I’m in the process of interviewing with and lateraling into a few of the firms below and, as I do my diligence on the opportunities, wanted to request the WSO community’s feedback on these firms’ relative reputations, cultures, performance, etc. I’d greatly appreciate your feedback to the extent you can speak to any or all of these firms. Thanks a lot in advance.
- AEA Investors
- Audax Group
- Lindsay Goldberg
- Golden Gate Capital
- GTCR
- Madison Dearborn Partners
- Providence Equity Partners
- Thoma Bravo
- Thomas H. Lee Partners
I do not or have not worked at any of these funds. My experience comes from networking, interviewing, and having friends at the funds below. I am presenting only what I know and so do not draw any conclusions from any perceived omissions.
You should go look at public pension fund data to see the returns of these funds. It's all out there... You should also message former employees on LinkedIn... they're all happy to talk.
GGC is a spinoff factory. Consider Arcline recently raising a $1.6B fund. They're one of the few first time funds with a founder not from a MF to raise over $1b, and one of the ~5 largest first time funds since the crash. GGC also has an extremely unique LP set and structure that lets them do some hairier deals and invest across asset classes (credit, public) out of the same fund. It's also a difficult place to work but I've heard the experience is top notch for junior staff because of meaningful involvement in most aspects of the business, as opposed to just crunching models all day. This is a good place to work.
Providence - PM me. Do not recommend. Extremely low returns, but very cool sector focus (Media / Telecomms & Education).
GTCR - Extremely solid software group. Sweaty all around. Big fish small pond in Chicago. They hire consultants as well. Some of their talent has jumped to MDP, and I'm familiar with people who got GTCR and MDP offers and went with MDP. You begin verticalized here.
MDP - Big fish small pond in Chicago. Historically the top dog but GTCR and BDT have been successful, so, three's company it seems. MDP did so-so during the recession and instead of raising a $10B+ fund at that point as planned, decided to stick with a ~$5B fund to continue their current strategy in the upper middle market of five sectors. You begin generalist here. Good culture, and good work experience, with a strong pipeline to H/S and good placement into other funds (from Carlyle to Berkshire at VP level). This is a good place to work.
AEA - Anecdotally only: a friend of mine who worked at their LBO fund - a real upstanding person - had such a negative experience that they not only left AEA but left the industry as well. Not impressed by the congeniality of the team. Their strategy is largely buy and build. They're similar to HGGC if that comparison is useful to you (well, you can check LinkedIn: there's a lot of overlap in those gene pools). I believe they have good returns. My impression: okay place to work with a good work experience but weak culture.
Thoma Bravo - They've done extremely well but to tell you the truth, I think the strategy of the Vista / TB / H&Fs of the world is getting overplayed. How much juice is there left to squeeze out of the proverbial orange? There is a good podcast on software investing with a TB upper-ranks guy that I recommend. I don't know much about TB otherwise, but I'd welcome a discussion about strategy here.
Audax - Have heard anecdotally that they have a culture of pawning off everything on the juniors, and one of the worst work life balances on the street. My certainty of this information is about a 4/10, but if what I know is correct, I would say this is not a good place to work, without knowing anything else.
What's the podcast with the TB senior feature if you don't mind sharing?