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As the Fall 2019 Northeastern University Co-op program with Stax Boston comes to an end, our Q&A highlights Jason McLarney.
What is your major/background/hobbies/interests at Northeastern?
I am currently a senior Finance and Marketing Analytics dual-major with a minor in Computer Science expected to graduate in May 2020. In addition to coursework, I am is also the Treasurer and 5-time member of the Northeastern University Men’s Club Soccer team, formerly the Marketing and Events coordinator for Generate: the Student-Led Product Development Studio on NU’s campus, and currently a Venture Analyst and Investment Committee member of IDEA: Northeastern University’s Student-Led Venture Accelerator. Outside of school, I enjoy traveling, investing, skiing, longboarding, craft beers, as well as playing the guitar and piano.
What drew your interest to the Stax co-op position? How did you hear of Stax?
I was drawn to Stax because of its unique intersection of consulting and investing. I heard of Stax through a previous co-op referral and thought the position would offer great insight and hands-on experience in a particularly interesting area of consulting.
What were you hoping to gain through the NE co-op experience?
I was hoping to gain a better understanding of the private equity space, the needs of that particular clientele, how they viewed and evaluated investments, and ultimately how to strategically and critically solve problems to drive impactful and revenue-generating decisions.
What are your responsibilities at Stax as part of your co-op experience?
I am a Strategy Consulting Associate Co-op. In this role, I wear a variety of hats, assisting multiple project teams with everything from primary research, secondary research, market sizing and evaluation, client communications, and deliverable generation across a variety of industries and through a variety of investment perspectives.
What have you learned so far while at Stax?
Over the course of my 6 months at Stax, I believe I gained a deeper understanding of the world of private equity and their particularly unique investment considerations. Through this understanding, I was able to critically design research efforts to get to the heart of their concerns and ultimately mitigate the risk of investments through due diligence. Additionally, I gained an understanding of how to develop growth initiatives by segmenting markets, analyzing businesses’ operations, increasing the potential of existing customer bases, and strategically target new segments to maximize company success. Lastly and most importantly, I learned to work collaboratively with the team, leveraging our collective experience and skill sets, to push forward projects and deliver compelling recommendations to clients.
What is your most memorable experience at Stax to date?
My most memorable experience to date must’ve been the company outing we most recently had. It was great to have a full day of team bonding and genuinely enjoy all of each other’s company outside of the workplace. I believe we both learned a lot about ourselves and each other, but also brought everyone closer together which will translate to project team environments.
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