Career path after PE?
Where / how does the churn happen in PE? How are firms constantly hiring if everyone in IB is ultimately (loosely) trying to end up in PE?
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2 yrs then usually you're pushed out
Do people tend to go to smaller funds than the one they were pushed out from, or do they exit PE entirely?
they usually have an existential crisis and then scramble for business school
No offense guys, but can some experienced professional weigh in? Also, what happens to these folk after business school (typically)?
A lot of PE programs are two years. Its either up or out (another firm or B-school).
I have seen a lot of folks go the fundless sponsor / search fund route after a couple years in PE. Makes sense, because it can be a lot more lucrative. Find / buy a business, run it (or hire someone to run it), collect management fees, then exit for eight figures.
Glue factory.
.
Many end up as Uber Black drivers, when they pick you up they like to ask what kind of work you do. When you respond, they then tell you they used to do the same and that it was good for awhile but got old. Then you remind them that you had quiet preferred on your profile and need to take a call.
Target Store Manager
Or other bulge bracket stores like Wal-Mart, Whole Foods, or Elite Boutiques, such as Duane Reade, CVS, 7-Eleven...
This is the Investment Banking forum, not the Private Equity forum. With this lack of attention to detail you don't have to worry about what happens after you break into private equity.
Lack of “attention” to detail...looks like OP isn’t the only one not cut out for IB
Oh snap! The burner gets burned hahaha
I said not breaking into PE. If you took the time you would have realized the OP already works in IB which makes your comment nonsensical. I indeed made an error but I am only a prospect I've got time to build up my attention to detail. OP is a first year analyst and PE recruiting is already underway.
They explore life outside the 2+2+2+ path...
Great comment. Structured path ends at some point for everyone. For many PE Associates it ends in business school when they don't get a post MBA PE job. If you talk to any of them, they're rarely upset about it. Most of them learned enough in their pre-MBA roles to develop some conviction about where they can make a long-term impact after school . . that could be in any role in any industry. A lot of them like corp dev because unlike other folks who might've chosen corp dev as a backup to IB, these guys had a specific industry or set of firms in mind where they know a lot and have a better sense of what value they can add, and what they'll do with that experience afterward.
People these days need a fixed life path from birth till 90 years or they go insane... Just let go of all the crap and do what you like doing while making non-retarded decisions
Agree, but I think this has always been the case. Hence, the obsession with the factory job that pays well, lasts forever with a defined benefit pension at the end. People like a linear life progression even when the progression sucks.
Corp Dev/Strat/Fin (esp. at hot tech companies or acquisitive corporates), venture entrepreneurship, general/functional management at a corp, search funds/fundless sponsors, smaller PE funds, fundamental hedge funds, asset owners ("LPs") etc.
A lot of people leave after two to three years as an associate in PE, either to B school or something completely unrelated. Some stay on if they are good and if the PE firm has a direct promote to VP option.
Would check out Exit Opportunities at Hedge Funds vs. Private Equity for more information on buyside exit opportunities. There are a lot of different paths that you can take post PE. That is where most people struggle because they realize that PE isn't the promise land and are lost on what to do next.
Could I PM you about HFs? I am in PE but looking to eventually move to a L/S fund, would love to pick your brain. I've read a couple of your blogs on your website.
I've also seen some people jump to finance teams within a portfolio company. Great exit. Get a nice position usually a little higher up in the hierarchy and work 40 hours per week.
As someone in a VP seat with no MBA, this is where I prefer to be. That being said, it is definitely a much less structured path. When I think about alternatives if I fail to make principal, portfolio companies often come to mind. Corporate M&A and going back to an advisory role also cross my mind. Hopefully I won't have to choose one of these other paths, but If I do it will definitely be an exploratory process.
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