Examples of when the grass was greener in PE?

There’s a lot of talk on this forum about the grass not being greener in PE, particularly in recent years with IB pay bumps.

Wanted to get the opposite perspective - for those who switched from IB to PE and the grass was greener, please share your story and why it’s better!

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Hey man, 

I spent about 17-18 months in PE during and after business school at LMM PE firms in Chicago. I was an analyst in BB IB previously so I think I can comment on this 

Doing initial DD on deals that end up going no where (aborted) or getting drawn out can be exhausting. And you can't be putting half hearted attempts when these deals land on your table ie you have to be giving your full 100%. You have to think you'll win the bid. Going through many of these and not winning can be exhausting. At least in banking you close a deal and move on. 

Also DD can be exhausting as youre the one doing now responsible for asking the right questions and making sure you understand what you're told in case a higher up asks you. Unlike in banking where you kind of populate the data room and other than process mgmt (ensuring mgmt answers questions of buyers) you have nothing to do. 

I haven't even touch the portco aspect, which in LMM firms can be more time consuming. At a partner level these things take up more of your time. I personally didn't hate it. But maybe after a few years of it I might have 

 

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