NYC Growth Equity - Comp & Culture
Starting this thread to get a better understanding of NYC GE firms at the Analyst and Associate levels.
Total Comp: From previous threads, I've gathered that MF Growth shops pay in line with their PE counterparts, Insight/Lead Edge pay in line with MF PE with additional carry/sourcing bonuses. Anyone have an idea for comp at TCV/Stripes/GA and/or know if these firms give incentives for sourcing deals or anything like that?
Culture: What are the hours like at each of these firms? Is it comparable to banking? I've been seeing 9-8pm for Insight...is this the case for all of them? What is the environment like (i.e. facetime, travel, exposure to partners)?
Also, please let me know if I'm missing any GE firm in NYC.
bump
Would also like to know
Would also like to know, especially culture for firms like Lead Edge, Stripes, etc
Have no idea about exact hours but have heard that Lead Edge is one of the sweatiest growth funds out there
Feel like this is partly because of the low headcount, so juniors have more responsibilities. Double edged sword.
bump
I'm an associate at a megafund growth shop so here are my answers to a few of these questions:
1. Hours: I probably average 55-60 hours per week, but when pushing to close a deal that jumps up to banking hours (70-80+). My typical week is probably 8am - 7/8pm on Monday through Thursday, 8am - 4pm on Friday, and a few hours on the weekend to catch up on anything I missed and prep for the following week.
2. Comp: In line with PE counterparts. I would say the typical range for any of the shops you mentioned is $200-300k. Most will offer sourcing bonuses, but my sense is that carry is uncommon at the associate level. Co-invest is much more common.
3. Facetime: At my firm this isn't really important, but this is going to be entirely firm & group dependent.
4. Travel: Prior to Covid, I probably traveled once, maybe twice a month (industry conferences, management meetings, diligence, sometimes for board meetings, etc.). I'd say VPs, principals, and partners were on the road every week or two.
5. Partner Exposure: My fund runs pretty lean (typical deal team will be 1 partner, 1 VP/principal, and 1 associate), so I get a ton of exposure to partners. But again, I don't want to extrapolate my experience to other funds that may not operate this way.
Some other funds you should check out: Level Equity, FTV Capital, Radian Capital, Riverwood Capital.
Thanks! This is very helpful. A couple questions if you don't mind: 1) what is your view on doing the IB -> GE route vs straight into GE out of undergrad if the goal is to be at one of the big players in the space (i.e. MF Growth, Insight/GA/TA, etc.)? 2) Is upward mobility common at these shops, or do you get kicked out after Associate level and have to get an MBA or just find another place?
Also very curious, especially re: upwards mobility.
Feel like the crux of some of these gigs is the limited promotion potential at the associate level (especially in tech when many partners are ex-founders, etc.). Also curious about how this might be different at specialized Tech GE shops vs. MF GE shops.
On 1), it really depends on how confident you are that you want to do GE. I'd say if you know GE/VC is what you want to do, then go straight into it, provided you're going to be at a firm that has some brand recognition. IB provides a bit more optionality in case you decide later on that you want to do more traditional PE, or maybe go down the HF route.
On 2), again it's firm-dependent, but I've seen quite a few folks make the jump from associate to VP, either at their current fund or lateralling to another shop. If you're at a top growth equity shop like Insight/TA/Summit/etc., you'll see tons of lateral opportunities. And most of these firms place very well into HSW, so you shouldn't have a problem recruiting for VP gigs post-MBA. Not really sure there's a difference between traditional growth shops and MF growth shops in this regard. Best way to get a sense of this is to check out LinkedIn bios and ask during the interview process.
Thanks so much! Are you an associate or analyst, just out of curiosity?
Associate
I gotta say how crazy it is that banking associate pay is now 175 base vs a 200-300k comp range for a top-tier GE fund. I totally recognize they are two different roles but when I went from banking to PE (at a MF worth noting), the step in base was clear. Now the banking guys get paid so much it's honestly wild.
