What's the hype with Corp Dev?
Hi All,
26 in a mid-high COL area, and, as someone in corp dev, I'm wondering why corp dev is so hyped?
I stumbled my way here after failing to get into banking/HF/PE, and ironically, my friends in the roles I couldn't get into are having a hard time moving into corp dev while I still maintain a solid interest in doing their work.
Current role pays 130 base + 10% performance bonus @ 30 to 50 hours, depending on the week. Degree is in Math/Econ.
My career has progressed as follows: Quant (big name, low pay) -> Series B FP&A (now Series D) -> Corp Dev/M&A/FP&A (PE-backed Industrials) -> Startup CFO (cash flow positive, internally funded, approaching 7 figures in revenue) -> Corp Dev/M&A/FP&A (PE-backed Industrials).
It's one of the few banking adjacent career paths where, at the junior levels, there is better WLB and the base skills are transferable - building models, value work that sort of shit.
The reality is, as I'm sure you're well aware, outside of modeling/value work, it's a different game.
Honestly, you just end up turning into an executive assistant that can build models off-the-cuff (this happened in both corp dev roles). I really don't see a distinction between corp dev and FP&A apart from more ad hoc work.
At the end of the day you're in "strategy", but you're not. The C-Suite has final say and tend to operate off a "cover my ass" framework. Turns out, most people like keeping jobs that pay 400k+ a year at < 50 hours.
That was my read too. A lot of the corp dev people I talk to are in tech and they often end up being gatekeepers for product teams and sort of stewarding processes when there is a deal to be done. On the other end of the spectrum, have seen some real ballers that weigh in heavily on strategy and direction and basically run FP&A as well.
Would be very curious as to the functions and org of a "optimized" corp dev team.
Are you hiring? lol
We just filled the other opening a few weeks ago :P. Bad timing cause we had the opening open for 6+ months. The one guy we hired was the only one who seriously attempted our technical even though we were paying 20% above market. Get a good headhunter, they'll be able to transition you.
Just a note: Other finance teams I've been on have done this too but people get psyched out by technicals. In this case we had guys with doctorates, 2 decades of experience, PE types, etc. give up before starting despite clearly wanting the job (one tried to talk his way out of dong the technical on account of experience). Funny thing is, we didn't expect anyone to finish the assessment. It was a tool to gauge how candidates thought through difficult problems. Also, we didn't care about their academic backgrounds or experience, only if they could do the work. Meritocracy at its finest.
Ditto the above comment. I’ve worked in two separate Corp Dev roles that were very different from one another. At one company, my group operated under a roll-up strategy and was highly acquisitive in my time there. The other was more concentrated on strategic partnerships, competitive mapping, overall corporate strategy, etc. A few of the primary pros and cons (at least so far) off the top of my head:
PROS:
• High visibility into C-Suite / Board of Directors - probably the most valuable aspect in my eyes as you intuitively develop an understanding of how they think through growth strategy, assessing partnership or M&A opportunities, etc.
• Long-term company focus - this is a bit more nuanced, but I’ve generally felt it to be rewarding focusing on building up a company and contributing to longer term growth
• Work-life balance - this gets brought up a lot, but I wanted to emphasize the opportunity to work on really interesting projects / M&A minus the grueling hours. I’ve also (anecdotally) found the people / culture to be a lot more friendly and relaxed
CONS:
• Compensation - it would be asinine to say that the pay is “bad”, but you have to accept that you’ll almost certainly make less $ than your IB/PE/HF/VC counterparts. I understand this may be a tough transition, for someone in IB for example, to accept a 30-40% pay cut off the bat when switching to Corp Dev
• Industry Knowledge - this is a bit of a double-edged sword developing sector-specific expertise has a lot of benefits…if you want to remain there. While a sector-agnostic role can allow you to rapidly develop an idea of which area best aligns with your interests, it’s more difficult to repetitively job hop in search of where you’d like to play long-term to avoid being pigeonholed
• Slower career advancement - this is firm-dependent, but is largely synonymous with Corp Dev functions. There is generally slower advancement, especially to top levels, in Corp Dev compared to other levels of high finance
Of course, a lot of this hinges on the lense you’re viewing Corp Dev from (e.g., banking versus non-finance roles). I know I left some stones unturned here, but I wanted keep this relatively succinct. Happy to hear any thoughts / critiques in response to the above.
Hope this helps!
What's your opinion of jumping right into corp dev/corp strategy hybrid roles without an IB background?
At a T25 MBA and initially was gunho about a specific IB coverage but now I'm not entirely sure (besides 1-2 select firms I really like - ones I may throw out an application to and hope for the best) and I recently found out we have a pipeline to some mid-sized companies (PE-backed) that take students w/o a finance/IB background and hire them at a level that would normally go to IB VPs when they exit (Director).
It just depends on what you want. For me I wanted flexible WLB and a higher corporate salary while doing M&A / more "strategic" finance work and corporate development fit the bill.
I get to still do deals, but don't have to work intense IB / PE hours. Although pay is lower relative to those fields, I'm making significantly more than typical corporate finance roles (e.g., FP&A). Also, my work is more stimulating (to me) than traditional FP&A work so I find some meaning in what I'm doing.
Minima commodi est reprehenderit dolores. Sit numquam quae sequi corporis rerum magnam nostrum eveniet.
Dignissimos qui delectus ipsam odio. Iusto est inventore in ratione molestiae mollitia modi.
Et est omnis impedit at dolore expedita. Eligendi dignissimos repellendus laborum inventore laudantium.
Laborum doloremque eaque quibusdam quia. Natus at error ut. Delectus est quisquam qui numquam sed. Excepturi repellat nam ratione omnis impedit. Optio magni aspernatur occaecati explicabo doloribus voluptatem. Ut quaerat qui alias ex repudiandae ipsa.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...