William Sheets · A Personal Annual Letter

Table of Contents

A report on a work in progress.

01The LetterA short introduction
02ExperienceThe work so far
03ProjectsThings I helped build
04PerformanceNumbers, honors, teams
05Field NotesLife off the desk
06The PlatesPhotographs
07In My Own WordsEssays and a speech
08CorrespondenceWrite to me

Section 01 · Introduction

The Letter

Dear Reader,

Hi, I'm William. Thanks for stopping by. I'm a second year studying finance at the University of Virginia, where I also run Division I cross country and track. Most of my working week goes to eGateway Capital, a lower middle market investment platform, where I work as an Investment and AI Analyst Intern. I help research companies, build financial models, and put together the materials behind investment decisions, and I build internal AI tools that make that work faster.

I grew up in Fort Thomas, Kentucky. What I care about most is being useful: figuring out what actually matters and explaining it clearly, so the people I work with can make good decisions. I'm early in my career and still learning a lot, and I genuinely enjoy that. I also like to build, whether that's a financial model or a small piece of software.

I'm hoping to start my career in investment banking, with a longer term goal of working in fintech and venture capital. I'd like to learn how to understand and value businesses well, then use that to help good companies grow. Running keeps me grounded along the way. It taught me the simple truth behind most good work: show up, do the reps, and let it add up.

More than anything, I love meeting new people. If anything in these pages resonates, I'd love to hear from you. I do my best to reply to everyone.

With thanks,

William Sheets

Charlottesville, Virginia · June 2026

“Good businesses should do more than create value inside their own walls. They should widen access outside them.”

A conversation I had in high school changed how I see business. I got to know someone my age who had been let down by almost every system around him. He was not a customer, an employee, or an investor, yet every decision those businesses made still reached his life. I have only grown more sure of this as I watch what technology, and AI in particular, can do to shrink the old barriers of cost, scale, and distribution.

▸ The longer story: The Best Risk I Ever Took, in Section 07

William Sheets · 01

Section 02 · The Work

Experience

Where I've worked so far, from the investment desk back to the job sites and crews that taught me to show up.

Sept 2025to Present

Investment & AI Analyst Intern

eGateway Capital · Cincinnati, OH

Designed and built Secretariat, an AI meeting intelligence tool (n8n, Supabase, Claude) that turns CircleBack transcripts into a searchable knowledge base. It is now used across the firm.
Researched and screened more than 250 potential acquisition targets across retail merchandising, retail brokerage, and SaaS services adjacent to a retail merchandising company's core grocery territory, helping inform the firm's growth strategy.
Built a three scenario revenue, ARR, and EBITDA model for a senior care software company, which I shared with leadership to help inform a growth and capital decision.
Contributed to eGOS, eGateway's internal AI operating system, building workflows for memo drafting, market mapping, comp set generation, target lists, financial modeling, and presentation output.

May 2024to Aug 2024

Managerial Assistant

Tim Reynolds Builders Inc. · Alexandria, KY

Coordinated subcontractor schedules and job site logistics across multiple active residential builds, tracking daily progress and reporting variances to ownership.
Supported on site operations and built working fluency in construction sequencing and small business field management.

Mar 2020to Aug 2025

Summer Crew Member

Quality Lawn Care Inc. · Fort Thomas, KY

Six straight seasons of residential landscaping alongside school and Division I athletics.
Trusted with client routes, equipment, and customer facing service. A long running lesson in reliability and showing up.

Exhibit A · Résumé (PDF)▸ The one page version of everything above

William Sheets · 02

Section 03 · Selected Work

Projects

Four things I set out to do, built, and saw through. Presented in the manner of the tombstones that hang on a deal desk.

AI Pipeline · 2025

Secretariat

The challengeFirm wide meeting intel was trapped in transcripts, unsearchable and easy to lose.

What I didDesigned and built an AI tool on n8n, Supabase, and Claude that turns CircleBack meeting transcripts into a searchable knowledge base.

The outcomeNow used across the firm.

n8nSupabaseClaude

Financial Model · 2025

Scenario Model

The challengeA portfolio company needed a defensible view of a cross sell and upsell strategy before committing capital.

What I didBuilt a three scenario revenue, ARR, and EBITDA model and shared it with leadership.

The outcomeHelped inform a growth and capital decision.

ExcelScenario AnalysisARR / EBITDA

Deal Sourcing · 2025

Acquisition Target Screen

The challengeThe firm's growth strategy needed a solid list of potential acquisition targets.

What I didResearched and screened more than 250 targets across retail merchandising, retail brokerage, and adjacent SaaS services.

The outcomeIt's helping inform the firm's growth strategy.

PitchBookCapital IQMarket Mapping

Internal Tooling · 2025

eGOS Workflows

The challengeRepetitive analyst output (memos, comps, market maps, decks) was slowing the team down.

What I didContributed to eGOS, eGateway's internal AI operating system, building workflows for memo drafting, market mapping, comp set generation, target lists, financial modeling, and presentation output.

The outcomeFaster, more consistent analyst output across the firm.

Claude CodeMCPAutomation

William Sheets · 03

Section 04 · The Record

Performance

Awards, athletics, leadership, and service. A record of competing and showing up, added up.

0.00

GPA at UVA

4:03

Mile

0x

Kentucky State Champion

0x

Gatorade Player of the Year

0+

Hours of Service

Class of 2025

Colonel of the Year

Covington Catholic's highest honor, given by faculty and the student body to the one senior who most fully embodies the school's mission across four years.

