Comp / culture at top tech PE firms
Would appreciate hearing insights on the comp and culture at the top tech PE firms, i.e. Thoma Bravo, Silver Lake, Vista, and Francisco Partners. Are they similar or does one stand out?
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Silver Lake has no shortage of modern day Patrick Batemans. Definitely stands out to be a bit more cultish than the others.
bump. interested to hear about culture at the other funds listed
same, bumping up
There is no question you will grind at Vista due to the velocity of deals the firm does, but the firm makes a conscious effort through its policies to treat Analysts and Associates as potential long-term employees. There is good promotion visibility from Analyst right up to at least the Senior Associate / VP role (without needing to leave for 2 years for an MBA to be promoted), and pretty much all of the senior people started as Analysts or Associates at the firm. Analysts and Associates get phantom carry on top of base + bonus which means comp is high (~200k for first year Analysts and ~350k for first year Associates), and the firm has a Wednesday and Friday WFH policy (including for the investment team) so you do 3 days in office and 2 days WFH per week. Analysts and Associates also get to work as generalists across the 3 funds (flagship, middle market, growth), so you get to see a wide variety of deal sizes and different stages of businesses (i.e. large take privates in flagship, series C checks in the growth fund, and everything in between), so you can figure out what stage of investor you want to be before dedicating to a fund at the Senior Associate level. You also have the option to be in San Francisco or Chicago as an Analyst or Associate, so you don't have to be in Austin (although you will be in Austin for your summer internship). The firm also has unlimited PTO, although this is finance so people don't use it to the same extent as tech startups with similar policies. But I have heard of Analysts at the firm taking 2 week vacations at the end of their first year, which is totally fine.
How easy is it to work in SF? Seems like only 2 analysts work there and one is a lateral from a senior associate position in accounting.
Can't speak to Analyst level, but out of incoming Associates they recruited from on-cycle 2 are going to SF, 2 to Chicago and 4 to Austin
Really curious if you have any more specific details on the SF office for Vista for the analyst level in terms of culture, hours, benefits, etc. I have a third round coming up and I would be coming from a complete non-target school, then tiny no-name IB so this would be a massive upgrade in name and salary. However, I currently only work ~50 hours so a bit worried about culture shock.
Any chance you could DM me. Have a few questions if you’d be willing to answer
If comp is high, why are there an absolute plethora of threads saying Vista pays so below market - this seems pretty in line to me.
Man vista is literally where I want to retire but no clear vision on landing there
Curious to know why there and not other firms like TB, Silver Lake, Advent, H&F, if you're willing to share.
Any info on Thoma or Insight Partners?
Insight: top tier culture + comp
Thoma: top comp + culture is good but hours are long given the detailed diligence the firm conducts
Have a couple friends who are at or were at TB, and that's the sense I always got as well.
I have a friend who did a summer internship at insight, and he said that his job was exclusively sourcing. Does this change at the associate level? Is your work a mix of sourcing and live deal diligence?
Any info on searchlight nyc office?
Any info on Insight hours? Is the role 100% sourcing on the Associate level as well?
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