Coolest Experience So Far?

In line with the best perks thread — what have been your best / coolest experiences working in PE?

I’m talking flying a PJ to here there and back, maybe group outings to Lake Tahoe or a cool story about buying an exiting a company in 6 months and there was $300mm in carry everyone enjoyed.

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Have worked closely with many PEs on deals and the definition of "cool" changes as time goes on. During the first few deals it was so amazing to do fun shit like fine dining dinners, trips on private planes or luxurious outings (F1 Races, Clay Pigeon Shooting etc.). As time goes on and you realize these things become more commonplace, I think seeing the fruits of your labor is really fulfilling. One of the coolest deals I saw was the acquisition of a struggling hospital group in Europe that was gutted and turned around by a PE fund. The hospital ended up with large but carefully planned out investments into its service offerings, staff and equipment. It has now become a center of excellence for the main field it operates in and has greatly enhanced its ability to carry out life saving procedures by targeting a specific niche. This has drastically impacted procedure success rates and life expectancy in the local region. All of this from one hospital transformation is pretty cool.

 

A lot of the shiny stuff (PJs, nice closing celebrations, fancy off sites etc.) becomes less shiny the more you experience it.  Sounds corny but one of the coolest things is honestly the mgmt teams you get to meet. A lot are absolute dipshits but the really smart/motivated/interesting ones that can drive a business and motivate an entire employee base is truly impressive. Especially if you get work alongside them and watch a portco really transform. A nice payday at the end of it doesn’t hurt either.

 

I got to play assistant to a prominent politician (after his term) because he was going to a meeting with us and his EA wasn’t available to travel during the dates. Few weeks later our team was at a v upscale/discrete-type underground lounge thing and he swung by for some drinks. Unrelated, but I also had a trippy Tinder encounter during that trip, which made the experience more memorable. Still have a pic of the travel itinerary and agenda since I thought it was pretty neat.

2020 Update: recounting my experiences in PE and sharing thoughts on recent deals at https://leverup.substack.com
 

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