Q&A: Tech Corp Dev Analyst -> Growth Equity Associate in China
Hi monkeys! Got bored in off-peak season, thinking Q&A might be fun. My background: - Born and raised in China - Non target undergrad but with MBB/top VC internships in college - 1st job was Corp Dev analyst at a large cap TMT company in China, worked on M&A/strategy/fundraising - 2 yrs later moved to China growth equity team of a global brand (think TPG/KKR/Sequoia/SoftBank), now a 2nd yr associate - Have worked with BB IBD teams for sourcing/fundraising/portfolio mgmt etc. - At my current role I manage MBB/boutique consulting firms for CDD and big 4 for FDD I could talk about the tech/VC/PE/banking/consulting space in China. Pls ask away!
Thanks so much for doing this--it seems like you have an awesome background!
Have you spent any time living outside of China (e.g., US or Europe for school/work) and did you only consider positions in China?
How did you make the jump from corp dev to PE? Seems like a hard jump in the US but is that more common in China? Did you go in knowing that was the intended long-term path?
As someone who studied Chinese for many years but has never lived in China despite a lot of interest on my part, I'm curious: how hard would it be for me to make the jump to China within PE/VC/IB? Would it be far more likely at a multinational firm to move NYC->China or are some local firms open to foreigners?
Can you talk about the deal flow and experience that you will get at a MF in China, is it comparable to the U.S. or Singapore?
Corp Dev to MF isn't a traditional route in the U.S. How common is that in China? Assuming BB IB experience is deemed a better experience for PE exits, does that mean BB IB analyst will exit to MF easier?
Can you talk about pay in China from Associate to Partner? And break it down into 1st year - 2nd year and so on. Is there a direct path from Associate to Partner?
China is more growth-oriented, very few control deals. And honestly deal flow at MF could be worse than leading local funds (like Hillhouse, PAG). HH is really defining the PE landscape in China with game changing deals that others just don’t even have access to (credit to their hedge fund heritage that built relationships with public companies for carve outs and buyout deals, and their early investments behind almost all the sizable tech companies also helped create an unparalleled ecosystem/network)
For buyout, banking is definitely required, but for growth equity it depends. In China the recruiting process is much less structured and background requirement is relatively flexible (some headhunters would post “BB/MBB/CD at big tech preferred”, in the same line). Preferably you would have a banking or even consulting background to prove that you could do the work, but if you could get an interview with networking and ace the case study then it’s still doable. For me, my Corp dev experience gave me a lot of deal experiences that I could speak about during interviews. Most growth deals in China are done without BB as advisors and consultants generally don’t get a full view about the deal, so comparatively my deal experience is what helped me stand out i suppose. That said at most growth funds you would still see more ex bankers than any other type of background for sure.
Pay is global pay. But fewer MBAs, most just go straight up from associate to VP.
Thanks for the info. 1. Can you also talk a little about the recruiting process? You did mention that it is less structured, so is the only way in only through networking? If you're coming from a U.S. IB background, will you get look at? What if you come from a U.S. EB, will you still get the same type of opportunities as BB?
Headhunters or networking. Interestingly most of my colleagues got in via referral, but we do use headhunters. In terms of background, if you want to work in China, BB IBD is definitely still gold but I’m not sure about EB - never met them on Chinese tech deals. I think even local boutiques (such as China Renaissance or even Lighthouse; in China we call them Financial Advisors or FA) are better than EB, simply because you would have more relevant deal experience there. I’ve seen a couple of growth deals run by both CR and a BB...and CR has underwritten a few US/HK IPOs alongside BB as well.
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