VP moves/hiring

What drives/attracts experienced VP's to move banks? If an MD is able to originate a lot of deals (small-to-mid market tech investment/M&A, $30-150mil), but doesn't have the bandwidth to execute all the deals, what's the best way to attract VP's with execution experience to work together on the deals?

Is remote-work a large attraction?

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My opinion, as a VP in LMM:

  1. Remote work yes, but generally just flexibility and ability to dictate schedule and have some autonomy that might not exist at a larger or more rigid organization.
  2. Visibility into dealflow. Getting crushed sucks, but would rather leap to an organization where I can point to a pipeline of actionable opportunities and fee revenue vs. constant pitching and uncertainty.
  3. Deal team. If I'm working closely with an MD or joining a smaller organization, I better really enjoy working with that person and there needs to be mutual respect. Similarly, I'd want to be confident in the abilities of the junior team (whether analyst or associate, idc, but would need to know there's decent support there so I can grow and develop a client relationship skillset and not constantly get stuck in the weeds).
  4. Compensation structure is important here. I'd be most excited if there was a revenue share component.
 

Let's say it were a small shop (4-5 person team) where there's a ton of flexibility on schedule and autonomy, as long as the work got done. Would look to the VP to help set the agenda, schedule and to-do's.

Deal flow is 3-6 deals closed a year by MD, totaling $5-10mil in fees. There's tech sector focus (in two related sub-sectors), and most of it is based on MD relationships, industry knowledge and previous deal experience. so there's not much blind pitching. VP's are generally not involved in the pitches due to the above. 

Deal team would be MD, VP, Associate/Analyst (fulltime or India-based deal support)

Comp would be in the $175-200k base range, with a revshare component, likely in the 5-7% range. 

What would be attractive or concerning re: the above?

 

Comp looks really attractive if it all checks out (even on the low end, 5% of $5mm is $250k so it’s at least competitive at $425k-$450k all in, and 7% of $10mm implies all in could be touching almost $1mm in a blockbuster year). What’s less certain is the path to career advancement for VP. I think to attract talent, you’d want to show where they can be in 3-5 years. This is crucial in my opinion because deals are generated by MD relationships. Are you looking to groom some one to be your partner long term or will this VP just execute and sort of “stay as VP” even if there’s a token promo to D down the road? I suspect it’s hard to answer as it’s a bit of a chicken and egg. Depends on who you get in the applicant pool. But also more important part is what kind of person you’re looking for. 

 

It will be very personal, depending on what your prospect is missing in their current role / bank.

What you described above sounds like a tough proposition:

  • You pay more or less in line with the street: little bit light on base, which is $250-275k for VPs these days, and maybe you make up with bonus but based on your numbers it sounds like all in will be $450-700k in most scenarios. People discount the top end of the range, unless you can actually prove that you’ve paid that to VPs in the past (I’ve heard friends at small shops that got paid a good bonus 1 year, and then 2 years of minimal bonus, on average getting screwed…). Frankly, your cashflow is more risky, so you should pay MORE than a BB bank to attract talent. Or you should bring other things to the table
  • Work / life balance: honestly at the VP level WLF is not that bad at a BB if you have full teams with strong junior resources. Prior to COVID most VPs enioyed a good life, checking out at 7pm or so and then logging back from home for another hour or so. Not that bad, and definitively not the “unpredictable schedule”. Sure, sometimes a deal blows up and VP is screwed too, but that’s usually not the case except at sweatshops. So here you are not offering anything really.
  • Room to grow: at a BB depending on the bank and sector a VP can feel there’s no space to grow unless MDs retire/leave. Your value proposition should be here, yet you are framing it as just execution. I don’t know why anyone would want to execute for you and then be stuck at execution level at a no-name boutique. What you should do is make this a partner track, with tangible metrics: “you bring $Xm in fees and you become (junior) partner with X% economics. On the deals you bring/source, you get X% economics (not 5-7%, but maybe 50%). Etc.” So yes, you get someone to execute for you, but also create a path to enlarge the pie and coverage a new sector / geography, etc. If you give that offer to a good VP with relationships that is tired of the BB bullshit, he/she may take it. So the value proposition is more risky for the VP, but also more rewarding. 7% of revenue sharing won’t cut it.

Just some thoughts.

 

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