The Spring Break China trip my 1^st year co-sponsored by the Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies and the Ziman Center for Real Estate. We explored the changing economy by networking with expat alums and our Chinese classmates, visiting internet start-ups, climbing the Great Wall, seeing the Olympic Village in Beijing prior to the Games & dining on the Bund in Shanghai.

[Editor's Note: Kenny G (pictured) is not an Anderson alum]

If you could rewind and go back to Anderson, what would you do differently?  Nothing.  I got out of Anderson what I put into it.  Being exceptionally involved allowed me to get to know a lot of people through the process, and those are relationships I place a great deal of value on today.

Best Anderson Memory: Afternoons in the courtyard after class chatting with classmates and downloading about the day’s events.

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RECRUITING

What helped you the most in the career search?  Talking to other likeminded students with the same career path, which was facilitated by my ACT group.  We looked over each others’ resumes, prepped for interviews, discussed industry trends and shared information about which firms were hiring and when. 

Hardest Interview Question:  “Where do you want to be in 10 years?”  I didn’t actually know the answer until I started my own venture. 

How did you land your internship? Through the Price Center’s Venture Fellows program.  Professor Al Osborne and Executive Director Elaine Hagan ('91) ferreted the opportunities and matched us with the right private equity firms and portfolio companies based on our skills, personalities, and investment approach. 

Describe your internship Evaluating new deal opportunities, working on some of the transactions they were evaluating, and providing support for their portfolio companies.

Making the most of your internship: Dive in head first.  You only have 3 months, so maximize your evaluation of the job, the company and career path.

How did you get your job?  Although I had a great internship experience, I realized that principal investing wasn’t what I wanted to do in the long run, so I went back to investment banking at my previous employer at a more senior level.

Beyond Campus Recruiting:  Identify a place where you want to work and proactively reach out, even when a position is not posted on a job board.  Identify who you know there, make connections or use your current ones, and see if you can create an opportunity there.  The best intros are from warm leads: friends, employers, and connections in the business community. 

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POST ANDERSON

What does your job entail? Several of the former partners and I left and started our own firm primarily focused onsell side M&A.  I am primarily focused on deal execution, but I also juggle internal operations: personnel and administrative management, including managing vendor relationships, devising training materials for new hires, negotiating contracts with research providers like Capital IQ, and looking for office space.  I do a little bit of everything and am constantly switching gears. 

Best Piece of Career Advice:  Work ethic is paramount.  One of my favorite bosses and mentors said that the perfect employee “takes the ball and runs with it.”  I have tried to model myself after this ideal by being creative and resourceful, particularly when the answer to the problem wasn’t apparent.

What surprised you about post b-school life?  At 2-4 years out of business school, most of us are still trying to figure out what the long term picture looks like.  It’s hard to find that one role that you want to stay in the rest of your life.  Times have changed and career paths are dynamic.

Value of the Anderson Network When determining whether to leave an established platform and co-found a new venture, I spent a lot of time talking the decision through with several classmates.  Having them as a sounding board and a 3^rd party perspective was invaluable. 

Why entrepreneurship? Being in an entrepreneurial environment has changed the way I think and act due to the vested interest.  I feel like I have more control over my destiny.

-Emily Taylor '08, Associate Director of MBA Education & Communication

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