Reflecting on my experience this summer, I would say that German culture defines success in a relatively similar manner to the culture in the United States. Success is seen as getting things done and accomplishing your tasks efficiently and properly. Many people work extremely hard during their work day, but still make time for vacations when they need to and make time for a separate personal life. I think this is valuable, if you ask me, as having a fulfilling personal life allows one to work even harder for a long period of time without burning out. Another difference between German culture and the culture in the United States is that a successful employee here in Germany is not usually defined by how they look, rather they are defined by their work product and outcomes. Of course, it is still important to dress within the realm of what is appropriate for your job, but many do not wear suits or even button downs to work in finance, at least where I am working. I think this is an interesting difference – if you ask me, there is some value to dressing nicely (“look good, feel good”), but too much focus on daily attire and optics detracts from one’s actual focus on work product. I would say that behaviors and actions of a successful employee don’t differ much in the United States compared to here in Germany – to be a successful employee, you are expected to contribute to the best of your ability, voice your opinions in a respectful manner, and be an engaged team player. I would imagine that these behaviors are relatively similar expectations for an employee regardless of what country one is in. However, I talked with my colleagues about this, and in certain jobs and industries here (perhaps investment banking), it sounds very similar to the United States work culture. I think this holds true for every country, that there is a spectrum of what is expected across different industries – though some countries may lean more in one direction on average.

This past week at work, I wrapped up the deal that I had been working on for a while now. From this experience doing an extremely deep dive into a company for due diligence, I learned a valuable lesson: sometimes a company you at first expect to be a great investment can turn out to feel the opposite by the end of the due diligence process. For me, this reinforced the importance of a structured and thorough due diligence process, and also the importance of not making up my mind on the company until the very end, when I have as much information as possible. It would’ve been cool to make an investment, sure, but it is a thousand times more important to make the right strategic decision. And, this investment was not the right strategic decision. It was an intriguing and promising business model, but the founding team was too large to be stable and there were flags regarding certain members that came up in diligence. Obviously, I cannot say too much about the specific investment / deal. I’m grateful for the experience of doing a thorough diligence process, and when I came to the conclusion I didn’t think it was a suitable investment for our fund at this stage, it gave me the opportunity to build experience in expressing myself even when my opinion might be different from certain team members. This is a valuable skill that I will certainly carry forward with greater confidence than I had prior to this internship. 

Right now, I am in the car heading to the mountains in the middle of Germany. I’m joining the team offsite for a few days, where we will be doing some team bonding activities as well as holding meetings to align strategy for the coming year. I’m really excited to be included in this experience even though I will no longer be an employee come the end of this week. I’m a bit sad as I write this. It’s been a great experience out here in Berlin and an even better experience being a part of this amazing team where I work. But who knows, maybe I’ll end up back here some day.