Why are PE people so socially akward/cold?
Coming from consulting (MBB) some thing really boggle my mind. Is this banking culture? Observations:
- On calls with people (even external i.e., advisors, mgmt. teams/calls, etc.) people will dial in and turn their cam off - even MDs even when talking
- Writing/general norms (no "thank you", no "could you (PLEASE) look at this?", no trying to keep the morale high "I know its pretty rough at the moment, but really thanks team for pushing so hard on this") even with E-Mails -- people write E-Mails like they write SMS (no hello, no nothing, just "need to do XYZ when can you send-over")
- People in general mostly annoyed / grumpy - no joking/chit-chatting (saw this across firms also when I was on the advisory side) everybody looks absolutely miserable and tensed all the times
Is this only happening at bad culture-shops and I just went to the wrong place?
Generally this is pretty accurate people are just trying to be in and out
Lol this is just private equity man.. get your fulfillment from outside of work / your family and treat it as just a job (full of miserable people but still just a job).
I was at a firm that had a “good” culture and this was still the norm. Occasionally had casual conversations with other juniors in the office, but most people are in their office or cube with headphones in just trying to get work done so they weren’t up all night. Some would even get annoyed if you tried to talk to them and distracted them.
PE sucks that said 1. Is positive, would love 90% of my calls to be calls and not performative Zooms where both sides have to set camera 2. Is also positive. Direct doesn’t mean bad culture, just no need for corporate fluffspeak 3. Sucks but that is lot of places in finance
Agreed. Wish we could get rid of videos on zoom calls. Totally unnecessary.
good points. thx
Pressure is high no one has time to waste
tons of assholes in PE, but also high pressure, no time and sleep deprived. However, and saying this as an ex Consultant, consulting is overly cuddly and infantile. Normal work environments like corporates don’t do what you describe either in my experience - it’s just the consultants
Consulting was actually kind of fun with all the retreats, office events, community stuff etc. Almost felt a bit like college looking back at it now. Damm.
Welcome to PE man. This isn’t summer camp. I did MBB for almost 4 years so I understand the transition you’re experiencing. Reality is people are busy and trying to make money. They have families and stuff. Some are actually interested in what they’re doing. Others are just psycho power hungry climbers and want to get promoted etc. Either way yeah it’s not a kumbaya environment like MBB unfortunately.
(And yes it’s rooted in IB culture unless you go to one of the MBB shops)
Very hardo but also because everyone is paid more everyone has a target on their back
Your base expectations are already messed up because you come from MBB / client advisory where the expectation is to be outgoing at all times, have a cheerful face, and chit chat. I can tell that you are early in your career because you have failed to recognize that all of that "culture" in MBB is performative. No one cares what you did on the weekend, what your interests are, or that you have a buddy visiting from out of town and you hit a neighborhood dive bar that only locals know about.
That is all stripped out from PE. The places and people that do ask those questions either i) are performative and fake and have that consulting / advisory background (banking is a bit different), or ii) actually do care but those types are far and few between.
You also now have the component where PE is the client, not the advisor. The client couldn't give a rats ass if you don't like that they went off camera. They are writing the check that buys your business or pays for the advisory fees. I have a partner who will open a bag of popcorn during management meetings and just start eating while on camera, mic not muted. I was taken aback at first and then I realized, this is a shitty business we are speaking to, we'll never own it or talk to these schmucks again, and we have 40 mins left in this call to get through so fuck it.
Agree with all of what you said but don't really get this part, why waste the time to join the call here? I get it as the junior team that has to do work just to kill a deal to cover your ass later on if it ends up being a good outcome for whoever does buy it, but weird behavior for a partner
It was a virtual management presentation.
Different industry and pre zoom. Flew in to speak with senior bank leadership (regional bank) about installing our investment management offering. They reached out to us and invited me to speak with their Head of X. Board room setting. Guy just looked at his phone the whole time. Eventually I asked, " Everything alright at home? Do you need to make a call?" He got the message but clearly had no interest in speaking with us. Still don't know why they asked us to visit. So rude. But eventually they purchased a bank that we were working with. Needless to say they no longer needed our services (even though we were providing better results than there internal offering. Was a turf war.
Because the default orientation is transactional and to view interactions as negotiations, even when it is excessive/manufactured. General worldview of zero-sum vs. positive-sum. Sharing of information? Transactional. Information is currency. Nearly as valued internally as externally dependent on the situation. Generating work product? How can I leverage resource (you/firm) to increase asset (me/my trajectory)? Interactions with portfolio companies?...The behavior is consistent across the spectrum of workstreams, situations, and stakeholders. Quite an insufferable perspective, and will largely be limiting from a professional and personal aspect (ex. think about who you attract with this type of behavior). There are examples of people who have had generational careers with the described behavior, though they are not consistently produced and succession/longevity (firm, spouse, children) is quite fragile.
When you were in middle school, we all could just dial into 1800, hit # and not worry about camera or even who joined. Deals still got done.
I’m in banking but we mostly don’t turn on camera. People mostly know what we look like (or does it matter?). What if I’m grocery shopping?
People are tired man, the job slowly sucks the life out of you. Being friendly and a team player isn't rewarded, a lot of those people get pushed out.
If you act like a robot, you will eventually be replaced by a robot.
even if you don't, you'll eventually get replaced by one. it's all about economics - if it's cheaper to replace you, you'll be replaced no matter how you act.
lol imagine being a grown ass man and not turning on your camera for a business meeting because you’re self conscious about how you look. Very feminine energy
whatever energy it is, it led to me looking great, which led to me banging ~100 chicks and having a way more successful career than if I didn't care about my appearance
God I miss pre-covid...*beep* "who just joined?"...bring back conference call dial-ins instead of zoom meetings
Followed by a very akward 15 - 20 seconds when a nervous junior who wasn't sure if they were senior enough to announce themselves remained silent and a frustrated MD would ask the same "who just joined?" question 2 - 3 further times
OP is seeking emotional comfort / assurance from other men LOL
Honestly I prefer this. I hate fake positivity and corporate fluff so much.
"gEn-Z bOSs aND a mInNNiEee!!"
It’s a more natural transition from IB where everyone is an asshole as well. The email tone is just how people speak, it’s not that that makes them assholes, it’s the way they approach everything at work.
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