Private Equity to Corporate Strategy / Tech - advice?
Monkeys -
I'm a first year Associate at a MM PE firm in NY, and previously did two years at a top BB. After spending the last ~8 months getting completely grinded (not to mention 2 years in IB) in an all virtual environment, I find myself constantly thinking about the life experiences I am missing, and want to transition to a job that has more reasonable work life balance. I am specifically interested in pursuing strategy / strat. finance type roles at a high-growth tech company in SF or NY (or remote!). This would include both FAANG+, as well as established "hot" startups (Series B/C/D, etc.).
A quick search here shows tons of forums on switching from corporate roles to PE/IB, but surprisingly few about those that go the other way around. I'm sure many of you have made that transition, and I would be curious to here your thoughts on topics such as the following:
- Why did you decide to leave PE, and what type of role you pursued
- Pros / cons: Do you feel like this job accrued to your life happiness and career satisfaction? Do you feel that there are meaningful growth opportunities (in both comp and responsibility)? Do you regret leaving the finance safety net?
- When you decided to make the transition (after 2 year associate program, after B School, etc.)
- Thoughts on someone leaving after one year in PE to pursue such an opportunity?
Thanks!
Is it just the hours or other factors as well (such as culture?).
I made the transition from MM PE role to an LP role. I really like the investing aspect, culture and better work-life balance.
It's mostly the hours. Far worse than what I experienced in banking, and most importantly there are no breaks - they bury you in portfolio / research work when you aren't on a live deal, so you never really get to recover. It's hard to fully assess culture given its all been remote, but everyone seems to get along. That said, all the Partners / Principals are total grinders, and the bad work life balance flows down from them.
I have been there on portfolio work between deals and grinders at the top. You could also consider VC if you have interest in earlier stage investing. Seed/series A might be too early given the skill set you have developed but Series B+/growth rounds would leverage your skillset more.
If you can hold out then I would suggest you try to get a little more experience at the PE shop (eg 2 years) so you can say you gave it a proper go.
Reviving a dead post in hopes of finding a new team member.
LMM PE & Direct Lending refugee here - joined a Series C (~$85M; top tier lead VC) tech startup in the emergency response / public safety space to take a CorpDev / Strategy role.
We are currently hiring for a Strategic Finance Associate (2 to 4 years experience / direct report to Head of Finance) - in case you're somehow still on the market. Happy hunting buddy - and best of luck.
Super helpful. Can I ask what industry you were focusing on in PE? If you weren't coming from a TMT / software investor, did you find that was a barrier to getting a job in that industry? I do some work in software, but am largely a generalist.
Also completely agree with your assessment re: looking at the next level. The VPs and above arguably work more than the Associates and bare significantly more stress / responsibility (Managing the expectations of the Partners, managing port co day-to-day, overseeing their Associates). Not a life I want to live at all, even though we do promote from within.
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