Boutique IB is a lie -- Experience Rant
This is a rant, I used to work at a boutique in a large mid-west city. The salary was absolute crap at 55k + almost non-existent bonus. I know not all boutiques are like this, but I am sure there are plenty of people who are willing to take this kind of salary to get their feet in the door.
I was one of those people, I thought I could lateral into a bigger bank after a year, but that turned out to be a lie, especially for someone coming from a semi-target that BB's and EB's recruit at occasionally as an afterthought, which has only a few alumni in NYC. But anyways, even after a lot and I mean ALOT of networking, I couldn't even score one interview at a BB or EB. I get the sense that rarely do analyst spots come up at big banks and when they do, usually they are filled thru internal recommendations from alumni at target schools. The only type of firms that I could get interviews at were the middle-market type of companies, (William Blair, PWC).
Long story short, I ended up going back to school to do an MSC in applied math, and now work in a technical role at a fintech startup, making more than twice what I used to make + stock options, the company recently raised 100M in capital, and my boss has inquired whether I would be interested in leading a new product expansion in a geography and more stock in the company if the expansion is successful.
TLDR: Don't be narrow-minded and think that IB is the be all, end all. There are plenty of opportunities outside of IB.
Says to not be narrow-minded. Writes off a solid MM bank like William Blair because it's not considered BB/EB.
Good shit.
Didnt write them off, they hired someone from a target school after 8 rounds of interviews.
That's how it goes sometimes. Any decent bank has many more qualified candidates than available spots. Most of the time, regardless of how capable you are, there's one other person who they like a little bit more - because of technical proficiency or just a better cultural fit. Can't get discouraged.
They make the best choice they can based on a few hours of chatting. If it's even, banks will pick the person with a better undergrad/resume as they are risk averse.
You signed with a bad firm and went into it knowing your salary, but still didn't like it. Sounds like you A. Didn't know how to vet a firm, or B. Had few, if any, other decent options. In response, you come to WSO to vent and write off over ~50-75% of investment banks. You do know that each boutique functions differently, particularly in terms of salary, culture, even deal process to an extent, right? Then, you proceed to justify your decision by throwing in the final paragraph, justifying how without IB you're still crushing it, as though you found some discrete loophole. Lastly, you state that IB isn't the end all be all, which is some seriously PROFOUND stuff. Did you not know that 95% of people enter IB in hopes of leaving after a brief period of time, to fill some of the most sought after positions within finance? I hope you hydrate because your post reeks of saltiness.
Not really salty, more glad that I didn't spend more time trying to lateral. IB didn't really help me get to where I am right now. I got here because I went back to school and gained other marketable skills besides making excel models and powerpoints.
What I still don't understand is why you are making a blanket statement about all "no-name" boutiques sucking when your only evidence is one anecdotal experience. Im glad you aren't salty and maybe it wasn't a particularly beneficial experience, but the language you use in your initial post sends the wrong message through your implications.
L O L, shitting on WB while making less than a 1st year analyst there... I'm dead.
Where was I shitting on William Blair? I said upfront working at boutique sucks. Plus, if back in the day, William Blair had given me an offer I would have gladly taken it.
So you got rejected and are butt hurt you didn't get in...got it. If you had gotten in, you wouldn't have spent more time in school and would likely be making double what you are now...so on comp logic you lose horribly. If it's actually because it's something that is more fulfilling and meaningful to your life that is a differing story. No need to rag on your experience there.
I'm sorry that your experience was so negative, but honestly, there are so many factors that you did not go into detail that it's difficult believing to an extent. How did your resume look? What sort of interviewing abilities do you have? What type of transaction experience did you gain at this boutique? I am not saying this is the case, but if you were lacking in any of these areas, that would explain this situation.
I spent a year at a "no-name" boutique in the NY area. My pay was about $60k all-in, but the experience itself was solid. There was no real modeling component, so I would create my own DCFs for transactions as a learning opportunity. I spent a lot of time crafting my story and experience as well as putting my resume together and then hit the pavement networking. I ended up with interviews at several MMs, one EB, and two BBs. I ended up at an MM as that was the first offer I received and really liked the location.
Working at "no-name" boutiques is no fun, especially since you're normally there since nothing else worked out, but it is what you make it.
Great answer. SB.
HAHA says the guy who has all eggs in one basket with his "start up" equity.
Hate to break it to you but I think the problem isn’t the boutique experience
If you are good and you position yourself wisely, you get way more deal exposure at boutiques
All BBs like it
I know somebody who structured the entire second round on a sell-side for a big telco (the caveat is that it was a small carve out). So this guy wrote he process letter (obv with the help of the director and the MD), chose purchase price mechanism, equity value - ent value bridge, structure Q&A and the management pres and took part in negotiating working capital adjustments at signing
This guy was analyst 2
What you've described was definitely not my experience. I went from low GPA semi-target and no name regional boutique bank (modeling was a little better than what Sil describes, but nothing like the EB / BB experience) to a BB (GS, MS, JPM) and now I'm at a $1bn HF. I knocked it out of the park at each step to boot.
Realize my experience is unique and I may have just been making up for being lazy in college, but it takes a lot of hard work (networking) and a little bit of luck to move on. Also, Blair is a top MM that GS was rumored to be interested in acquiring... I wouldn't knock them too much
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