There is good intel on WSO regarding Corp Dev hours but feel like a lot of the discussion is centered around F500 type roles (which I imagine is a more chill lifestyle)
Can anyone share their experiences in lifestyle/culture etc at a PE-backed Corp Dev role? It seems to be a lot more dependent on whether it is a roll up strategy / highly acquisitive but even then not sure what we are talking about - is 50 hrs more average or 60-70?
It really comes down to team culture. If the group is packed with ex‑bankers who never turned off the “banker mode,” that’s a red flag. Those roles end up feeling like 60–70 hour weeks, and you’re effectively expected to be on call around the clock whenever something pops up outside business hours.
Context:
Analyst / Sr. Analyst — Healthcare: First analyst on a small team; Corp Dev lead had ~3–4 years of PE experience straight out of undergrad. Hours were ~9–5 in office (pre‑COVID) with a few weekend hours to keep deal flow moving. Team eventually grew to 3–4 analysts and we were doing 40–50+ acquisitions a year in the $1–10M TEV range, plus a couple larger deals. Company went from ~50 to ~200 locations during my ~2.5 years there.
Manager — Healthcare: Third member on a team run by a VP and Director who were both ex‑bankers. Daytime workload was light, but the VP regularly called at 11pm and they expected immediate weekend responses, I once got chewed out for not replying to a Saturday morning email within four hours. Deal flow was ~10 acquisitions a year in the $20–30M TEV range, with occasional $200–300M deals. Very “always on" culture
Manager — Healthcare: Fourth member on a team; VP was an ex‑banker but chill and knew my work from as they were another PortCo under the same PE sponsor as my first role. Hours were ~9–5 in office with occasional early/late calls tied to doctor schedules (including a weekly 5am call). Deal flow was ~10 acquisitions a year, typically $5–20M TEV. VP left, replaced by a nepo hire (CEO family friend) who tried enforcing 7–5 in‑office hours despite us having no/minimal capital to deploy at the time. My analyst and I pushed back and were let go. I think they have done 2 acquisitions since
Sr. Analyst / Manager — Professional Services: Joined during a rough hiring market and took a title downgrade, was promoted within 4 months; VP was ex‑banker/PE but manageable. Hours were ~9–6 with an extra hour at night. After a year, VP wanted less deal responsibilities so they hired an ex‑MD from a small bank as Director (yea I dont get this), hours blew up to ~8–7 plus 2–3 hours at night and another 3–5 hours per weekend day. Deal flow was ~15 acquisitions in year one, averaging $30–60M TEV. Hours spiked and they heavily missed on the comp/equity promises they told me I would receive once promoted to manager so I bailed after 1.5 years.
Sr. Manager — Professional Services: VP respects boundaries and only escalates on weekends if it’s actually urgent. Hours are ~9–5, and most of my day is reviewing analyst work and handling closing items. Deal flow is ~5–8 acquisitions a year in the $50–75M TEV range.
Serious question why have you bounced to so many, did you stay to exit on all of these?
Good question. I haven’t been part of a true exit, and even if I had, I didn’t hold equity, so there wouldn’t have been any personal cash-out component. Most of these roles were ~2 years long. Sorry for the long novel
1st role
I actually do have some regrets leaving this one. I loved the team, went to a couple analysts’ weddings and still keep in touch with people. But comp was like ~$60–70k and I was living in the deep South, ~15+ hours from family. About a year after I left, an analyst reached out and told me they finally started paying market (~$110k) and the team was getting real support for what they were doing. Even then, I doubt equity ever would’ve been on the table for me. After I left, some VP/Director folks got the chance to buy in, and most did. The company ended up in a merger/recap ~5 years later at around $7–10B. My star analyst that I trained is now the VP and runs the team, I always look back and think that could of been me, but didnt want to live in that city for my whole life
2nd role
This could’ve been a great role, but the team was totally disconnected and the Director I reported to straight-up told me he didn’t have time to train me or get me up to speed on the unique sector. Two weeks in, he basically shit on my background and said my last company was a joke because it was a sub-$10M roll-up shop. He only cared about $200M+ deals. Ironically, those “big” deals ended up having terrible growth, while the smaller single-location deals we did were thriving. Total clown.
The PE firm bought the company for ~$1B and sold off an arm for ~$3B within 18 months. Integration/finance teams were acquired in the acquisition and our practice/arm was left barebones.
On top of that, I moved to NYC on a COVID rent deal and then got hit with a jump from $2.8k → $5.2k. I was moving one way or another. Around the same time, a former colleague was asking if I wanted to join him at his new portco, so pivoted there. I hate that I left NYC and might be coming back in the spring with my current role.
I think that Leadership/C-Suite has flipped 3-4x since I left...
3rd role
I still have equity here and am waiting on a recap. But when I joined, we did two of the biggest deals in the space, paid slightly over market, but underwrote low performance. In this business, doctors were doing $1-5M revenue per doc, and they’re operating 60–70% of the day.
We unfortunately had bad luck:
At the end of the day, revenue was flat or down and we were up against debt covenants which made it very hard to do a deal.
4th role
I liked this team a lot. We crushed our first-year goal by 3x, I got promoted to Manager, but the raise was ~10% - way below my previous roles - and my equity/incentive plan was a $20-40k target while Directors above me had $1M targets. I pushed back, and they agreed it should be higher but said it was locked in with the CFO and they’d fix it in six months.
The following week we had lunch with the integration lead who casually mentioned he offered more equity/incentive to someone who left - not sure how he could do that but my team “couldn’t.”
Then the Nazi banker Director came in, refused to adjust my equity or comp, and at year-end denied every analyst’s bonus. I still got mine, but they told me straight up that if I wasn’t the most tenured person, I wouldn’t have gotten one either. That was it, I was done. Also that banker didnt last 8 months.. fuck them
Can i you pm. I’m in a portco role and am getting tons of inbounds and i think you have a ton of insight that could help me decide where i want to take my career. Btw i think the first job you mentioned i have a sneaky suspicion i know where it was.
I’m at a portco straight out of school and like the work team and exit trajectory. Just cause I’m new I don’t fully grasp if this is the type of place I should plant roots for a bit?
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