Interviewing / succeeding as CXO at PE-backed portco?
I’m an operator pursuing a move to PE. Pre-MBA I did strategy consulting and buyside banking mostly for PE clients. Post MBA, strong operating results in consumer/retail/e-commerce sector. I have 12+ years as a business strategist, general manager, and marketer. I’ve done fortune 50 and early stage startup. I've had the privilege of leading high-performing teams, scaling brands, and building successful strategies for both brick-and-mortar and e-commerce ventures.
I’m eager to break into PE because of the diversity of challenges, the maturity of the companies I’d get to transform/improve, and the wealth-building and responsibility access. I’d like to learn about investing from a smart team too by observing. My ultimate aspiration: securing a role as a private equity operating partner at a value-accelerating focused fund in the lower to middle market (so a FTE on the value acceleration team NOT an ex CEO part time gig).
I’m interviewing for a few CRO roles at PE portco’s. Initial interest is super strong / excitement about me as strong talent but I’m not yet at any round 2’s cause they’re not scheduled till next week so it’s been easy peasy intro screeners.
I'd love to tap into the wealth of knowledge in this community to get info on working as a CXO at a PE backed company.
- where does this go wrong?
- who won’t be successful?
- how should you vet the company? And the PE firm?
- is it better to prioritize the right portco and investment thesis or the fund backing it?
- interviewing — what’s that like?
- who’s going to crush a CXO at PE backed?
- how are you set up to fail?
- what needs to be true to be successful?
- compensation / negotiating tips or watch outs?
If you've had experience in this capacity, or if you have any valuable knowledge to share about being in the C-suite of a private equity-backed venture, your insights would be invaluable.
Additionally, I'm all ears when it comes to interviewing tips. Interviews for such crucial positions can be quite intricate, and any advice or guidance you can offer would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you all for your time and consideration.
Interested
Also am I world’s biggest n00b for posting under real name and image? Why’s everyone anon here? 😼😼😼🤔🤔🤔🤷🏼♀️.
Bump interesting post
Are you interviewing for CXO roles at portcos or for roles on the portfolio team at PE firms? Difference is one you’ll obviously spend 100% of your time working with one company (and be employed by that company) whereas with the other you will work on projects across companies and be employed by the buyout firm.
Which is more ideal situation? Prob just solely at portco and not having to work with the other places right?
It depends on your career objectives.
As an executive embedded within a single portfolio company you are calling the shots day to day. You are developing the strat plan for your function or P&L, aligning with the PE sponsor, and then executing that plan. You have autonomy and own your own calendar. The flip side is you need to deal with everything that comes with being an exec at a portco — which lets be honest by definition are not usually well run companies when you join. You’ll need to create process, lead others, fire people, expect to do more with less $, usual be in an office, sit in tons of meetings about S&OP, budget, etc. These roles come with equity in the portco. There’s a big range in comp (base + bonus) depending on the size of the company but you can expect $500k for $1B portcos and $750k for take-privates. Equity is usually between $500k-$1M but can be substantially higher for CEOs or key turnaround execs. Keep in mind these roles are usually based in MCOL or LCOL areas.
As someone in the portfolio ops team you are basically a more hands-on consultant for portcos. You are advising execs about specific situations — e.g. supply chain automation, technology transformation, commercializing a new product, etc. You may be asked to take an interim role in a portco or sit on boards but 90% of the job is really project-based work. You don’t really own your calendar and work on where you are needed that quarter. Because you’re not employed by the portco, their employees view you as an outsider and you won’t have much of a relationship with them beyond the C-Suite. These roles can come with carry in the fund - especially at more senior levels. Comp ranges depend on size of fund, but usually $500k for someone with MBA/MBB/VP-lvl operating experience and $1M+ for a former CEO at the end of their career. Carry can range from $1M-$3M. Because these roles are based in the PE firm’s home office with a lot of travel to portco sites you are usually paying rent or mortgage in HCOL areas.
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