I see so much anxiety on here about being on the "right" path (Avenues->Exeter->HYP->GS->KKR->Viking->$$$). I won't lie and say I didn't have that same anxiety for a few years after I got into this industry. That said, having seen the lifestyle and happiness of people who achieved the realistic definition of "success" in the paths that WSO holds on a pedestal, I want to throw out another path that I think a) is more achievable across a broader range of backgrounds, and b) lends itself to a much better lifestyle without meaningfully sacrificing long-term wealth creation. This is the Professional Board Member path:
- Quit whatever day job you have at 40-45 and start your own "strategic advisory" practice
- Get on 5+ boards - $50-75k+ cash comp each + equity for going to one meeting a quarter (board seats at $500mm-$1bn+ TEV companies open up every day - bankruptcies, general board turnover, etc. - just need to get on the radars of Korn Ferry, Spencer Stuart, etc.)
- Leveraging the significant board experience that you gained in Step 2, go get an operating partner role at some PE fund - carry + 6-figure cash comp for showing up to some management meetings, reading IC memos, and going to a few more board meetings
- Lastly, as you feel like it, get linked up with Alphasights and GLG and do some expert calls from the Maldives at $750-1k/hour
So you end up with a high 6-figure cash annuity stream + carry/equity and you can do whatever you want for the rest of your life. The best part is you can do this on basically any path so long as you're investing in your network. Stuck in Big 4 audit? Every public company needs an audit chair - just stick it out, make partner and you're free at 40-45. Trapped in F500 FP&A? Stay long enough to get a marketable title (doesn't have to start with Chief), learn your industry inside out and you're golden.
I might be oversimplifying it, but I have dealt with so many chuds who are sitting on 5-10 different boards at any point in time and contribute literally nothing beyond asking about D&O insurance. If they can do it so can you.
And sorry if this comes across as a sh*tpost, if I can put one person at ease about their long-term trajectory I will have achieved my goal :)
Badass, but realistically, I feel like most of the dude's I see that sit on a ton of boards are ex PE rainmakers / at least VP level at PE firms. Don't you still kinda have to do the whole Target->IB->PE->Promoted to VP thing to get there?
IB experience brings almost no value-add when it comes to serving on a board (really think about what skills would translate well and make someone highly qualified to do so). I can see how experience in PE translates with experience serving on the board of your fund's portco's and monitoring the operations over the investment's holding period, but otherwise the professional background of those that are highly sought after for these positions have years of actual experience working directly in the industry and having climbed up the ladder or come from a very successful management consulting career with a great track record.
That sounds actually doable. The only thing that's really difficult is to get on the radar of KF/SS, you need to be in a "box" for that. In IB, it's often too easy to stay at a general level without actually knowing shit, so I imagine the ones that don't have a high level view on a certain industry can't contribute shit to board meetings and will get flushed out soon.
Also it takes long as fuck lmao
This is inspiring
Nobody wants to trade time for money at a certain point.
The Avenues->Exeter->HYP->GS->KKR->Viking->$$$ can lead to a 100 mill net worth by 40-45 if played correctly.
Fuck. Lol. Avenues is 60k for Pre school
Pardon my ignorance but what is avenues
Some elite ass school for Pre-K to 12. 62kish a year. But the obv only way to make it to Viking
This is literally my goal. Trying to leverage MBB consulting to make it to director as quickly as possible, and from there should be able to leverage into a VP spot at a midsize co by mid 30s if not earlier. Plus from what I’ve seen once you hit director level in corporate you seem to have extremely good job security- pretty much locked into a mid 200s comp floor till you turn 60
Only way to make money in corporate is to be CEO. Look at reports from publicly listed companies - there's a massive drop in compensation between what the CEO is paid and what everyone else is paid. Even C-suite execs are paid 300k
this is just not true... maybe in base salary
just checked exec comp at a ~1B market cap public company where I know some of the execs... CEO gets 16mm. CFO gets 4mm. CTO gets 2.6M
Obviously they are getting less than the CEO, but I wouldn't sneeze at 2.6M/year
300k is a common comp point for people leaving MBB after 2-3 years, hardly C suite comp
Not sure what c-suites you're looking at (maybe failing companies who are skating by on declining sales and constantly reduced headcount) but in my last two mid-cap companies VPs were making ~600K all in, with the c-suite well over 3M a year. If you have dreams of F-U money, corporate is not the way to go after 30-35 but if you're looking for a cushy gig that pays for nicer cars and nicer houses corporate VP+ life is perfect.
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I don’t think this is bad advice, but I do think that it might not be this easy. I don’t have extensive experience with board members, but I do have extensive experience with the board members of my primary portco. Keeping things a little vague:
1) one is on several boards and was former c suite at an F500 (pretty sure it’s F500)
2) one is also on several boards and literally so accomplished it isn’t even worth getting into it. Also has the strategic consulting firm as well.
3) one founded a different investment firm and on a few boards
4) one is also so accomplished it isn’t worth getting into it.
This is for a company with about $2BN EV
And by “so accomplished,” I mean that they were both CEOs of companies you’ve heard of, and that isn’t even necessarily the most impressive thing they’ve done.
Anecdotal story but was doing a public co deal where our client's Board created a Txn Committee and we met with the group of 3-4 with deal updates. All impressive backgrounds / senior industry people at other firms, so I'm sure they have better income streams, but we found out that they got paid ~$200k/year to sit on the Board for their typical quarterly reviews, + $50k per special meeting they attended. We met with them once or twice a week when the deal got busy...
I know someone trying to do exactly this. It's a hard one to pull off. Especially if you're "pale, male and stale" as they say. If you're 40-45 you're not stale yet, so that's one less issue.
Great topic.
I am on GLG and Guidepoint as an expert. Occasionally one gets a $750 per hour consult, but I find most of the consults are for about $150-250/hr. Maybe just my area of expertise - your mileage may vary.
I've been looking at NED roles as well. There are some certification programs available such as FT. Are these necessary?
Do you know if this is allowed or needs to be reported to the firm or as an outside business activity? I’ve gotten outreach but haven’t acted on it because I’m not sure and don’t want to risk it if it’s a headache. See that you’re in PE, I’m still in banking, with a particular set of expertise in one vertical.
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