Summit Partners - Lifestyle compared to IB

Interviewed with Summit Partners, they said their base was 65k with no sign on with a year end bonus of up to 65k plus 15k for each deal that you source.

Is this normal? Also, is Summit as awesome as they say they are? Its a lot of cold calling, which sounds miserable but the lifestyle is a lot better than banking.

Any thoughts opinions on Summit would be helpful too? All the older threads about Summit are pretty old.

 

Respectfully disagree, Solidarity. Most of the guys I know there that start after graduation were BB summers in fairly strong groups that decided they wanted to do something a little more entrepreneurial than banking. It's definitely eat what you can kill, which is appealing to those that are more risk seeking. Building a rolodex of successful company founders is also pretty cool, in my opinion.

When one man, for whatever reason, has an opportunity to lead an extraordinary life, he has no right to keep it to himself.
 

I was a summer at a BB this past summer and got an offer at Summit. Do you guys think I should take Summit since its PE right out of undergrad, which is relatively uncommon, despite all the cold calling I'll be doing? My other offers that I'm considering are William Blair in investment banking or Macquarie (which I'm hesitant to take cuz of shit bonuses).

Thanks

 

don't take summit out of undergrad unless you are really good at talking/sourcing. It's a talent most people don't have.

It's "PE" but not in the analytical sense, you will probably be given a book and they will ask you to start calling.

take wb if you want to actually learn more about the finance industry

 
Ricqles:
don't take summit out of undergrad unless you are really good at talking/sourcing. It's a talent most people don't have.

It's "PE" but not in the analytical sense, you will probably be given a book and they will ask you to start calling.

take wb if you want to actually learn more about the finance industry

In regards to being "good at talking / sourcing", does anyone have any examples (preferably videos, but anything is helpful really) of people that do this well. I'm not necessarily in a role that requires this but just looking to improve. TIA

People tend to think life is a race with other people. They don't realize that every moment they spend sprinting towards the finish line is a moment they lose permanently, and a moment closer to their death.
 

definitely a reputable firm. competitive comp but different compensation/profit sharing model since everybody has to source their own deals.

i interviewed with them. the associate that interviewed me said that the rough number of cold calls made are 100/month.


We're about to enter a Great Depression. Don't you want a president who's already dressed for it?

------------ I'm making it up as I go along.
 

i have a buddy who works there. seems to like it. he is an absolute animal on the phone so you def need that type of personality.

100 a month? thats like 4 a day, seems low id think. obviously a diff bus model but when i summered in PWM i did ~10,000 cold calls a month.

 
Best Response

I interviewed with TA Associates for a post-banking associate role, which is arguably a mirror image to the one at Summit in terms of lifestyle and responsibilities. My understanding is that you aren't making thousands of thousands of calls. However, you need to have done your homework and sound intelligent when placing calls, so you will spend considerable time researching an industry before calling all of the players in it. Also, you're expected to build relationships with senior management, which can take years. The process is very slow and definitely not something that I would recommend if you can secure a more traditional PE role.

In terms of compensation, it is highly based on commission. Commission is not just closing deals, but also on your ability to get "in" with management. For example, if you get yourself invited to take a plant tour, that will improve your pay. Sourcing a completed transaction is obviously what gets you the big pay-day, but don't expect to be sourcing deals left and right. The one guy I know that has been with TA for multiple years has yet to close a single transaction...

Also, in terms of hours, I was told that associates work 70 - 80 hours, which is a lot more than your typical PE firm. Not quite sweatshop level, but still very substantial.

~~~~~~~~~~~ CompBanker

CompBanker’s Career Guidance Services: https://www.rossettiadvisors.com/
 
CompBanker:
I interviewed with TA Associates for a post-banking associate role, which is arguably a mirror image to the one at Summit in terms of lifestyle and responsibilities. My understanding is that you aren't making thousands of thousands of calls. However, you need to have done your homework and sound intelligent when placing calls, so you will spend considerable time researching an industry before calling all of the players in it. Also, you're expected to build relationships with senior management, which can take years. The process is very slow and definitely not something that I would recommend if you can secure a more traditional PE role.

In terms of compensation, it is highly based on commission. Commission is not just closing deals, but also on your ability to get "in" with management. For example, if you get yourself invited to take a plant tour, that will improve your pay. Sourcing a completed transaction is obviously what gets you the big pay-day, but don't expect to be sourcing deals left and right. The one guy I know that has been with TA for multiple years has yet to close a single transaction...

Also, in terms of hours, I was told that associates work 70 - 80 hours, which is a lot more than your typical PE firm. Not quite sweatshop level, but still very substantial.

~~~~~~~~~~~ CompBanker

So who's in charge of killing stupid deals?

 

The junior folks don't do 100% of the work. I can't tell you with certainty, but I imagine the senior guys are there to price, structure, and manage the transaction.

~~~~~~~~~~~ CompBanker

CompBanker’s Career Guidance Services: https://www.rossettiadvisors.com/
 

If you dont like cold calling, then Summit Partners is not for you. I've met a couple of their more senior guys that we worked with and they have an army of young guys cold calling everyone.

Banking > VC > Tech PE; PM me if you would like any advice I'm happy to help
 

This was how they explained it in their associate interviews - "We cold call nine to five, and model nights and weekends."

No thanks.

- Capt K - "Prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even your beliefs about what you enjoy. If you want to make ambitious people waste their time on errands, bait the hook with prestige." - Paul Graham
 
monkeyinasuit:
i have an interview with them, is it wishful thinking that they changed their model to less sourcing? Crosses my finger

there are a lot of people you can learn from but it is completely 100% sourcing. Cold calling is one way to source deals. going to industry conferences, meeting with placement agents and bankers is another way to go.

I am curious how Summit is able to transform undergrads into successful investment professionals.

i interviewed with them after banking and the sourcing model was not for me and it showed in the interview. one of the guys that interviewed me came straight out of undergrad and had been working there for three years (he was only a year older than i was).

im also curious what the retention/burn out rate is. the guy told me that each individual cold calls 100 companies a month.

i wonder if anyone that ever worked in the sourcing model where they recruit right out of undergrad knows how many people are actually able to excel.

------------ I'm making it up as I go along.
 

It's a different business model. They have a ton of AUM however they sometimes do very small growth equity deals. Also, if you negotiate a private deal you can typically get a much better price than you can with a company that hires an investment bank. This encourages a lot of PE firms to do private deals and not participate in auctions.

~~~~~~~~~~~ CompBanker

CompBanker’s Career Guidance Services: https://www.rossettiadvisors.com/
 

It depends somewhat if it is for the associate or analyst position. However the general game is the same -- you will spend a bunch of time on the phone. But some people like the eat what you kill mentality.

 

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