Former PE SA turned operator went bankrupt
I spent my first 7 years out of school in IB (3 years) and PE (4 years). I learned a ton over those 7 years but was ready for something new. I had been looking into acquiring a business for 2-3 years and finally found an opportunity that I felt was a good price and huge growth potential. Long story short, I have been operating for 18 months and its looking like we are going to have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, both the business and me personally. I feel immense shame for putting my wife and son through this. We fought hard to make it work but its just not breaking through and the work has dried up. Its a weather dependent industry and the weather has not provided us with the same level of work that the business experienced over the last 5 years. While I am embarrassed, I am more motivated than ever to come back from this and create the life that my family deserves. I came here to ask, what are my chances of getting back into banking? Im 31 and have executed over 20 transactions on the buy side and sell side. Is there a path to me getting an associate role a respectable middle market shop? I was consistently top-bucket during my analyst years and received the PE senior associate promotion over 2 ivy leaguers at my firm, while I have a degree from a non target state school. Any advice or opinions would be much appreciated.
Network and anything is possible. Even PE if you go to smaller fund
While the personal bankruptcy will make it difficult for you to strike out on your own again for a while, I don't see why you couldn't make it back into the industry. Entrepreneurship takes some stones and a failed business is different than say if you were fired or pushed out from a prior shop due to performance. Often you learn a heck of a lot from disaster deals and if you can do a sober post-mortem it will likely make you a better professional going forward.
You'll have to convince a shop that you're willing to step back from a CEO / Principal role you had been at your business to a junior role, but outside of that I think you'll find it to be more of an ego / personal bruise than a career one. You seem like you have the right attitude - resiliency is a huge key to success, nothing wrong with having a chip on your shoulder.
Awesome response and totally agree.
Thank you, I appreciate the words of encouragement. I have no intentions of going down the entrepreneurial path again. I would like to do banking through VP and then jump to a corporate role and climb the ladder. I didnt handle the stress of a personal guarantee as well as I thought I would. Made my deal stress feel like a cakewalk.
For what it's worth - a lot of biographies of business leaders have the first 1-2 chapters of them talking about one or multiple spectacular failures or setbacks. They all were likely devastating at the time but become footnotes to their broader career. Important to keep things in perspective and not let a tough run define you. Resiliency and future success transforms a failure into a comeback story.
That is good perspective. I think it hits home hard because I spent 4 years working next to some high end investors and I feel dumb for underestimating this particular risk. Like you said, its a bruised ego.
Hey man, sorry to hear
Love people who took risks and want to try to help out as I can
If interested, send me a DM and I will share your story on social media and we can maximize your chances
Thats a really kind offer and I do appreciate it. I would rather stay anonymous and manage the narrative myself when networking with people.
Would be done on anon basis unless someone is able to help and I can connect you guys but totally get it if not interested - DMs are open if you change your mind!
Thank you!
I think it's structurally underestimated. I'm in the LMM and cross paths with a lot of ETA guys - PGs seem like such a small addition to a loan until the underlying business falters. Those things are no joke.
Sorry to hear and props to you for sharing your path
Out of curiosity, can you provide a little more detail on what went wrong? E.g. missed something in diligence vs. valuation / structure vs. missteps operationally? Sounds like the weather played a factor but would love to hear more
I paid too much for it is certainly part of it. Thought it was a great price given past performance but underestimated the cost to hire a full team. It could have been remedied had we had the weather to drive revenue. Its a roofing business and our markets are two of the top 15 counties in the country for hail but essentially got no hail for the past 12 months. I spent a lot of time looking at roofing businesses in my prior job, which probably led to a degree of arrogance on my end.
I’m not sure you can pass background checks for front office roles with a personal bankruptcy
Its on my record for 10 years, so would likely have to buy time until it is off my credit report.
No, I’ve managed someone in a similar situation. You will have to disclose to FINRA and the firm will do enhanced due diligence on your financial propriety but it’s not a kill shot by any means. Just disclose and be upfront.
For what it’s worth I think your background would be great for a mid market services team or M&A team. I’d expect hiring managers to be sympathetic to your situation. I certainly would be.
Thank you, thats the type of role I’m looking for.
Sorry to hear about this, it is definitely tough. As an entrepreneur, I don't think the risk/reward makes sense for most people, especially if they are smart enough to get a good job like one in PE that you mentioned.
I would reach out to a lot of the entrepreneurial PE firms. Quite a few smaller LMM funds floating around like that now. Like Brent Beshore's Permanent Equity. They'll probably love your background.
A bankruptcy doesn’t erase the experience you built. Your transaction history and PE background still have value, so I’d focus on rebuilding the network and being upfront about what happened.
At 31, you have plenty of time to make a comeback. Start with smaller opportunities and let your track record speak for itself.
I wouldn’t let this experience define your career. You’ve already done 20+ transactions and reached senior associate, which is a strong story despite what happened with the business.
I’d start reaching out to former colleagues and PE contacts now. Personal referrals could make the return to banking much easier.
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