A top Houlihan Lokey tech banker spells out his 2025 hiring ambitions and shares how he landed his first Wall Street internship

• Ryan Lund is the cohead of US technology and software at investment bank Houlihan Lokey.
• The 48-year-old veteran investment banker joined the firm last year from UBS and Raymond James.
• He told BI about his growth outlook for the team even as mergers stall and markets hit headwinds.

What's the typical diet for a Wall Street investment banker?

For some, it's steak dinners with clients. For others, it's eating crow over lost deals. For Ryan Lund — investment banker by day, self-professed vinophile by night — it's a lot of protein bars, airplane snacks to power him through the roughly third of the year he spends traveling, and a glass of Bordeaux or Burgundy to cap off a long day if he's home.

Lund, 48, is the cohead of US technology and global software banking at Houlihan Lokey, the restructuring and M&A advisory firm he joined last year to expand its dealmaking practice and win competitive mandates. He is responsible for helping run a team of roughly 150 bankers worldwide, alongside his two US technology coheads, John Lambros and Jason Hill; and Sasha Pfeiffer, head of European technology and software. Lund reports to Phil Adams, global head of technology. When he's not traveling, Lund spends much of his time in Florida, either working from his Tampa home or the firm's office in Miami.

Lund's journey to Wall Street began as an undergrad at Harvard where he was studying economics. Interested in a finance career, he cold-called the office of the CEO of Raymond James, where he eventually interned and landed his first full-time job.

He worked his way up to cohead of the enterprise software IB team before leaving Raymond James in 2020 for RBC Capital Markets and then the Swiss banking giant UBS, where he was the global head of technology.

Notable deals he's worked on include the acquisition of eBay Enterprise (a division of the eponymous e-commerce behemoth) by a consortium of companies, including the private equity firm Permira, for nearly $1 billion. He's also worked on transactions that have enabled private asset giants, such as Blackstone and KKR, to expand their technology footprints.

According to deal tracking firm Dealogic, Houlihan Lokey has advised on 20 M&A transactions in the global technology sector since the beginning of 2025, amounting to $1.68 billion in deal value. The firm has advised on 97 deals so far this year, reaching $8.9 billion in value.

Last year, the bank worked on 99 global tech M&A transactions worth more than $18 billion; and 421 deals overall, amounting to $59.3 billion.

Even as the M&A and IPO markets sputter and stall and convulsive policy shifts from Washington unleash market turmoil, Lund is playing the long game. "It takes a lot to rattle me," he says.

In an April interview, Lund walked Business Insider through the growth plans and vision for his division at Houlihan — including a five-year aspirational aim to double the roughly 150-person global tech and software banking team. He explained how he got his internship with that fateful cold email; dished about how he structures his day; the must-have snacks he craves on the road; and the career advice that has guaranteed his "longevity" in the industry.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Tell us how you got your start in investment banking.

My dad told me: "If you ever want to get something, call the decision maker."

So, in early 1998 while in college, I cold-called the office of the CEO of Raymond James — an investment bank that was local for me in the Tampa Bay area since it was headquartered in St. Petersburg — to ask for an internship.

Needless to say, I did not get the CEO, Tom James, on the phone. But his admin allowed me to leave a voicemail. I knew there were Harvard alums at Raymond James. I knew Tom was a Harvard MBA. I was an undergrad. So I certainly leveraged that.

I don't know how many days or weeks later, I got a call back from somebody in the organization who said, "Hey, I heard you called Tom about an internship. What did you have in mind?" And that's kind of where it all started, in 1998.

In '99, right after graduation, I started as a full-time analyst in Raymond James' technology and communications group.

You joined Houlihan Lokey last year. Why Houlihan? What drew you to the platform?

I was always a team sports guy growing up: I played football in college, golf when I was younger. In football, you need blockers, receivers, running backs, a quarterback. If one person doesn't do their job, it doesn't work.

