Cole Weaver: Dysfunctional, Flawed, and Completely Worth It

(Charlotte's Uptown Skyline)

Over three months in the summer of 2018, I completed a 150-hour internship with ICG Capital Partners, a middle-market investment bank management firm located in Charlotte, NC. They are one of the top 15 middle-market investment bank management firms in the country but are unique compared to the others. ICG is unique because they rely on a relatively small staff made up of a president, vice president, an analyst, and interns (anywhere from one to three at a time). As an intern at ICG and as an intern for a successful business who operates with three full-time employees, the responsibilities entrusted to me were more significant and more encompassing than if I were to intern with a more employee-rich business. The excess responsibilities allowed for a tremendous learning and professional experience; but a firm that is as successful as ICG is will always be under a lot of pressure to excel, and the low full-time staff just exacerbate the overwhelming stress. This stress made for a very interesting, but memorable, three months.

From the interview process, I knew that my internship was not going to take place in a calm and peaceful workspace where everything and everyone is politically correct. After getting past the email and phone interview stages of the process, I had to have a face-to-face meeting with the vice president of ICG. We met at a local coffee house in Charlotte called Common Market at eight in the morning. I arrived fifteen minutes early; which I felt was following protocol for most interviews, especially in the business world. When I arrived, I was a little distraught by the location. The coffee house looked more like a run down gas station that closed its gas pumps but kept its convenience store open. As I walked towards the store, two homeless men were sitting at two different outside tables. One of the men had a dog lying at his feet and he, himself, was admiring the cool summer morning. The other was hunched over asleep on the bench. I continued to walk past the two homeless men and into the Common Market, and the coffee house was not a coffee house at all. The outside appearance entirely predicted the inside environment, Common Market was a convenience store that just so happened to have a self-serve coffee station inside.

At this point, I was doubting I was in the right place; but despite my reservations, I bought some coffee and sat down at the only seating they had, which was outside. I thought to myself, “at least the vice president will be easily identifiable and I to him.” I wore a professional button-down shirt with a blue sports coat and a respectable tie and was hoping that I was not underdressed for the interview. I assumed that the vice president of such a reputable firm, as ICG is, would appear in a thousand-dollar suit looking motivated to make millions of dollars. I figured that we would just stand out from the two homeless men sitting in the outdoor sitting area with us.

Time passed, and I did not see anyone that matched my fictional representation of what the vice president should look like. A couple people had walked in and out of Common Market; and a couple minutes after eight, a man sat at my table. Luckily, the man introduced himself to me as Brock and the vice president of ICG Capital Partners because I would have never picked him to be the vice president. Brock wore a casual button-down shirt with a few too many buttons unbuttoned at the top, enough to where a bouquet of chest hair appeared. He also sported a big, cowboy buckled belt and loafers with no socks. By all accounts, Brock’s appearance was not business class approved professional attire. Brock began to tell me a little about ICG and what they do and how their business operates. He informs me that ICG is not your typical investment banking firm, and also the recently hired analysts will be joining us to tell me about his experiences as an intern at ICG, but he is running a little late.

When the analyst arrives, he is wearing a Vineyard Vines tee shirt, khaki pants, and New Balance sneakers. The attire of both the Brock and the analysts, Sam, and the location of choice were the first signs that something about ICG was a little off. As Sam grew closer to where Brock and I were sitting, Brock told me that when Scott, the president of ICG, was out of the office, they liked to dress more casually. I figured that was an acceptable reason to explain their dress. The second and most blatant reason that told me that the culture at ICG is abnormal and not at all what one reads in textbooks was the answer Sam gave to Brock’s first question. Brock asked Sam for his opinion on the culture at ICG. Sam's word for word response was, “the dynamic at ICG is that of a couple going through a divorce.” Initially, I thought that Sam was just joking, and the fact that Brock was laughing while saying Sam’s response was true did not do anything to disavow my theory on the joke.

150 hours later, I learned that Sam was not joking on that day. While I have not been a part of a family that has experienced a divorce, I have to imagine what I went through at ICG has to come close. Scott (the president of ICG) was not in the office all but one or two days a week due to traveling; but when he was, it was a war of words. Scott would take shots at Brock for spending to much money on business trips and for lack of effort or productivity, but then take credit for Brock’s work. Brock continuously tried to undermine Scott authority and plotted with Sam on how to force Scott out of ICG or how they would start their own firm. Profanities would consistently be thrown at one another, and the tension of the office could be cut with a knife when Scott and Brock were together. I came to realize that the casual dress code for when Scott was not in the office was not for comfort, but to belittle Scott’s authority because he wanted Brock and Sam to dress professionally.

While my internship at ICG was chaotic, dysfunctional, and uncomfortable at times, the lessons, abilities, and experience I gained were invaluable. Being able to dip my toes in the water and gain professional exposure and experience in the field that I want to continue in after college was eye-opening. I understand that the way and how ICG works is far from the norm compared to that of a Bank of America or a JPMorgan Chase, but ICG is not a big bank like that. ICG is a small three-man team, and hugely successful in their own right. They have to be unorthodox. They have to be strange and different because that is what works for them. The ability to separate themselves from all the other middle-market investment bank management firms is why they thrive in a congested market. Along with the practical knowledge I got from my time with ICG, I also increased my understanding of how to be successful. You have to not only perform your service or task equal to or better than your competitors, you also have to be able to distinguish yourself from the pack.

Cole Weaver is an Honor student and student-athlete majoring in Finance. Cole’s breakaway experience included an internship with ICG Capital Partners in Charlotte, North Carolina during the Summer of 2018. After graduating Lander in the spring of 2019, Cole plans on continuing his pursuit in a career in investment banking.