Tech PE oncycle ranking
incoming FT analyst at one of Laz/Moe/Evercore looking to break into tech pe/growth. I've made a list and my top funds are Francisco Partners, Warburg Pincus, Insight Partners, General Atlantic, Vista, KKR, and TPG. I've heard Tech PE roles are much more prestige based and harder to get, can anyone rank these on difficulties to get looks at for on cycle as well as comp, prestige, and exits.
When considering breaking into tech PE/growth from a strong investment banking background like Laz/Moe/Evercore, you're already positioned well. The funds you've listed are indeed among the top players in the tech PE space, each with its unique strengths and focus areas. Here's a breakdown based on the WSO content and threads, focusing on prestige, difficulty of entry, compensation, and exit opportunities:
KKR & TPG: Both are global giants with significant tech investments. KKR, known for its analytical and intense work culture, has had mixed success in tech recently but remains a prestigious name. TPG, despite some challenges, is noted for a positive culture. These firms are highly prestigious, making roles competitive and challenging to secure. Compensation is top-tier, and exit opportunities are vast, given the firms' global reach and diverse portfolios.
Vista & Francisco Partners: These firms are tech-focused PE giants. Vista is renowned for its disciplined investment approach in enterprise software, making it highly prestigious in the tech PE space. Francisco Partners, focusing on tech investments across a broad spectrum, also holds significant prestige. Both firms offer competitive compensation and excellent exit opportunities, though roles can be challenging to secure due to the specialized focus and high demand.
Warburg Pincus & General Atlantic: With a broader investment focus, these firms have strong tech portfolios. Warburg Pincus invests across various sectors, including tech, offering diverse opportunities. General Atlantic is known for growth equity investments in tech and other sectors, making it slightly different in focus but equally prestigious. Entry into these firms is competitive, with strong compensation and exit opportunities.
Insight Partners: Specializing in software and internet services, Insight Partners is highly regarded for growth equity investments. While it may not have the broad name recognition of KKR or TPG, its focus on tech growth investments makes it highly prestigious within its niche. Entry can be as competitive, especially for those with a strong tech banking background. Compensation and exit opportunities are excellent, given the firm's successful track record.
In terms of difficulty to get looks at for on-cycle recruiting, the more specialized firms like Vista and Francisco Partners might present a unique challenge due to their focused investment strategy in tech. However, your background in a top investment bank should position you well for these roles. Compensation across these firms tends to be high, reflecting the demanding nature of the work and the significant value these investments can unlock. Exit opportunities are generally broad, with options ranging from roles within portfolio companies to other investment firms or even launching your own venture.
Remember, while prestige and compensation are important, finding a firm whose culture and investment philosophy align with your career goals and values is equally crucial. Networking, showcasing your tech sector knowledge, and demonstrating your deal experience will be key strategies in securing opportunities at these firms.
Sources: 2019 On-Cycle PE Recruiting: Headhunter Ranking, Exit opps: I've crunched the previous work experience of 390 PE Associates.., Former PE associate's perspective on these "megafunds", 2019 On-Cycle PE Recruiting: Headhunter Ranking, Francisco Partners vs Vista
Landed an offer with one of the above.
A few things to keep in mind:KKR will be the hardest, not only because the most will be going for it (brand name and hf exits even though imho not the best tech investors), but tech group is relatively small compared to other groups at the firm like industrials and healthcare (especially if you only want to do software, where it’s mainly run out of Menlo, potentially maybe only 1 spot up for grabs)
TPG is similar, but they have relatively more spots in the SET group compared to other groups in the firm (more focused on tech as a firm compared to KKR)
GA only has a few tech groups (enterprise growth, enterprise buyout, consumer tech) and especially enterprise buyout has very few spots (potentially even only 1-2) as it’s a very new group headed by ex-Silver Lake MD WP you have to go through placement after getting an offer, so when you accept the offer you don’t know the group and get assigned / placed later, and they also only have a couple tech groups (tech, strategic investments) so you’re rolling the dice a bit here if you accept and don’t know your chances with those groups
FP and Vista your best bet because all the spots here are tech/software
Anecdotally more of my friends got interview requests from vista, TPG compared to KKR, WP for context on which firms potentially cast a wider net.
How is H&F for Tech PE?
Insight/GA aren't really tech PE -- unless you are on the buyout team but even then its gonna be a different scene than at a traditional MF. Their bread and butter is growth, sometimes growth buyout (and sometimes early stage for Insight). Insight is genuinely weird because it invests from seed to buyout from the same fund. Still, GE firms are more social / sourcing oriented. Office culture at Insight vs KKR is gonna look quite different.
If you are into venture, you should lean Insight/GA, if you are into buyout, KKR/TPG/FP. WP/Vista kind of split the difference imo. I'm also an idiot though so take it for what you will.
Insight is by a wide margin mostly a venture model. They occasionally do some growth buyout. They have also done some gigantic LBOs which is interesting but not representative of the firm’s primary focus. If you want to do upstream PE you’re not recruiting at Insight
Insight only recruits for buyout team from banking during on-cycle, but agree skews growth-buyout typically downstream of TA-size deals but sometimes will take on larger checks
So do they recruit for growth off cycle? Also is their buyiut team comparable to mega funds in terms of exit opps and comp?
Pretty good list, but I think right off the bat, the biggest name you are missing is Thoma bravo - they are definitely a top tech PE firm.
