Startup PE Shop - Self Funded
I was recently offered a position at a very small PE firm.
For background: -The firm started 2 years ago. Very small 10 employees. -Deals are closed entirely by in-house capital. The partners come from wealthy families and access to extensive capital. On a go forward basis they are entertaining the idea of a potential "fund" but are content with the current deal by deal structure. -They usually target smaller deals 10-25MM in EV and Have since closed 4 deals bringing in roughly 500k in mgt fees.
I understand the major pros and cons of joining such a small firm but it seems as if they are getting some traction in regards to deal flow. My question is - given that my only other offers have come from BO MF PE and F10 Corporate Finance I feel as if this opportunity is the best bet for my career. I am a very risky person and see the vast potential upside if this firm was to escalate quickly. Thoughts? Am i being too optimistic? Feel free to ask additional questions - was trying to keep this post short.
Apologies for the disappearance - had a tough week.
So i read your original post a few times and then your responses below, and my question is what are you waiting for to take that offer?
As far as I understand, this is the situation at hand:
So what are you really thinking about? And why would you want to go to corporate finance role you don't like to try to go to business school only to "transition to a stereotypical IB/PE route" why do you want to be "stereotypical"? You've got a chance to be original and if it doesn't work for a couple of years, you will have experience that is different from 95% from the class who all took the "stereotypical" route.
If I were you I would diligence this differently; I would ask about career progression, potential path to partnership, mentorship and regular time with the principals to develop yourself, etc.
This. Sounds like an interesting role...take it! If you build good experience and connections, the next step will work itself out.
Story: A good friend of mine washed out of the US Navy due to back issues. He took a job as a landman at an oil and gas company. He was eventually offered a job with a family office doing similar deals. He built such a good network while using their funds that he eventually started doing deals as the GP because he had a bunch of other people wanting in. The original family office still backs him, now as an LP, but the dynamics completely changed.
I'll add an alternative perspective to Mephistopheles'.
Fundless sponsors are a different animal in the private equity universe. The majority you'll meet are guys who washed out of a real shop with committed capital and the traditional fund model with LPs on a capital call schedule. The stereotype is that they see shit dealflow and have lower deal-IQ.
What you're describing sounds pretty different than that though. I can't count how many instances I've seen kids from a family background of wealth go off and spend the first 3-5 years of their career cutting their teeth on someone else's dime, paying their dues, and learning the ropes before striking out on their own with their family's backing.
If you're telling me you met the two of them when they were associates at a traditional lower middle market buyout shop, that probably means they went to decent schools and also likely did banking beforehand - tell me if I'm wrong here.
Then you say they've already closed four deals and that those deals included external equity checks? This proves:
This doesn't sound like Dickwad Capital Partners. It sounds like Family-Backed Emerging Manager Capital. That's a great shop to join. A lot of experienced guys with a middle market background look really hard for this type of opportunity. It offers a lot of upside:
Add all that up and I think this is a pretty compelling opportunity for a two or three-year initial role. Factor in the fact that you say your profile is less than remarkable (non-target, no analyst program) and it starts to shine even more.
The one downside here is whether the management company has adequate working capital to fund operational expenses. If they only have $500k in earned management fee income, I'd be slightly concerned whether they were going to have runway to pay me my hopefully six-figure annual salary. (If I'm going to get $100k for two years straight, that means I'm 40% of the total management fee income the firm has earned.)
I would ask some probing questions around this while you finalize the offer; if you feel satisfied that there's enough stability (perhaps they get a working capital line of credit for the management company, or make a GP commit to cover overhead), I think this is a pretty good opportunity for someone early in their career who wouldn't otherwise have a high-probability shot at the industry.
Good luck, and congrats for having this option in hand.