fake boutique firm? need advice

Hey fellow monkeys,

I am just another desperate monkey aiming for a boutique internship and trying to gain relevant experience.

I received an internship offer from a boutique PE firm (via cold-emailing), but I am suspicious about their legitimacy. It sickens me that people would screw over desperate monkeys.

Things that made me worry: 1) they are located away from major cities. 2) they changed their company name recently 3) they copied/pasted investments from past work at previous firms. 4) their revenue is less than 1 MM / year.

Any thoughts? Please share your opinion. Thanks!

5 Comments
 

Accept, ask to see take a tour of the offices too, but keep on networking and trying to find another summer position.

Scenario 1 - you find that its legit, get good experience in a small shop where you can assume a ton of responsibility

Scenario 2- you find another position at a known firm, and accept that and decline this position after you already accepted the better one. They won't be happy, but they're a small firm and you likely won't be crossing paths with them again in your career. Not an ideal choice, but keeps your options open.

 

bump. I agree there arent much opportunities around, so I cant just abandon this outright. During the interview, they are trying to get me involved in one live deal, is this enough to stick around? What are some of the ways to maximize learning at this firm?

 
Best Response
1: Resort town? Maybe it is just a lifestyle shop? Fair to be suspicious here, but not every legit shop is located near a major city. 2: If all they changed was "Mgmt" to "LP", I wouldn't be concerned here. May be a legal structuring issue more than anything else. If they were trying to change their brand, they'd make a more drastic change than that. 3: It isn't unusual for a new investment firm to cite investments from their old companies. I don't think #3 is an issue. 4: Not sure what to say here. Sounds like any other start up boutique -- isn't this what you expected?

You are right to be concerned -- there are lots of shops out there that are not legit and are just looking for free labor. I don't necessarily think the concerns you mentioned are too big a deal though. If this is just for an internship and you don't have many better options, you should probably take the risk. If it ends up being crap it is just an internship -- you'll just need to spin it to the next employer.

CompBanker’s Career Guidance Services: https://www.rossettiadvisors.com/
 

In dolores odio consequuntur aut corrupti eveniet. Molestias non enim voluptatibus libero et. Dolorem aspernatur sit nulla qui beatae enim quisquam.

Et ex sed deleniti. Doloremque et distinctio aspernatur porro exercitationem consequuntur repellat. Omnis quisquam sequi perspiciatis mollitia voluptas voluptatum ducimus. Ut omnis minus omnis qui sint aperiam et ipsum. Velit itaque optio autem est.

Molestiae et rerum explicabo reiciendis. Non animi unde qui ipsum eligendi omnis. Quam enim veritatis fugiat sed quae nostrum deleniti sapiente. Repudiandae perspiciatis odio ut soluta eligendi officia.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.3%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (44) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”