AMA - Non-Target, No MBA, No IB -> Senior Associate @Tier 1/2 LMM Fund
This AMA is for all you PE dreamers out there like me who went to a non-target, practically unheard of school, less than ideal grades, no MBA, no family connections, and has no investment banking experience.
I'm here to tell you YES, it is possible to make it into PE with a non cookie-cutter background. Landed my dream job at a highly regarded, ~$5B AUM LMM PE firm in a tier 1/2 city as a Senior Associate. Would love to share my story to those who are interested. So, ask me anything! Happy to chat in thread or through DM.
Thanks for doing this.. Appreciate professionals in our industry willing to make way and provide guidance to people coming from non-traditional paths.
Mind sharing a bit on your background? What were you doing before and how you were able to make the transition?
Sure - I think the name of the game here for me was to try to get hired at smaller, more agile companies/firms where passion, and willingness to do more than what was asked of goes a very long way, not only for that job, but in the eyes of a recruiter and eventual employer.
My Background
- Finance Major in College, Also passed CFA Level 1
- Worked for a consumer brands business in FP&A (Analyst) - 3yrs
- Analyst at a small VC firm - 2yrs
- PE at a family office. I applied through a recruiter, it was a very small unstructured family office, but they had a PE portfolio and wanted to do more direct LMM deals. - 2yrs
To get all of those roles, I did a few things:
1. NETWORK - the VC job never would've happened without meeting people at conferences, and staying close to those people.
2. Self taught - Wall Street Oasis PE Interview Prep Course, as well as the Excel Modeling Courses through WSO and LBO courses through Wall Street Prep, other various LBO modeling courses.
The family office role was key to getting the job at my current firm, but that family office wouldn't have hired me if I:
- Didn't have operating experience (FP&A at consumer brands business)
- Showed passion to invest and had direct investing experience (VC role)
- Wasn't clear about what I wanted in my career, so much to the point that I self taught all the basics that I needed to know, and just needed to apply it to an actual PE deal with some mentoring.
I was recruited at my current firm. Took on a very active role at the Family Office where I started leading deals which was seen very positively by my current firm.
First, congrats on landing the PE role! Happy to get the conversation going here.
Hey -
1. I was self taught. Did some DCF's in college, but did WSO's PE interview and LBO case study course, and Wall Street Prep's PE process course, and random LBO case studies I found online. For my firm, I had to complete a case study which included an investment memo and a model.
2. Based on their roster, they don't hire many non-traditional, however I was recommended by a recruiter for the firm, so they were open to it. I met that recruiter blindly through LinkedIn.
3. No, I probably interviewed with 8 different firms, much more if you count my attempts before I got my family office gig. I got rejected from all of them. This was the last one that I met with, and they happened to be better than all the other ones that rejected me, and I got the career track position, whereas the other firms were 2 and out programs.
1. How did you break in?
2. What is comp like?
3. Did your firm provide you with a general path to principal?
1. FP&A -> VC -> Family Office PE
2. Somewhere between WSOs 3rd yr associate and VP avg. comp.
3. Yes, my role is a career track. VP in 2-3yrs, Principal 3ish years after that and beyond.
Care to provide actual numbers for the comp range? simply asking since i'm at a LMM and looking for comp guidance for the senior associate discussion coming up.
thanks1
I've seen higher elsewhere, but $280-$300k all in at my firm. No carry until VP level
Out of curiosity, what do you consider as the tier 1/2 LMM funds? Just a general list, not asking about your fund in particular.
Is it names like Serent, LLR, Pamlico, maybe some growthy names like K1 or JMI?
Just curious because I feel like there’s a ton of LMM funds and not as much discussion around what the top funds are.
I was more saying Tier 1/2 City (NY/CHI/SF/LA etc.) However I think a great fund consistently generates good returns, oversubscribes on any new fundraise as a result, and is growing AUM. Our firm has raised more than 10 funds, and we're oversubscribed on our current raise now. Agreed though, there are probably a lot of LMM firms doing this, which in my book means they're a top tier fund.
If we're all equal, what should matter to a young professional are more qualitative factors, like the firm's reputation in the industry, the culture of the team, WLB, and upward mobility opportunities.
Cool story - congrats.
How many deals did you do at the Family office and average deal size?
Thanks - Did about 4 deals between $5-$55M EVs at the FO. Much slower pace than PE, but I was was literally leading the deal processes, which showed to my current firm I'm more than capable of holding my own during a live deal and understood the process. Again, going to a small, unheard of Family Office enabled me to be able to control my destiny. At much larger, more established FO's, I'd be an excel Analyst junkie all day long, which I didn't want and probably wouldn't translate well to a PE fund job, other than showing some prestige/family name on the resume.
Cool, I am in a similar role right now.. And like it too for the same reasons, probably want to do a similar step in ~ 2 years as well. Great to hear it worked out for you!
What’s your view on junior (analyst or associate) roles in VC? What were your responsibilities? Did any junior at your firm “lead” investments or at least lead conversations with IC? Or were juniors all working under managers/VPs?
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