Going from big firm -> small firm
I’m currently at a large institutional development shop and I’m looking at a position with a small (5 people) development shop in my market.
Would immediately take a haircut to my base salary and bonus potential, but the idea would be I’d get GP interest within a year or two and partnership opportunity with the company within a few years.
The end game for me was always start my own development shop and/or do my own deals, so this feels like a pretty good opportunity right now without having to fully go out on my own.
Has anyone made a similar jump? Any thoughts on compensation structure with deal/GP interest? Am I better off just doing deals on my own (more upside, more downside, more control) rather than joining an existing shop? Thanks.
In general I think it's much wiser to start doing deals with a partner (or a few) before you make the full jump.
Would you speak and provide us more detail about your current role? Specifically about your job responsibilities and how much of the development process you are leading now.
Unfortunately the answer is going to be largely circumstantial depending on the shop you would potentially joining. I work as a Development Manager in a small shop and the big advantage (some would say disadvantage) of a small shop is the learning opportunity and the ability to be a “developer within a developer”. You’ll touch and be involved in functions that big shops have full departments to handle, i.e. financing/capital markets, marketing, reporting, etc. but the benefit to you is you’ll learn all the little things you need to handle to run your business and projects but can make mistakes on someone else’s dime.
role is soup to nuts (uw and analysis for acquisition/investment decks for internal approvals/consultant management/entitlements/project management) but you're right in that we still have dedicated departments for certain verticals.
Okay got it, well in that case I agree with what everyone laid out below - would be hesitant to bet on future promises if you are already handling full DM responsibilities.
As far as small versus big firms CRE covered it well in this thread: https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/institutional-vs-regional-develo…</a">https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/institutional-vs-regional-develo…
It seems like they are promising you two things in the future, for less salary now. That is an awful big gamble for people you have met 2-3 times.
All I'm saying is, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Maybe jump ship when someone actually offers you the GP interest as part of the comp package, not just down the road.
good thoughts. agree that would want surety in the form of some written agreement/timeline prior to making any decision.
I absolutely could not agree more.
"Yeah sure in a year or two you'll get X" is a red flag.
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