Hello!
As someone who did 15+ CDD and TDD projects at Altman Solon, happy to share my perspective.
The answer is nuanced — it depends on short-term vs long-term view.
Short-term
CDD is definitely not just a boring desk job — especially in the first years.
- Intensity: 3–5 week DDs are extremely demanding. Tight timelines, high pressure, little room for error
- Skill acceleration: You become very strong in Excel modeling, scenario thinking, and slide structuring
- PE exposure: You see firsthand how private equity approaches acquisitions — investment logic, red flags, value creation
- Industry depth: Especially in boutiques, you learn industry dynamics very quickly and at a granular level
You develop strong analytical discipline and commercial judgment fast.
Long-term
Here the view becomes more mixed.
- Some parts of CDD are repeatable (e.g., business plan assessment, market sizing, growth validation).
- If you do only CDD for many years, the learning curve can plateau.
- I would strongly recommend combining CDD with strategy projects to broaden your profile.
Personally, if I had done only CDD, I likely wouldn’t have moved to Netflix. Strategy projects gave me broader narratives and more versatile positioning during interviews.
Entrepreneurship angle
CDD teaches:
- How to assess markets quickly
- How to identify risks in business models
- How to think like an investor
However, it does not teach execution, team building, or product development — which are core entrepreneurial skills.
It builds analytical muscle, not founder muscle.
AI impact
AI is already changing the space.
- Automated Excel modeling tools
- Faster data scraping
- Slide drafting support
Some repetitive elements of CDD (e.g., benchmarking, business plan validation) are becoming more automated. Over time, this will likely reduce manual workload and increase emphasis on judgment and interpretation, not raw modeling.
Bottom line
- Great training ground early on
- Excellent for understanding investment logic
- Even stronger if combined with strategy work
- Valuable, but not a complete entrepreneurship substitute
As a coach, I’m here to help you — we can think through whether CDD aligns with your long-term goals and design a path that maximizes both skill development and future optionality.
