Hi there, I’m Edwin Yun and thanks for checking out my blog. I like to write about things that are at the cross-sections of my life experiences (as an immigrant, as someone who recently entered his 30s) and my career (in investment banking, private equity, and beyond). My (very kind) wife would describe my writing as clever, whereas my (rude in a loving way) friends would say that I am being too philosophical. I hope you find that my writing is a mix of both.
Here is my story in a nutshell that may provide some perspectives on the things I write about:
- I originally grew up in Korea in a suburban city called Chuncheon, where my family lived for three generations (fun fact: my grandfather was the first graduating class of the elementary school I attended). My father worked as a salaryman for Samsung in Seoul, and our home in Chuncheon provided me with a nature-friendly, carefree childhood away from the hustle and bustle of Seoul.
- When my older brother was entering his final year in middle school, my family had to make a decision to move to Seoul or abroad for he and I to get better, more competitive education. Apparently my parents asked my brother what he wanted to do, and he responded immediately that he wanted to get educated in the U.S. (my brother lived in the UK with family friends for a year, so he had experience living abroad). I think that made an impression on my parents, who took the bigger risk to immigrate. I was too naive then to realize what that meant for my life.
- We first moved to L.A. and temporarily rented an apartment near K-town. My brother and I somehow ended up going to a private Catholic school in Beverly Hills during that time. It was an interesting juxtaposition of blue-collar neighbors in K-town and classmates who had private drivers. We fit into neither, which added to the initial struggles of assimilation.
- Then we moved to North Carolina, and my father opened up two Japanese restaurants with a family friend. He had no business running restaurants (the man never cooked in his life). He’d eventually sell the restaurants and become an accountant, which fit his skills and personality much better.
- I hated the public school system in my hometown. It was not challenging enough once I learned English. It was surprising to me how the math I learned as a sophomore in high school was the same level as the math I studied in after school programs in Korea as an elementary school kid. I slept through most classes.
- I ended up attending NCSSM–a public boarding school for high school juniors and seniors with talents in science and math. The first few weeks of freedom away from home with new friends were a blast. And then I got my ass kicked on the first interim grade report. After that, I vanished from the social scene and hunkered down (and gained 30 lbs. I guess my version of freshman 15). I still had enough game to meet my wife Sarah there 🙂
- Inspired by the business books I grew up reading (they were my father’s books) and his business ventures, I ended up studying business at UNC-Chapel Hill. A combination of luck, curiosity, and initiative got me an internship at a local asset management firm (that managed a lot of UNC grad athletes’ money) the summer after my freshman year. That was my foray into finance and investing.
- Another instance of luck, curiosity, and initiative landed me a private equity internship at a tiny firm in Tampa, FL. They invested in for-profit schools, a business model I didn’t and still don’t believe in. But the work itself was intellectually stimulating, and I had some of the smartest and craziest (in a good, party-hard way) colleagues that summer. This internship made me decide that I wanted to pursue private equity as my first career goal.
- After graduation, I joined Barclays investment bank as my first job and as a stepping-stone into a private equity career. The work and the hours were as brutal as people complained about, but having a close friend/roommate who was doing the same thing, was on the same schedule, and was also immature enough to go out at odd-hours made it bearable.
- I got my private equity job at Providence Equity ~4 months into my first job at Barclays. I didn’t know what the hell I was talking about during interviews, but I had prepped intensely and got some lucky breaks. My final interview was a philosophical discussion on the ethics of investing in for-profit schools (which Providence has invested in before).
- Providence was a cool but also sobering experience. I got to work on some cool companies like ZeniMax, Topgolf, Smartly, as well as other, less-sexy companies. But it was crazy to see my VPs regularly work 4-5am nights. I also noticed that senior folks were very different from me. I only realized towards the end of my time there that many of the senior folks came from ultra-wealthy families (ones you can Google about). I have a lot of respect for them, but somehow, their accomplishments felt less impressive and less achievable for me once I learned about their upbringing.
- After deciding to forgo business school (which was an unspoken requirement to advance at Providence), I switched firms to Tailwind Capital. It was a very intimate team with a much less posh culture. My first happy hour at Tailwind was at a dive bar, in contrast to no happy hours and only nice holiday dinners at French restaurants at Providence. It was refreshing, but private equity can only be so different across firms. Even after getting the VP title, I continued to have an itch to try something different in my career–maybe something more entrepreneurial like my father.
- I turned 30 in 2024. As I write this blog, I am hoping that it gives the future-me a chance to reflect back on the past-me down the road.