Been reading / posting on WSO for years and have come across a fair amount of threads focused on how to succeed as an analyst etc but not many that deal with doing well once one gets to the buyside. Any tips from experienced monkeys (in PE) on how to do well as a Pre-MBA associate?
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Bump... also interested
any insights?
My two cents: it seems like it is similar for most junior PE/banking/consulting jobs: There are three steps 1) Don't make silly mistakes 2) Take on more thought leadership rather waiting to be told what to do 3) Show you can do your supervisors job
For PE, this means
1) Be reliable - don't fuck up a model. Don't drop the ball on process
2) Really own the thought process on your workstreams - if you are doing multiples, understand what drives differences and what the best comps are; don't just hand a comps sheet to your VP/Director. If you are doing commercial diligence, know how it fits in, what the big issues are and how to crack them. The bar is much higher in PE than in banking or consulting. Really understand what your work means, not just in isolation but for the deal. Use this to prioritise (e.g. if issue A only affects interim cash flows that don't move the needle whereas issue B can drive exit EBITDA and the multiple you can get, then focus on B)
3) In addition to nailing 2, over time show you can build relationships with management and advisers. Show you are developing good business judgement and can spot good deals
pre-mba associate to associate (Originally Posted: 01/18/2008)
Let's say you are a pre-mba associate or an analyst at a top pe fund (BX, KKR, TPG, Goldman). You do well, of course. Are you kicked out to do an MBA to be promoted? Can you lateral (to a place of equal merit) to get promoted w/o an MBA?
Thanks.
seems to depend on the shop. know some don't require mba, some do. part of it has to do with stage (some young firms have to wave mbas to get top talent) and part with philosophy (know of one large cap firm, as good as they get, that promotes without mbas).
pre-mba associate (Originally Posted: 10/29/2007)
hi, long time reader first time poster. i am currently an analyst at a MM lev fin shop (as if you couldn't tell from my name) with 2+ years experience and am starting to look ahead. i have gained a lot of transaction experience through my 2 years financing MM PE firms but am itching for a change.
what is everyone's thoughts on my prospects of moving to the equity side of the deal? i know i am not coming from ibanking, but i feel that LBO experience, if even on the debt side, should serve as decent experience to join a PE shop. i would love to join a MM PE firm as these are the firms i have been financing for the past couple of years and feel that it would be a smooth transition.
the only thing is, aside from just hearing of openings through the grapevine at my shop and from talking with the PE firms throughout the course of a deal, i'm not exactly sure how to go about getting an interview and how the PE hiring process works. if anyone has had a similar experience i would appreciate any help you could give me.
again, i'm a long time/first time but hope to start contributing to the boards more often. thanks to anyone who has info for me.
levfin, PM me and i'll send you an email where you can reach me...I work at a MM PE shop.
Has any one from your firm made a transition to PE?
I've personally never seen any one make this transition, but then again I work for a larger PE fund and this may not hold in the MM.
No, not that I am aware of. I realize this isn't the traditional banker to PE move but I figured that a PE would appreciate my level of deal experience given that I have worked alongside their teams on a number of transactions. Obviously it's a different story on the debt side in relation to the equity side, but the experience is still experience which I feel is transferrable. Does anyone agree/disagree with this logic?
The bigger PE shops could have a credit fund or a team within their buyout group dedicated to the financing aspects of the deals. Might be easier to get noticed there if your experience is strong and you're a smart guy, etc.
That's probably not a bad idea to look into toro, thanks. I don't know if I'd like to/be able to enter the larger market shops since my experience is in the middle market but it would certainly be worth a shot. I will probably start to look into something like this soon.
On a side note, I've read posts on this site indicating that most PE analysts/associates work something like 50-60 hours a week on average. Does that honestly sound realistic to anyone? From working alongside several MM PE firms through the course of a deal, I always feel that they are working just as much if not longer hours than I am (I average 60-70 hours when a lot is going on). Does anyone have any first-hand experience with this? It's just a topic of curiosity that I would appreciate hearing more about.
Thanks for everyone's responses thus far.
It has been my experience that 50-60 hour weeks only apply when you are not on a live deal.
That's probably reasonable. You mentioned you worked for a larger fund though right? I wonder if it's fairly similar for a MM (which is where I would like to transition to). What do you average when you are on a live deal?
I'd kill for a 60-70 hour work week!
As I'm sure you can appreciate, it is tough to come up with an "average" here since every deal is different. I would say that during live deals my hours range from 70 to 100 per week.
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