IB Sr. Director vs. Sr. Role at Late-Stage Company
Ignore title in anonymous post. Have an offer from a late-stage company that is very senior and has a great equity package. Company is real and profitable. 9 digit top line and 8 digit EBITDA. OK growth, but really focused on margin. No bonus, but offer base is above current base. Obviously upside comes from a liquidity event like IPO or M&A event. Lot of risk and if could go sideways. Can’t say more about the business online.
Current job is D-4 Coverage. Told MD path is available to me though hasn’t happened past 2 cycles. TC is great as is my team. My sector (TMT - Software) has been hit pretty hard though we’re still busy lot of M&A and private credit recently. IPOs pretty much dead. Been at this BB since Analyst.
Debating leaving IB for this private company.
Anyone have a similar situation or faced something like this? Doing diligence and trying to leave no stone unturned. Hence I’m here.
Based in San Fran at a BB. Lot of remote work and am in NYC at HQ more times than not. In mid-30s and first kid on the way. Wife used to work and will be going back soon (MBB). Financially comfortable but not “fuck you money” or whatever people say today.
Not quite there at that stage in my career yet, but, as long as you are comfortable with the responsibilities of the new company, I would say go for it. The business is self-sustaining, which is important in the current weak VC / GE capital raising market, and there's the upside of a large liquidity event down the line with a solid equity package.
Worse comes to worst, you can always come back to banking in a couple years if things don't work out. It's not a great point in the market for the tech sector anyway, so it'll be harder to justify an MD bump in the near-term. And it doesn't look like the volatility is necessarily subsiding even if M&A dealflow is starting to come back a bit. As long as this role doesn't disrupt things with your family, I would definitely go for it. Good potential upside with not much downside and not much of an opportunity cost with the current trough in the market.
Thanks. This is helpful.
Hey, just curious. How do you go from D/MD wtv to senior roles at companies. I am in college I have no clue what I'm taliking about, but I just don't see how the experience in ib translates here to actual operator management. Is it is common for people at your level to get offers like this.
Go for it - more upside and even if this opportunity doesn't pan out you will be able to find something else. I'm in a similar spot and would jump the ship even with limited upside just to try something new. If I may, what was your TC past couple years (trying to figure out what's market for D2-D4)?
Helpful. TC floats between 750-900 in my experience.
Thank you!
D2 in an EB here. Would go for it. Those roles are fairly rare and you'll have more time for yourself / family with upside. You can always come back to bb afterward.
You'll never have f u money until you are too senior anyway...
My 2c - I think there’s potential upside in two ways: 1) this specific company’s potential liquidity event, and 2) x number of future companies liquidity events, because this new role opened up the door for you to be a repeat senior leader at PE/VC-backed companies. Definitely more risk. But if it’s a solid company in a growing market and could establish you into a new career path with potential for repeat liq events, think it’s worth considering. Keep your network warm and growing in the new role and banking will always be an option.
Congrats! Sounds like a terrific role, and probably not one that comes around often.
It being EBITDA positive and decent growth is definitely a plus. Just curious if they’ve shared what they envision the next few years look like (projections, outcomes)? Is leadership working towards an IPO as their most likely outcome? Have they had PE firms or large incumbents sniffing around with interest? Any potential drama or challenges with investors on the cap table that can negatively impact the firm / management?
Assuming the above checks out (and you’ve made some calls to background check culture, fit, etc and that looks good), it could be a really good opportunity to position yourself as a senior leader / operator. That could open doors for future leadership roles. And I think that profile is only additive if you ever want to jump back into banking.
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