During my time at ThirdWay Partners (TWP) I was working on two major projects (besides occasional ad hoc support to other teams). My first project was to support a fundraiser for a sustainable agribusiness with first operations in Namibia. TWP was engaged to support raising a significant financing round for this business, and I helped to identify potential investors, reached out to them, and set up introductory meetings. This mandate is exactly what TWP intends to support, as it is a business that tries to solve climate-related issues with innovative business ideas. The second part of my internship was supporting the impact advisory business. Here, I was researching and preparing proof-of-concept case studies for a large government mandate in the agricultural space. A large US development grant is aiming to help the local agriculture industry grow and become more efficient, and TWP was hired to structure the program. Besides the capital raising activities for sustainable businesses, this is the second largest pillar of impactful work that TWP is doing. Through these tasks I gained full insight into the impact advisory side on both a strategic and financial level.

Without my first year at CBS, I would have had serious difficulties during my projects. The curriculum in the first year put me up to speed on all financial and modelling matters. It was fairly easy for me to quickly go through spreadsheets and get behind the financial part of the business cases for each project. Additionally, the core strategy class honed in on my ability to ask the right questions in order to move topics forward. Additionally, my global philanthropy class equipped me with all the vocabulary and procedures known in the development world. This helped me immensely to quickly be able to support on the agricultural program we consulted. Besides the academic background that helped me, I was fortunate to be able to ask my CBS network for help. Particularly for fundraising activities, I was able to reach out to fellow students in the VC space as well as alumni. Just through the CBS network I generated some 20 leads, that now or in future will be interesting partners for TWP.

Given that my internship was fully remote, it took me a little longer to fully become part of the team. While everyone was very forthcoming to set up many calls and chats with me, it took a bit longer than in an office setting to get closer to my colleagues. The six-hour time difference between me and my team also presented some obstacles. While it was often helpful to have time to work through my tasks while everyone was sleeping, it was also not possible to ask quick questions when needed. Hence, I structured my day to have all necessary calls in the mornings and to go through my tasks in the afternoons. Additionally, with remote work it also took me longer to get access to the right materials and be able to produce output in the design and standards of TWP. While my colleagues were located anywhere between London and Johannesburg, my boss and fellow CBS grad Ian were visiting New York City and met up with me for a happy hour. Being able to meet in person made the whole experience more tangible, and we could quickly find answers for questions that I had.

My main takeaway from my work at TWP is understanding of the sheer size and complexity of the impact investing and impact consulting space. The number of actors, stakeholders, and different goals makes it very difficult to steer through the sector and to understand which approaches are truly impactful. The complexities of dealing with a public funder can be very different from dealing with a large oil company that aims to offset its carbon footprint. TWP has built a team of professionals that has a breadth of experience across a large number of areas. The positive attitude of everyone to filter through all the complexities and to do work that has a lasting and positive impact on our planet really amazed me.

It was very rewarding to work for TWP and to get constructive feedback. Seeing the different types of work the firm is doing helped me to further narrow down my career goals. I better understand now how existing, as well as new businesses, can become more sustainable, and that financing these transitions can create a multitude of returns. I will continue to stay in close contact with TWP and hope that future CBS students can make the same rewarding experiences as I did.