BUYSIDERS
EST. 2025
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Buysiders Institute

Learn the craft of private capital, from the three statements to the waterfall.

Curricula for the buyside, the sellside and founders. Every formula defined, every example calculated step by step, every number checked.

36
deep dives
6
modules
8.8h
of worked reading
27
overview primers
Choose your side
The curriculum

Pick the side of the market you work on.

The buyside curriculum

36 deep dives · about 8.8 hours of reading
Asset class
Level

Accounting and financial analysis

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01The three statements6 topics · 1.4 hours
  1. How the three financial statements connectFoundation · 16 minHow net income, cash and retained earnings tie the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement into one system.
  2. Accrual accounting and the matching principleFoundation · 14 minWhy profit is recorded when it is earned rather than when cash moves, and how accruals, deferrals and prepaids make that work.
  3. How to read an income statementFoundation · 12 minThe income statement line by line, from revenue to diluted EPS, with margins, the treasury stock method and GAAP versus IFRS.
  4. How to read a balance sheetFoundation · 14 minAssets, liabilities and equity line by line, including goodwill, deferred taxes, treasury stock, AOCI and book value per share.
  5. How to read a cash flow statementPractitioner · 14 minOperating, investing and financing cash flows, the indirect reconciliation, and exact definitions of FCF, FCFF and FCFE.
  6. Working capital and the cash conversion cyclePractitioner · 12 minNet working capital, DSO, DIO, DPO and the cash conversion cycle, why growth consumes cash, and the working capital peg in M&A.
02Analysis and earnings quality6 topics · 1.5 hours
  1. Revenue recognition under ASC 606 and IFRS 15Practitioner · 17 minThe five-step revenue model worked through bundled contracts, over-time projects, gross versus net and variable consideration.
  2. Depreciation, amortization, capex and leasesPractitioner · 17 minDepreciation methods with worked schedules, capitalize versus expense, maintenance capex, impairment, and leases under IFRS 16 and ASC 842.
  3. EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA and add-backsPractitioner · 12 minWhat EBIT and EBITDA measure, where EBITDA misleads, and how diligence teams grade add-backs from reported to adjusted EBITDA.
  4. Financial ratio analysis and the DuPont frameworkPractitioner · 13 minProfitability, return, liquidity, leverage and efficiency ratios computed for one company, then ROE decomposed with three and five-step DuPont.
  5. Earnings quality and accounting red flagsAdvanced · 15 minCash conversion, accruals ratios, DSO creep, reserve releases, the Beneish M-Score and Altman Z-Score, with a red flag checklist.
  6. Non-GAAP measures and reconciliationsPractitioner · 15 minWhat non-GAAP measures are, the SEC rules behind them, worked reconciliations for adjusted EPS, organic growth and FCF, and IFRS 18.

Valuation and modeling

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03Multiples and relative valuation6 topics · 1.4 hours
  1. Enterprise value vs equity valueFoundation · 16 minWhat enterprise value and equity value measure, the full bridge between them, fully diluted shares and which multiples pair with each.
  2. Price-to-earnings (P/E) ratioFoundation · 14 minHow to calculate and read the P/E ratio: trailing, forward, normalized and CAPE, justified P/E from the Gordon growth model, and its distortions.
  3. Price-to-book (P/B) ratioPractitioner · 13 minHow to calculate P/B and tangible book, why it anchors bank and insurer valuation, justified P/B from ROE, and when the ratio breaks down.
  4. EV/EBITDA, EV/EBIT and EV/SalesPractitioner · 14 minThe three enterprise value multiples: formulas, when to use each, how D&A and leases change them, LTM versus NTM, and a worked valuation.
  5. PEG ratio, FCF yield and dividend yieldPractitioner · 13 minGrowth-adjusted and cash-based valuation measures: PEG, levered and unlevered FCF yield, dividend yield, payout and total shareholder yield.
  6. Comparable company analysis (trading comps)Practitioner · 15 minHow to build a comps table: selecting peers, calendarizing and adjusting, summary statistics, and turning a multiple range into an implied share price.
04Intrinsic value and deal models6 topics · 1.5 hours
  1. Precedent transactions and control premiumsPractitioner · 15 minHow to build a precedent transaction set, derive deal multiples from offer terms, measure control premiums and adjust for cycles and synergies.
  2. Discounted cash flow (DCF) valuationPractitioner · 16 minBuild a DCF step by step: unlevered free cash flow, a five-year forecast, terminal value two ways, discounting conventions and a WACC sensitivity.
  3. Cost of capital: WACC and CAPMPractitioner · 15 minHow to estimate WACC: CAPM cost of equity, unlevering and relevering beta, cost of debt, market weights, and size and country risk adjustments.
  4. Building an LBO modelAdvanced · 18 minA complete leveraged buyout model for one company: sources and uses, projections, a debt schedule with a cash sweep, exit value, MOIC and IRR.
  5. LBO returns attributionAdvanced · 14 minDecompose a buyout gain into EBITDA growth, multiple expansion and debt paydown, see why ordering matters, and read IRR against MOIC and hold.
  6. Merger accretion and dilution analysisPractitioner · 14 minHow to compute an acquirer's pro forma EPS for stock, cash and mixed deals, the P/E rule, breakeven synergies, and why accretion is not value.