At one of the non-MF shops mentioned and upward mobility isn't a concern for most of the junior folks here. A significant percentage of our partnership started their investing career here either directly or relatively soon out of college and worked their way up without stopping for an MBA. Most of us feel that this non-MBA path to partner is a very plausible option (obviously given a significant amount of effort and accompanying performance). The greater question appears to be whether we want to spend 10-15 years (depending on performance) here trying to make it to the top. What I gather from many of my slightly older peers who have lateraled to other growth funds or moved earlier stage is that they feel there is a potentially faster route to the top at funds with lower headcount. Taken as a whole, upward mobility isn't a huge issue at my firm, some just feel that they can move up faster at newer/smaller shops
How much faster can you actually make partner than 10 years? Seems like at the earliest, 4-5 years at the junior level, 2-3 years VP, 2-3 years Principal, then Partner. Are people at the firms with lower headcount able to just skip some levels (i.e. Associate to Principal to Partner)?
This is a great point. At larger growth shops the typical promotion path will be something like 3-4 years associate, 3-4 years VP, 3-5 years principal, then MD, then maybe partner sometime down the road. For those that want to make partner more quickly and are willing to take on a bit more risk for substantially more upside (in terms of carry), I've seen quite a few people leave during their principal stint to be an MD/partner at a startup or small growth equity fund. Or VPs that leave to be second in line at one of these newer funds.
Thanks so much for the input. If a GE associate pursued MBA after being in the role for two year and planned to come back / lateral to a different growth fund post-MBA, would they typically come back as a VP / senior associate (skipping two years as associate)?
Of your responsibilities as an associate, how much would you say comprises of sourcing activities on a day to day?
Bump. Very interested in hearing additional output for associate positions
Following
Would appreciate if someone could help disillusion me:
I’m a 1Y analyst, know I 100% do not want to do buyout because the lifestyle is not for me. Is it reasonable to expect growth equity or impact arms of MFs are
If so, I’ll ramp up my networking and gather more data points. If not, I’m planning o. moving to corp dev and quitting banking after Y1
I only have anecdotal evidence so please take with a grain of salt but I’ve heard GE in general will be less hours than buyout, somewhere around 60 but can ramp to 70+ when closing a deal
Bump
Curious to hear about other experiences with growth equity. How are the hours and comp?
bump
Currently work at one of the top GEs (post-MBA role). Work probably 50-60h a week, 0 facetime, travel TBD given COVID. Pay in line with MF PE with significantly more carry. No one cares about MBAs at my place, everyone is on partner track
Wow, this sounds too good to be true. Are there any cons to being in your position? Everything seems ideal from comp/hours/advancement perspective.
Not really, I guess it is still more work and stress than most corporate jobs, and hours don't really get better with seniority. The fact that we're investing so much these days also means not much downtime (basically have an IC every other week). I wouldn't switch for any other buyside role though (or any other job really)
Does your firm recruit from IB? If so from anywhere or heavily from top groups GS/MS/Q/Evr? Do post-IB associates have a path to VP/partner without an MBA or are most squeezed out after 2 yrs?
Quia qui et aspernatur maxime quibusdam ex earum. Omnis reprehenderit aut quia autem culpa. Beatae voluptatum sed omnis voluptas est delectus.
Voluptas voluptas minus quia architecto. Saepe suscipit dolorem soluta dolorem et incidunt blanditiis. Tenetur excepturi ut est.
Quos ipsa aut voluptatum quibusdam soluta. Qui temporibus ratione at qui maxime non nostrum eveniet. Illo qui id molestiae voluptate aliquid. Asperiores soluta dolorum tempore ut optio.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Voluptatem illum sint explicabo ut esse. Officia labore corporis amet harum. Aperiam nihil cupiditate amet pariatur iusto distinctio.
Officia quo voluptas voluptatem aut odio voluptatem. Soluta qui perspiciatis vel. Repellat nam sunt error.