I've been approached with an interesting opportunity with an urban, mixed-use developer. The position is a step up from what I am doing now in terms of respoinsibilities, comp, etc. The group's portfolio is impressive. I do not know much about how well-capitalized this group is, but they've been in the game for decades and are very active, even today. It's also in a market i want to be in across the country. They are willing to fly me out for an in person interview.
However, what gives me hesitation is that fact that this is a small family office and the face of the company just seems pretty egoistic. The company is named after his father, who is now a chairman. His son, we will call him Junior, is now the CEO. His wife is the COO. The website "about section" is literally a bio of Junior, no other mention of the team. The company is about 10 people. Every news article on his projects are direct quotes, pictures of him, etc.
Maybe this is standard for a family office, I've only worked for middle-market and institutional sized companies. Does or has anyone worked for a similar group? Have you run into challenges in terms of career growth, autonomy, etc. due to working under a single face of a company?
Thanks!
Ego driven firms are common in real estate and well everything, hardly unique to a 'family office' but I guess easier to do with the name being on the door.
I think you should always be concerned with culture and climate, this makes a big impact on enjoyment of a job. Sadly, I've had jobs where the boss was very ego-centric and he had essentially zero ownership of anything. I don't really know how you figure out if this is a 'toxic' place or not. If you can find people who used to work there, I'd reach out to them and ask. If they have a high-rate of turnover, I would consider that a red flag.
None of that has to do with it being a 'family office', just standard company/job DD.