Fund performance

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05The core metrics6 topics · 1.5 hours
  1. TVPI, DPI, RVPI and MOICFoundation · 17 minThe four multiples on every fund report: exact formulas, what counts as paid-in, and how the mix moves from paper value to cash over ten years.
  2. Committed, called and unfunded capitalFoundation · 16 minCommitments, capital calls, paid-in ratios, unfunded obligations, recallable distributions and overcommitment, with worked schedules.
  3. IRR and XIRR for private fundsPractitioner · 16 minHow the internal rate of return is defined, solved and dated for private funds, and where it misleads: multiple roots, reinvestment and quick flips.
  4. Gross versus net returns and fee dragPractitioner · 13 minA fully worked bridge from gross deal returns to net LP returns through fees, expenses and carry, and why the drag bites harder on weaker funds.
  5. Subscription lines and IRR distortionAdvanced · 13 minHow subscription credit facilities delay capital calls, lift reported IRR while trimming the multiple, and what LPs should ask GPs to disclose.
  6. Time-weighted versus money-weighted returnsPractitioner · 13 minHow TWR and IRR are calculated, why the same portfolio can show both a gain and a loss, and why they cannot share a page uncorrected.
06Benchmarking, economics and planning6 topics · 1.5 hours
  1. Public market equivalent (PME)Advanced · 17 minLong-Nickels PME, Kaplan-Schoar PME, PME+ and Direct Alpha, each worked on one fund, and why an IRR cannot be set against an index return.
  2. Vintage year benchmarking and quartilesPractitioner · 15 minHow vintage years are defined, how quartile breakpoints are computed, and why early rankings, survivorship and method choice move the verdict.
  3. Cash flow forecasting and commitment pacingAdvanced · 15 minThe Takahashi-Alexander model worked year by year, then pacing a program to a target allocation, overcommitment and the denominator effect.
  4. Waterfall and carried interest mathAdvanced · 15 minWhole-fund and deal-by-deal waterfalls computed tier by tier, with 100% and 80% catch-ups, clawback, hard and soft hurdles and the GP commitment.
  5. Management fee math and fee offsetsPractitioner · 14 minFee bases, step-downs, a ten-year fee schedule, transaction and monitoring fee offsets at 100% and 80%, expense caps and why small funds feel fees more.
  6. Performance attribution for private investmentsAdvanced · 14 minA value creation bridge for one deal (revenue, margin, multiple, deleveraging), fund attribution by sector and vintage, loss ratios and persistence.
Start here

New to private markets? Read the primers first.

Short overviews of every type of firm, every asset class and the mechanics of a fund. The deep dives assume them.

Buyside firms

Private equity, venture, hedge funds, credit, real assets and the institutional allocators: what each firm type actually does, and why.

10 primers →

Asset classes

Public equities, fixed income, private equity, venture, private credit, real estate, infrastructure, hedge strategies, commodities, digital assets and collectibles: the building blocks of a buyside portfolio.

11 primers →

Fund mechanics

LPs, GPs, the LPA, the waterfall, IRR and MOIC, the J-curve and pacing: the machinery every allocator has to read.

6 primers →