There was a really consistent feel and messaging of the type of people here, the posture of how they want to do business and build teams — extremely collaborative and collegial. They put a lot of thought into how they built the business to incentivize collaboration and teamwork.

What does a typical morning look like inside the Lund household?

If I'm home, I'm usually greeted by my 6-year-old daughter at about 6:30 in the morning, so that's the perfect wake-up call. If I'm not at home, I'll still get up around the same time.

For breakfast, I'm a protein bar guy — they're easy and efficient — and I have some espresso. If I have more time, it's a bacon, egg, sausage kind of breakfast.

I actually start my day the night before. I look at my calendar to make sure I know exactly what the day looks like, and what I need to prepare for — assuming it's something that I haven't already been preparing for multiple days, like a big pitch or important meeting.

Take us through an average work day.

I start my mornings by triaging emails and reviewing my calendar. I try not to schedule any meetings before at least 9 o'clock, preferably 10. If I'm traveling, I try to take the 6 a.m. flights so that it doesn't wreck my day.

I wear multiple different hats. There's quite a bit of internal and admin work that we do, including personnel factors that take up a lot of time. We're meeting with the staffers to make sure our team is not overworked or underworked.

There are meetings throughout the day. I spend a good chunk of my time meeting with clients and private equity sponsors. We talk about live deals, markets, specific companies — a broad swath of topics.

Tell us about the tech and software team at Houlihan. How big is it, where are people based, and how do they work together?

The team is global and primarily split between the US and Europe. It fluctuates a little bit, but I'll just call it 150 to 160 people at any given time throughout the past 12 months.

It's probably 80 or 85 in the US, and the balance in Europe. The largest office in the US is New York, but we've got a fairly sizable office in San Francisco as well as some bankers like myself that are in neither. I'm officially out of our Miami office, although I tend to be on the road more or in Tampa where I live.

Europe has the balance of our team outside the US, with a sizable presence in London, Manchester, and Frankfurt. We've got bankers in France, Italy, and some in Spain.

Having bankers live in geographies where there's a concentration of activity or where their focus is key.

We are selling an intangible, and we're human beings who communicate non-verbally in a significant number of ways. You can't replicate that through Zoom. You have to be in three dimensions.

Walk us through the vision you have for the team and its growth.

We could easily double the size of our team and commensurately double or more of its revenues. Call that the five-year goal. That's not official, but I personally see the opportunity.

More of that growth is likely to come from the US than Europe, just because the US is a much bigger market and there's a lot of room to capture market share.

Last year we hired five MDs on the technology team. We've not yet formalized our hiring plans for the coming year, but we are actively looking to hire additional senior folks — whether that's one, two, three, or five more, or maybe more than that TBD.

Whether in the office or working from home, how do you make the space your own?

My home office is the one that I put the most effort into. It's messier than I would like. I've got a Florida Gators helmet — I grew up a big fan of the Gators, and I'm excited because my son's going there — signed by Tim Tebow and Steve Spurrier.

My wife and my oldest son both went to Florida State. So offsetting that helmet is a signed Florida State helmet and a ball from a game.

I've got a Harvard football helmet, which was from my glory days. I've got a bunch of my favorite deal trophies in the cabinet, which is fun to reminisce on the challenging but fun transactions. And many of those — I still stay in touch with the CEO or business owner who have become friends of mine.

Most important are the pictures of my family behind me. I can always glance over and see my beautiful family.

Must-have snack when the mid-afternoon work munchies set in?

I'm on the road, on average, three days a week, or about 150 nights a year. It's been like this for at least the last 10 years.

I never, ever travel with a backpack that doesn't have at least a couple snacks in it. You never know when you're going to miss a meal. Plane food is awful. I've got lots of protein bars and cashews and things like that.

For my office snack, it might be popcorn. I'm definitely a fan of good, butter popcorn — not movie theater style; it's too salty — or it could be a KIND Bar.

What helps you manage stress and decompress after a long day or during a deal?

