The Legendary Goldman Sachs Pitch
"The pressure was on, so Kathy proposed something unusual…"
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- Citi, Senior Vice President
Hello everyone.
Thanatos - the god of death - was said to approach silently, touch your shoulder and cut a small lock of your hair. He was gentle, unhurried, inevitable. You never saw him coming, until his hand grazed your shoulder. Only at that last second - did you know it was your time.
A few days before his wedding, Leopold Aschenbrenner felt the soft, gentle metaphorical hand of the market on his shoulder. It was time to sell. I’ve written a lot about the unbelievable career of Ken Griffin, and have been lucky to speak with him for an hour. What happened with Situational Awareness is the most Ken Griffin thing in the history of Ken Griffin.
This week’s newsletter: Amanda Staveley’s pen and paper secret, John Zito from Apollo gets existential, Ken’s $30Bn private jet trip and the smartest pitch in Goldman’s history.
The Wall Street Pitching Expert
Goldman Sachs had to win the pitch - so Kathy Elsesser came up with a genius idea to get the attention of the most popular CEO in the world…
In 2007, Kathy Elsesser was a senior banker at Goldman Sachs responsible for helping fast growing companies raise money, attract investors and go public.
But, one deal was heaped with pressure.
Athleisure clothing brand lululemon was looking to go public, and their CEO Bob Meers was the most popular man on Wall Street. He took calls every day from bankers desperate to be involved in their upcoming IPO. Presentations, pitches, promises - everyone wanted a piece of the deal.
But, all the offers looked identical.
Kathy had a pitch meeting arranged with Lululemon. The pressure was on, so she proposed something unusual…
Weeks before the meeting, Kathy rounded up a group of Goldman’s senior bankers and suggested they show up to the pitch in full Lululemon activewear. Lycra, vests, yoga gear, leggings, headbands. If it was on the Lululemon website, her team would wear it.
The team agreed - they would go for it.
On the day of the pitch, the entire Goldman team arrived head to toe in Lululemon gear. Including a younger David Solomon - now CEO of Goldman - who tastefully paired a maroon blazer with baggy Lululemon jogging bottoms.
Kathy also had her team write down and share their professional and personal goals in the meeting, mirroring the exact same approach Lululemon staff adopted at their company HQ.
“I wanted to show them that we really respected that,” Kathy said.
Bob and his C-suite team loved the enthusiasm and originality. And despite intense competition, Goldman won the deal. The story became folk lore on Wall Street, and a template for how to connect with clients beyond a slide deck presentation. Conversations on “how can we Lululemon this?” became commonplace.
After over 30 years building client relationships and winning deals, Kathy reflected on what made her successful:
“What’s really important is understanding that it’s less about the actual deal - it’s more about the connection.”
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Finance Culture
Amanda Staveley - one of the pre-eminent middle eastern financial dealmakers in the world, friend to UAE Sheiks, PIF and a boat load of Geordies - has put together an investor consortium to try and buy a 25.1% stake in West Ham United football club for £150 million. When she brokered a multi-billion pound deal for middle eastern sovereign wealth funds to invest in Barclays in 2008, she had no support staff - taking flights back and forth armed only with a pen, paper and large sheets for hand written models and proposals.
If you want to get freaked out, check out what John Zito, Co-President at Apollo Asset Management and all round credit wizard, had to say recently about AI’s potential impact on credit markets - and everything else.
Tropical Value@tropicalvalue$APO John Zitto take on the scenario: the only thing that matters is what's going on with the AI Labs
2:01 PM · Aug 4, 2026 · 87.5K Views1 Reply · 8 Reposts · 100 LikesMoving back to Ken, I posted a video on my instagram account about how he chartered a private jet full of Citadel employees to Enron’s HQ in Houston in the middle of their bankruptcy - a move that ended up making him $30 Billion. If you have Instagram, follow me here.
To finish this weeks edition off, please enjoy AQR founder Cliff Asness’ description of what it’s really like receiving a call from Ken Griffin when you are the verge of being margin called:
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Recommendation
Kathy doesn’t do many interviews, but she was hired to the Board of Lazard last month.
For more on Amanda, check out this interview filmed recently - but prior to the West Ham bid.
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Joseph Cass