Left PE for an operating role and starting to regret it
Left a PE seat for an operating role ~6 months ago and I’m already thinking about leaving. Looking for perspectives from anyone who made a similar jump and struggled early.
Background is 2 yrs BB IB, then 18 months at a MM PE firm where I closed a platform and closed a bunch of add-ons for another portco. Left because I felt I had seen enough to know PE (at least buyouts) wasn’t for me long term, so I turned down the SA promote. Wasn’t planning to leave at 18 months, but an ops role at a startup fell in my lap and felt too good to pass up on at the time (sector I care about, top-tier VCs, the city I wanted, strong momentum, and we’ve since closed a Series B with another top-tier VC).
-6 months in and it’s been rough. I’m buried, the company is disorganized, the founders are young and making textbook first-time founder mistakes, and the talent bar around me isn’t what I expected. It feels like we’re always 1 bad week from blowing up, and the work itself is repetitive and mindless (even compared to banking). I don’t feel like I’m learning at the same pace I was while in PE and I certainly don’t think I’m being challenged intillectualy.
Two things I’d value input on.
1. How do you figure out what’s actually wrong? How did you separate what you genuinely dislike from the discomfort that comes with any early-stage company? And how do you tell a bad-company problem apart from just how startups feel?
I can’t tell if I picked wrong, if I just don’t like operating, or if this uncertainty is something I’ll just get used to with time. That changes whether I grind it out, try a better startup, or go corporate (FP&A or corp dev).
2. Is 6 months too soon to leave since I already left PE at 18 months instead of the standard two years? Leaving again this fast feels like it could do real damage. I know the answer depends on where I’m headed next, but the honest answer is I don’t know.
Anyone who’s been through a version of this, how did you think about it and what did you do?