I'm not a high-stress person. My philosophy in life is that every day is a privilege. I have strong faith, and I'm blessed to even be here.

So, for me, when something's not going right in a deal, I can pretty easily reflect and be like: "I know this is really important in the moment, but this isn't actually what's most important in life."

It takes a lot to rattle me. That doesn't mean I'm not human. I get stressed during the heat of the moment. I like to go for long walks outside; fresh air has a way of clearing the mind.

What about hobbies? Is there anything you obsess over outside of work?

I'm a big wine collector. My wife and I are big Napa fans — Napa is where my heart lives — but I also am a big fan of Bordeaux and Burgundies.

You have to think about which wines are ready to drink. It's not just, go pull something out and pop it. Sometimes it's a 15- or 20-minute journey to decide what to open and why. Afterwards, I tell her the story of where I got the bottle.

I always ask my wife: "What would you like to open tonight?" And she says: "You pick." Happens every time.

What is an example of a particularly challenging deal you worked on at Houlihan or over the course of your career?

The RetailNext deal (a majority growth investment from Battery Ventures which closed in December) was complex.

The nature of the company's VC shareholder base is what made it so complex. RetailNext had raised money multiple times over the last 10 years — some very large growth rounds and smaller bridge rounds. It created what I would call a very complex Rubik's Cube.

The company was a venture-funded business that had many, many different owners with different hold periods at different valuations and at various raises with different terms. A situation like that can be more challenging than if you are selling a business for private equity firm "A" that controls 85% of it, where you have one clear decision maker.

This year hasn't delivered the surge in M&A and public offerings that some were hoping for. What are you hearing from clients?

Buyers are hungry for high-quality deals and want to put capital to work, primarily on the sponsor side. But we're seeing a meaningful uptick in interest from strategic buyers as well. The Google/Wiz transaction, for instance — that's an example that could lead to others.

Unless it's a very high-quality business, sellers are moving more slowly to bring them to market because of all the uncertainty. Perceived or real — it doesn't matter. People are being cautious and delaying the launch of the process.

We're encouraging clients that have identified quality assets they like to spend their time wisely with doing the work before they launch. You want to give yourself the best chance to win? Do the work upfront so you can put yourself in a position to.

Wall Street has been promising better days for several years. Why should investors believe the more optimistic sentiments this time?

I think the definition of "it's coming back" is what's misplaced. If people think it's going to be like 2021 again — that's not coming back for a really long time.

If you were to look at the M&A volumes, it's definitely been slower. But to me this feels like maybe it's like '16, '17, '18, where it's not bad. Our pipeline of business is growing.

The market is inherently cyclical. It always has been. It likely always will be.

You can't time it, but what you can do is build client relationships, put yourself in a position to be a valued partner to your sponsor clients or your companies. So, when the market turns, you're in a position to win that piece of business.

What advice would you share with your younger self?

You're not going to love every part of your job — if you did, they'd call it a hobby — but you need to love your industry segment or the material that you're consuming. That will keep you going more than high comp or prestige.

Don't be afraid to ask questions at the appropriate time — the questions that you truly want to understand the answers to. It shows you're paying attention and you're being thoughtful.

For an analyst or an associate, I really value when we walk out of a pitch or out of an important meeting and the junior folks will pull me aside and say, "Hey, how do you think that went?" Or, "You said this in there: Why did you say it that way?"

Early on, you may not understand why you're being asked to do all of this analysis, or why being perfect matters. Try to understand the "why."

This business is a grind and it's a lot of hours. But if you're intellectually curious about the stuff you do, you can do it forever. That's the secret to my longevity in the business — about 27 years.

Have a recommendation for our next interview or someone on Wall Street you'd like to hear from? Reed Alexander is a correspondent at Business Insider covering banks and financial services. Get in touch with tips or suggestions at ralexander@businessinsider.com, or SMS/the encrypted app Signal at (561) 247-5758.