Thoughts on Summit Partners
What’s the latest on this firm with regards to comp, reputation, and performance? Is it a 2 and out as an associate? Seems to be a very prestigious name in growth historically
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Bump
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Someone’s gotta have something lol
It makes no sense how growth equity gets such little coverage on WSO. You can easily find avg comp for buyout funds but many GE funds comp is even still unknown because people for whatever reason like to not talk much about their GE recruiting lol. Yall GE associates need to speak up for the better good.
Very solid growth equity shop with top quartile returns. Attractive platform to grow long term and comp is strong. I don’t get the sense it is a sweatshop either. Everyone seems to enjoy working there and they do interesting deals. TBD on how well they do in a downmarket or moderate to severe recession, but I’d imagine they will survive and worst case maybe only one of their Funds is impacted from a performance perspective.
Very helpful thank you!
If you want to develop the skill of sourcing deals, you will become a machine at Summit. I have such an insane respect for these guys because they interface so well with CEOs. You get less txn reps but to that I say, ok fine, just go find more good deals lol. It's very much a bet on yourself kind of place. I was at a classic UMM and in hindsight would have given serious consideration to Summit because I think there's a lot to be said to grow your skillset that way if you're not interested in being a cog UMM/MF VP deal jockey just cranking the M&A skillset to 11. The guys I know from Summit are extremely good hustlers and have incredible commercial acumen and go-getter spirit beyond just the garden variety flavor high work output and chasing achievement like you see at garden variety PE platforms.
I could make the opposite defense for UMM/MF platforms so take this with a grain of salt but this is the argument I'd make that is pro-Summit.
This is the right take. You learn to be a hustler there - lots of great role models for this internally and the organization is just culturally ingrained in this mentally. If you can't transform yourself into one of these deal-finding hustlers, you will be pushed out pretty quickly - even at the Associate level. Their culture is not anything special in terms of financial sophistication and analytical edge, but only 5% of PE funds on the street really make money this way. It's all about the hustle. For this reason, I would feel immensely more comfortable starting a business with an ex Summit guy who will find a way vs. ex Blackstone/KKR/Carlyle guy who cannot think for themselves and only thrive in highly institutionalized and politicized environments.
However, it's not all roses and rainbows. The grind is very tough, owing to the fact that IC materials are expected to be just as perfect and lengthy as any MF/UMM standards, but you don't really get a break on maintaining a sourcing pipeline. Most deals break at IC, as the bar for engaging in banked deals is extremely high. Deal teams are lean, no extra analyst/associates just because. Given the hustler trait described above for those who make it there, imagine competing for 4:1, 5:1 promotion ratios at every level against these people. 90% of those who arrive as Associates are culled out by VP/Principal. Those who make it are not necessarily the smartest or the most pedigreed, but the hungriest - which is a strong foundation for fund performance.
any comp insights?
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