Why is SGE special?

I had offers from a few growth places including SGE when I was recruiting for analyst positions. I ended up going to a larger firm (though no one really knows how big SGE is..my guess would be $2-3B but it is not public info). I actually regret my decision, which is why I'm going to comment on this post.

I work for a firm that invests heavily in SaaS, so we're extremely familiar with SGE and often compete with them on deals. I'd say the upper level management at my firm respects SGE just as much (if not more) than other MM-UMM-MF tech growth firms. They're known as rational, patient investors and develop nearly all of their junior talent from within. From what I've heard, they have quite a bit of intellectual firepower at the junior levels, and my MD has said that he would bet they have one of the highest IRR's in growth equity over the last 5 years.

They certainly don't do the sexiest deals (one of the reasons I didn't take my offer), but take a look at some of their larger exits and you'll see that these guys know how to make money, and make a lot of it. Also something cool is that they hire "business development analysts" who source full time, which means their investment analysts do the work I'll likely only be doing as an associate, from day one.

I know a couple of their guys; they tend to recruit heavily from the M&T program at Wharton, but have been expanding outside of Wharton/Princeton recently. Very nice people during the interview process, not very "flashy." Definitely seemed to have a culture that was pretty different from where I work now.

My guess for comp is ~130-150K all in for an analyst with that number ramping up pretty fast as you climb up. In other works, at market for most good funds.

I'm making a bit more than that and I'm not someone who would not have thrived in Philly, and I generally enjoy sourcing, so no major regrets here, but those are my thoughts on the firm. I hope it helps if you have an interview upcoming.