# Sakyo Maeda

**Economics Student (Finance & Business Management), Wharton** — Irmo, SC, United States

> Wharton economics student with Technology Investment Banking experience on sell-side processes and divestitures, plus research and private equity work. Has led student boards and a venture group at Penn.

Career Archetype: **Launchpad Trailblazer** (HS-MG) — One of the first Launchpad Trailblazers on Saywise

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/sakyomaeda

## Experience

### Technology Investment Banking Summer Analyst, Houlihan Lokey (2026-05 – 2026-07)
New York, NY · Built a 50+ slide Confidential Information Memorandum for a $500-700M EdTech sell-side process, covering subscriber growth, LTV/CAC, and retention across 6 customer cohorts. Designed a win-back funnel modeling reactivation rates across 6 churned-user segments for strategic and financial buyers. Supported carve-out diligence on a $300-500M software divestiture from an AI-focused parent and found an 8% overstatement in recurring revenue caused by duplicated upsell tracking and overlapping ARR periods. Also built buyer research, trading comps, and a quarter-end market update covering 15+ software M&A deals.

### Student Researcher, Wharton Management Department (2025-02 – 2025-09)
Rome, Italy · Ran 30 semi-structured interviews and a companion survey across 6 Italian cities on how banking relationships, financing constraints, and ownership transitions affect family-owned restaurants. Wrote a 35+ page paper using thematic and correlation analysis, identifying five drivers of long-term business resilience and offering recommendations to small-business lenders, local associations, and policymakers.

### Private Equity Analyst, Lakeside Succession (2024-08 – 2024-12)
Boston, Massachusetts, United States · Built a pipeline of 50+ potential acquisition targets by sourcing and screening high-growth TPA companies. Evaluated investment opportunities using LBO valuations, financial statement analysis, competitive market assessments, and industry research.

### Business Analyst Intern, J-Global, Inc. (2024-05 – 2024-07)
Tokyo, Japan

### Cohort Director, Wharton Cohorts (2024-05 – present)
Philadelphia, PA · Led community-building for 60 freshmen with educational programming. Managed a $1,500 budget and worked with 3 board members to plan and run 9 cohort-wide events. Ran monthly networking sessions connecting 500 freshmen with upperclassmen.

### Board Member, Wharton Council (2023-08 – present)
Philadelphia, PA · One of 8 Class of 2027 representatives on the student board overseeing 55 clubs and 2,500 undergraduates. Served as direct liaison to administrators on the undergraduate co-curricular experience. Introduced a streamlined funding application process that cut approval times by 30%, helping clubs run 70 more events each semester.

### Co-President, Wharton Undergraduate Venture Group (2023-08 – present)
Philadelphia, PA · Managed 5 consultants on data-driven analysis for a city cleaning service and delivered growth recommendations. Optimized dynamic pricing to lift margins 15%, adding $500K annually with a 20% rise in customer participation. Sized a $50M TAM across NYC, Chicago, and LA and proposed a phased entry plan projecting $2M revenue in 18 months.

### Summer Intern, Oliver James (2021-06 – 2021-07)
Charlotte, North Carolina, United States

### Founder & CEO, MaedA+ Tutoring (2019-08 – 2023-08)
Columbia, South Carolina, United States

## Education

### Semester Abroad in Economics, Universidad Pontificia Comillas (2026-01 – 2026-05)
Average Grade: 10/10

### Bachelor of Science - BS, Economics, The Wharton School (2023-01 – 2027-05)
Cumulative GPA 3.9/4.0. SAT: Math 800, Reading & Writing 780.

### Dutch Fork High School (2019-01 – 2023-01)
Activities and societies: Activities: FBLA (State VP), Beta Club (President), Varsity Tennis (Captain), Orchestra (Concertmaster), School Magazine (Editor-in-Chief), DECA (VP), SC All State & Region Orchestra

## Skills

Violin, Teaching, Mathematics, Planning, Advanced Excel, Advanced PowerPoint, FactSet, S&P Capital IQ, Wall Street Prep, Japanese (Fluent)

## Credentials

- **Wharton Social Impact Research Experience Award Recipient** — Mar 2025
- **Global Research Internship Program Award Recipient** — May 2024

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Source: https://saywise.com/member4114 (last modified 2026-10-27T20:48:12.450Z)