2025

Jefferson Scholarship Finalist

Selected through a competitive regional review to a finalist pool of roughly 120 out of thousands of applicants, evaluated on leadership, scholarship, and citizenship. Received a merit award upon nomination.

Class of 2025

Religion Award

Covington Catholic's top religious honor, given each year to the one senior who most authentically lived out the school's faith across four years.

XC & Track

3x Gatorade Player of the Year

Awarded to one athlete per sport per state for athletic excellence, academics, and character. Two time recipient in cross country and one time recipient in track and field.

Sept 2024

Kentucky House Citation of Achievement

A formal citation from the Kentucky House of Representatives, entered into the Commonwealth's record, recognizing state records, a state championship, and my commitment to UVA.

XC & Track

8x Academic All-State

Recognized eight times for pairing top tier athletic performance with academic standing across cross country and track seasons.

Athletics

NCAA Division I AthleteTrack & Field and Cross Country, University of Virginia
9x Kentucky State ChampionAcross junior and senior years
State Record Holder1 Mile, 2 Mile, and 5K
Team Captain, 2023 to 2025Led 40+ athletes to 6 state championships

Service

100+ Hours of ServiceAcross high school and UVA, ongoing since 2021
Disaster ReliefMayfield, Kentucky tornado recovery
Donation DrivesSchool wide coat and clothing drives and six food drives
Holiday OutreachSteinford Toys for the Needy and the Be Concerned food pantry
Run CharlottesvilleActive now at UVA

Leadership

Student Body PresidentRepresented 550+ students and led an 18 person leadership team
Captain, XC & TrackHead captain of both programs junior and senior year
Founder, Srodowisko & Colonels for ChristMentored 40+ underclassmen in small group settings
Head Editor & Spirit Club AdvisorManaged a 22 person editorial team across two yearbook cycles

William Sheets · 04

Section 05 · Off the Clock

Field Notes

Life away from the desk: the backcountry, the river, and a few small daily obsessions.

The Western Adventure

The summer after senior year, my buddy Alex and I loaded up an old Chevy my great uncle left me and spent twelve days driving through the Tetons, Yellowstone, and Glacier. We planned the whole thing ourselves: campsite lotteries, backup routes, truck maintenance, a satellite phone, and a budget of six hundred dollars each.

We hiked eighty miles of backcountry and cooked over a camp burner. Bears walked through our campsite, the truck broke down, and we slept soaking wet more than once. We laughed through all of it. What I took away was a real love for solving problems from scratch, with no instructions and no safety net, and learning to trust yourself when the plan falls apart.

My parents raised me outdoors. They took me backwoods camping, taught me to start a fire, and handed down a love of the wild that eventually became my own. A lot of what I do for fun still lives out there. This summer we are headed northeast to do it again.

▸ See also Plates IV, VI, and XIII below

Pursuits · An Index

Backcountry CampingOutdoors
Fly FishingOutdoors
Scuba DivingOutdoors
EspressoCraft
Film PhotographyCraft
Yoga & PilatesRecovery
Kentucky Horse RacingHeritage

Giving Time

Between high school and UVA I have put in more than a hundred hours of service, from Mayfield tornado relief to school food and coat drives to the Steinford toy drive. I run with Run Charlottesville now.

William Sheets · 05

Section 06 · Photographs

The Plates

A little of the rest of my life: racing, the outdoors, friends, and family. Click any plate to enlarge.

William leading a race at Mason — Out front at MasonIII

Holding a golden trout in a mountain river — A good day on the riverIV

UVA distance crew on the track — My Virginia distance crewV

Friends around a campfire in the snow — Campfire in the snowVI

Right after a race with a teammate — Right after a raceVII

Leading the pack in a cross country race — Cross country seasonVIII

William with his family at a track meet — My family at the trackIX

An espresso at a cafe — Chasing the perfect shotX

With the cross country team — BrotherhoodXI

Running through a snowstorm — Winter milesXII

Cooking over an open fire — Dinner over the fireXIII

William Sheets · 06

Section 07 · Commentary

In My Own Words

A few pieces of writing I'm proud of: application essays and a graduation speech.

William speaking at graduation — Speaking to the Class of 2025

Featured · Class of 2025

The Graduation Speech

As Student Body President, I had the honor of speaking to my graduating class about a hundred years of Colonel Spirit, and the case against being too cool for school.

Read the Speech▸

McIntire Application · 500 Words The Best Risk I Ever TookOn a personal experience that shaped my decision to study business. Read ▸ McIntire Application · 250 Words Learning to DelegateOn a time I struggled to work effectively with a team, and what it taught me. Read ▸ McIntire Application · 250 Words The Western AdventureOn a topic outside business that I am genuinely curious about. Read ▸ McIntire Application · 250 Words Building the CarOn an experience that required me to analyze information and draw conclusions. Read ▸

William Sheets · 07

Section 08 · Correspondence

Write to Me

I love meeting new people. Whether you want to talk investing, running, or just say hello, the best way to reach me is email, and I try to reply to everyone.

Work Email
sheets@egatewaycapital.com ▸ University Email
fnh4mv@virginia.edu ▸ LinkedIn
linkedin.com/in/william-sheets ▸ Résumé
Download the PDF ▸

Send Me an Email▸

William Sheets · 08