In my opinion, if you want the best Tech PE seats in private equity, it's at TB, Vista, Silver Lake, or H&F, and maybe even Francisco Partners nowadays.
If you want a balance between Tech PE experience and prestigious brand name, I think Warburg, KKR, and TPG may be more of your style, as they are traditional megafunds that have tech practices.
If you want more growth/venture/early stage, Insight and GA are definitely the way to go.
My thoughts as well. I don't believe TB takes analysts though -- probably why OP didn't list.
Also, all these names are prestigious FYI. I don't think it's intentional, but I've seen people comment similar sentiments about "BX/KKR" types having that brand visibility edge.
Here's the reality: Your girlfriend doesn't know the difference between KKR and Vista. And she probably didn't know what either were until she started dating you. These names are only known within finance realistically. And if you are in finance, you probably know all of them anyways (hence this this entire thread OP). B schools know all these names too. Once you reach a certain tier, I think your primary consideration should be how you want to specialize or whether you want to at all.
,
Vista puts a lot of emphasis on the CCAT, their cognitive assessment. If you can score high on it and have relevant experience, they really don’t care too much about pedigree.
Went from MF Tech to one of these. Non-target UG, came from a bottom rank group from a mid-rank BB.
I was involved in on-cycle recruiting for my former firm. There were a few ways your resume could end up in the on-cycle pile:
1. You knew someone at the firm who vouched for you. As long as you were at least a mid-tier BB even an associate could get your resume into the pile. Most of these were personal, naturally developed connections (Frat littles, same sports team in college, former interns from banking, etc.) rather than networked.
2. You passed some ridiculous, arbitrary filter we have the recruiters apply on GPA, undergrad, bank, and group.
3. You were good enough that you got noticed by one of your staffers/ASO/VPs. I am friendly with a few BB staffers and call them every on-cycle to ask for referrals. These bankers get outreach from several other MFs, so this is fairly common practice.
Damn impressive. Thanks for insights!
Would caution you to keep geography in mind. I'm doing banking in SF / Bay Area at one of the firms you listed; moving to NY was a primary criteria along with tech buyout for me - I hate SF and want to leave immediately. I wasn't able to lateral to NY office after my internship.
The majority of tech buyout roles are out of SF (Vista, TB, TPG, KKR, FP, SLP, H&F, etc.), so make sure you're comfortable moving to SF if these are your top firms. The only traditional MF tech buyout roles in NY I'm aware of are SLP (though smaller office), WP, CD&R and some of the European funds (Apax, HG, etc). There are more growth roles outside of SF, though (Insight, GA in NY) and buyout roles in better cities than SF (TB in Miami, Vista in Chi / Austin, Advent, TA and Bain Cap in Boston, even Carlyle in DC).
Not sure if you even care, but something to keep in mind as you go through the process. For the majority of tech buyout roles, you'll be in SF.
yeah that’s a great point. Tbh my main target is def insight in NY, you have any views on how hard it is to get during on cycle or general info on comp and views on the firm?
I went through the last on-cycle and Insight didn't participate so unfortunately don't have the best view. Not sure on competitiveness / how you should position yourself. I had a friend who got an offer the on-cycle prior, though, and he approached prep for those interviews the same way as he did for typical tech buyout.
More generally, Insight is basically an index of the private software market considering they are investing / invested in every virtually every subsegment from pre-revenue to growthier buyout (they also have a public investing arm now to continue investing in their portcos post-IPO). So, in spite of performance issues due to their lack of price diligence during the bull run coupled with broader issues in the industry, they have a fairly differentiated offering to LPs. Similar to TB and Vista in that way, but push everything up a few stages.
Comp is top of the market for growth and in-line with most buyout MFs. Not sure what bonus structure is for the buyout team given it's heavily sourcing dependent on the other teams. Would imagine it's structured similarly to buyout, but not sure. If you ever want to move to VC or stay in GE, I think it's a phenomenal place to start. The downside is that if you ever want to move to a HF or move to a more traditional buyout shop, you'll be worse off.
It's probably the best culture you could ask for, too, especially relative to the rest of the names you listed. I have a few friends currently there and they love it. Can't say the same for most of my friends in MF PE.
What don’t you like about SF? Just curious because I’m still deciding whether to target SF vs NYC
Nightlife / social scene sucks, terrible ratio, rampant homelessness (while generally overstated, it's still apparent, esp in financial district), the city is generally filthy, non-existent public transport, food is great but everything closes early so good luck taking advantage of that
If I were more outdoorsy or enjoyed nature more, I'd probably find a lot more value in the natural beauty of the city, which is the biggest pro for SF over NY
No way you think DC is better than SF LOL
Yea you're right, meant to be anti-SF more-so than pro-DC lol
Adding that advent tech is in nyc, FP has a smaller office in nyc with associates there, and a couple additional adds to your list above include eqt (generalist but you could get assigned tech as your primary focus) and iconiq on growth side
What’s Carlyle been like recently in this space? One of their stragglers like Consumer / Retail or one of their saving graces?
Have heard anecdotally from current and former employee that it is not viewed as one of the firm’s strong suits (believe A&D or their equivalent group and healthcare are viewed as better experiences / reputation)
Would any of these firms look at a candidate who lateraled to an EB / BB tech group after AN1 and then wanted to participate in on-cycle?
How are candidates who lateraled positioned within the market from a timing, perceived pedigree perspective etc? Thanks
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