Ithaca — Break into European Private Equity

§ 01 · How it works

Four phases. One outcome.

Profile Audit & Positioning

Most candidates fail before they send a single message — because they don't know how to tell their story. In your onboarding call, Giovanni audits your background honestly and builds your personalised action plan from scratch.

What You'll Get

Honest Gap Analysis – A clear picture of where you actually are vs. where you need to be, with no generic advice
Your PE Narrative – Giovanni helps you construct a story that makes your non-traditional background a strength, not an apology
Customized Fund Target List – Specific funds identified for your profile, sector interest, and geography

You'll finish knowing exactly who you are as a candidate, which funds to target, and what to do first.

Networking Strategy

Most programs teach you how to interview without telling you how to land one. This program teaches you exactly how to get the interview. The skill that determines everything.

What You'll Get

Outreach System That Works – Cold email templates, sequencing, and the psychology behind getting replies from people who don't know you
Coffee Chat Conversion – How to turn a 30-minute call into a relationship, a referral, and eventually an offer
The Giovanni Method – How to build and deploy a real investment thesis as your door-opener, the exact approach that got Giovanni a meeting — and then an offer — at a €300M PE fund

Technical Preparation

You don't need to come from finance. You need to learn it the right way — built from scratch, applied to real companies, and designed for European PE interviews.

What You'll Get

2× Weekly Live Coaching Sessions – Where we break down technicals in-depth and have live Q&A
Full Technical Curriculum – Accounting → corporate finance → valuation → LBO modeling, structured sequentially so nothing is skipped
Live Model Builds – You'll build real models with feedback, not just watch someone else do it
Investment Memo Training – How to write an IC-ready document and present a deal like a junior analyst

Interview Prep & Mock

Getting the interview is half the battle. This phase prepares you for every stage — screen, technical, case study, and partner fit — so nothing surprises you.

What You'll Get

Full Mock Interview – A complete simulation scored with real feedback on your gaps, run by Giovanni
Behavioral Frameworks for PE – How to answer fit questions when you come from engineering, consulting, or a non-target school
Commercial Judgment Coaching – How to think and speak like an investor, not a student, so you're memorable in every room you enter

What you get

→ 5× 1-on-1 calls with Giovanni (onboarding + 4 milestone calls)

→ 2× weekly live group sessions (90 min each)

→ Direct WhatsApp access to Giovanni throughout

→ Full mock interview with scored feedback

→ CV and LinkedIn line-by-line review

→ Outreach templates and networking frameworks

→ LBO models, IC memo frameworks, networking trackers

→ Private candidate community

PE Offer
Support

If you complete the program and do not receive an offer, you receive continued support until you do — up to 12 months. No additional charge.

§ · Student Results

Hear it from them.

Milan · PE & IB Interviews

"Thanks to Giovanni's guidance, I built key relationships that got me my first interviews in PE and investment banking — from a non-target university."

Lorenzo

London · PE Offer

"After the outreach, I got replies on the same day. The access is the number one thing in these firms — and thinking like an investor, it's possible to get it."

Adi

Madrid · PE Internship

"I prepared an investment pitch aligned with the fund's mandate. They said it was the first time a candidate had done this. I got into the recruitment process."

Kamal

§ 02 · Built by someone who walked it first

Giovanni Pagano

Non-target management engineer from Palermo. Built an entire PE network from zero across Europe and landed a role at Quadrivio Group by presenting a live €125M deal — ten days before graduation. I built Ithaca because the system I used can be taught.

110/110 Cum Laude Management Engineer, Università degli Studi di Palermo
Master in Private Equity & Investment Funds, Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce
Private Equity Investment Analyst (2 years) at Quadrivio Group — €2B+ deployed
AIPEF — €300M AI-focused Fund (building team and first deal)

§ 03 · FAQ

Common questions.

No. Most candidates who've received offers come from engineering, consulting, Big 4, or economics. The problem isn't your background — it's how you position it. Funds are looking for people who think like investors, not just people who can build spreadsheets.

Yes. Access is the real bottleneck, not your university's name. The standard process — online applications, cold CVs — is built for target-school candidates. The approach we teach bypasses that process entirely.

5 to 10 hours a week. Live sessions run on Saturdays and Sundays. Everything is recorded, so if you miss one, you can catch up on your own schedule. Most students are either in university or working full-time while going through the program.

Yes. The core approach works across every European market — London, Paris, Luxembourg, Germany, the Nordics. What changes are the tactics: which funds to target, how to frame your outreach, what kind of work to produce. That's what we customize together from day one.

Four phases: positioning and access, behavioral preparation, technical training, and interview prep. On top of that — four 1-on-1 calls with Giovanni, direct WhatsApp access, a full resource library, and a private community of candidates going through the same process.

There are different packages depending on where you are in your journey. Pricing is discussed on the strategy call, once we understand your situation. What we can say: a first-year PE associate in Europe earns €50,000+ base before bonus. The ROI math is straightforward.

If you can, do it. But ask yourself how long you've been trying, how many applications got no response, and what those months have actually cost you. Time is the real expense — not the program.

How to land your first Private Equity offer even without a target school or a single connection inside.

Four phases. One outcome.

Hear it from them.

Giovanni Pagano

Common questions.

The next cohort
opens shortly.

How to land your first Private Equity offer even without a target school or a single connection inside.

Four phases. One outcome.

Hear it from them.

Giovanni Pagano

Common questions.

The next cohortopens shortly.

The next cohort
opens shortly.