Career path change from growth equity
Hello all!
I’m writing to you to have your views on my situation. Thanks in advance to those taking the time to answer, and I hope this thread will help other people in a similar situation.
I come from a top tier target school and am currently at a junior position at a growth equity fund (early-stage growth: investing around Series C in non- (but close to) profitable businesses). Given the tough funding and fundraising environment since 2022, I’ve been asked to leave in Q1 2024.
I went into this space because I enjoy investing in startups. But I’m now wondering whether I should get out of the VC/growth space all together. The reasons for this are that:
- these past years during the VC downturn were tough with no dealflow, the funding environment will stay tough for the next 5ish years. The space in general is not stable at all. I don’t want to be a founder, which is a common exit path, I enjoy investing
- the VC/growth positions are few and far between, the space is niche and especially where I am geographically based: this limits my optionality for jobs later on
- I’ve been doing a few interviews and I noticed that my skillset is discounted for a lot of other investment jobs since the financial due diligence in VC/growth is not incredibly detailed (which is also what attracted me to the space in the first place: spending more time in deal-making and big picture than in the nitty gritty details). I have never worked on an LBO or an M&A transaction, so this limits my future optionalities for jobs even more
I’ve been brainstorming internally what I could be doing if I were to move out of VC. I like the process of investing and would like to stay on the buy-side, IB is not for me. I don’t care about social prestige and don’t care between having a well-paid job or a very well-paid job, I want interesting work with no IB hours. I also don’t mind starting as an analyst in a new field. What I’ve been thinking about lately:
- Corporate m&a/development, ideally in the industrial/energy sector (passionate about cleantech topics), to gain more detailed financial analysis skillset, sector expertise and strategical thinking about which businesses to acquire which sounds interesting
- Because I’ve seen that a lot of interesting jobs require infra experience, and the fact that I would feel more content doing a job that helps against climate change, I’ve been thinking about renewable energy infra. Not sure I would like it in practice as I’ve heard the modelling is very detailed and time-intensive
- Not direct traditional PE, as the space is flooded with IB analysts, is very competitive and I don’t have IB experience anyway; but a subset of PE, like secondaries, could be interesting. Goal is to see how to underwrite a private equity asset and some exposure to LBO modelling, without having the intense models + hours of direct PE. Any thoughts on a similar field are welcome
- Potentially going out of private markets and entering the public markets as an equity associate in the energy/industrial sector, or anything cleantech related
Any thoughts on the above? Anything I would have missed? Any personal experiences in making a switch? How likely would it be to go into these fields from a VC/GE background?
Thank you !
Several posts in this forum around this issue - you’re definitely not the only one looking to switch out of the industry.
Some other avenues to explore:
- CVC, more stable, still investing, might serve as an inroad into other corp dev type roles with meatier transactions to work on.
- Strategy/strategic finance/finance roles within clean tech.
- Equity research, potentially in clean tech / related field.
- IB boutique in a desired sector as a way to reset, will allow you to engage with a sector you like and can then use that to facilitate a transition into something else on the buy side down the line.
Less certain on feasibility of these routes as have not pressure tested them myself. I have seen people do i) and ii) above though.
Best of luck, this is unchartered territory for most, typically VC/GE is the exit opp. Understandable that many want to leave though, hopefully they can go and carve out some new pathways that give the rest of us optionality.
i think you answered your own question here. just apply to any and all positions directly related to clean tech and see where you land. the space isn’t “hot” yet but has clear long term tailwinds. you can always pivot into a better / perfectly suited role for you over time
In a similar position. I have 4 YOE, now in my 2nd year in the space and am beginning to think about potential next moves. Different from OP, I am interested in startups (strategy/strategic fin roles).
Would love to hear about people's experience with making this switch. Obviously you take a discount in total comp, but material improvement in WLB. Have people found it to be worth it?
Not sure if helpful to you or not but Generation Growth Equity was looking for an associate and given your cleantech exp, think it would be a good fit. Good luck!
UK or US?
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