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Private equity is buying everything from vet offices to tech conglomerates

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Re: Private equity is buying everything from vet offices to tech conglomerates

#281

Post by crossroadsguy »

rr808 wrote: post #277
TrackerFF wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, they are called "Insecure overachievers". They are the bread and butter of investment banks, management consulting firms, big law firms, etc. They are also the reason that partnerships still thrive. A couple of years ago I was talking with this (big law) partner at a dinner, and we came in on the topic around partnership - and he just said it straight: The competition / rat race towards partnership is 100% skewe…

> many would have made the same amount of money if they struck out on their own, opening a small boutique firm Surely this it the same in tech. Most employees of FAANG companies could do something in a small company but the big company is just more prestigious and less risky. Every small business is like this now, doctors offices, restaurants, stores are all chains.

> Most employees of FAANG companies could do something in a small company but the big company is just more prestigious and less risky

It's the opposite.

At a FAANG they won't have to be on-call 24x7x365 and will get great salary and publicly tradable stock but at a small startup they will have to be on call 24x7x365 for "ESOPS" that is so skewed in the favour of the startup and the founders and VCs that they get the double whammy of slaving at much lower salary where they have the ESOP bone in front of them dangling from a thin thread.

I mean it can't get more ridiculous than this that you have to pay and then pay taxes for something you can't do jackshit with it, and if you get fired you have the "opportunity" to pay a company that just fired you and pay taxes again on something that's not even paper money and that too within few weeks to few months.

Re: Private equity is buying everything from vet offices to tech conglomerates

#282

Post by potatolicious »

TrackerFF wrote: post #183
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #136

I have a pet theory: there are managerially-minded university graduates who value prestige more than power or pay. In the post-War era, they became beige-suited company men. In my generation, they went corporate finance. Today, they work for private equity. Banking was great. Everyone–from liberal arts to engineering majors–could putz around for years in a pre-defined and prestigious path with moderately above-market…

Yes, they are called "Insecure overachievers". They are the bread and butter of investment banks, management consulting firms, big law firms, etc. They are also the reason that partnerships still thrive. A couple of years ago I was talking with this (big law) partner at a dinner, and we came in on the topic around partnership - and he just said it straight: The competition / rat race towards partnership is 100% skewe…

> "Even if they become partners, most won't be rainmakers - and many would have made the same amount of money if they struck out on their own, opening a small boutique firm."

And the other dirty secret is: you'll still be on call 24/7/365, sleep on the couch in your office, and not know your family, even after you make partner.

The rat race/grind doesn't stop in Big Law. You grind to be considered for partner, and you think maybe once you get there you get to boss around a bunch of associates and take a breather. But no, that's not how it works.

You'll be paid 7-figures (maybe, if you're a book partner and not a work partner) but you'll still be just as miserable and overworked as your past associate self.

Having seen the industry up close I now advise people to run as far away as you can in the opposite direction if you're ever tempted by a big law legal career. It is nearly-exclusively the home of absolutely broken people who'll be remembered for keeling over in the break room after pulling the tenth all-nighter in a row.

Re: Private equity is buying everything from vet offices to tech conglomerates

#283

Post by phendrenad2 »

coastermug wrote: post #121
Footkerchief wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/greed-an... > Romney and Bain avoided the hostile approach, preferring to secure the cooperation of their takeover targets by buying off a company’s management with lucrative bonuses. Once management is on board, the rest is just math. So if the target company is worth $500 million, Bain might put down $20 million of its own cash, then borrow $350 million from…

What I want to know, is how do the banks keep lending to PE outfits? They are surely the losers in this situation?

It's not like the government will allow banks to fail. Now consider the inverted incentives that might cause.

Re: Private equity is buying everything from vet offices to tech conglomerates

#284

Post by lotsofpulp »

JacobThreeThree wrote: post #213
tiffanyh wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My favorite title bump is “Head of X”. Because rarely the person is ever the actual head.

It also is not a formal executive title like manager, director, officer, VP etc.

In finance, VP is not a “formal” executive title, it is just what they give to 24 to 26 year olds.

In retail/hospitality/many other customer facing positions, manager is also just someone who gets paid a salary in exchange for being on call and working 60+ hour weeks while shortstaffed.

Re: Private equity is buying everything from vet offices to tech conglomerates

#285

Post by erostrate »

I have a game, whenever I see a familiar brand or local franchise selling consumer products or services whose quality seems to have declined recently, first I try to guess if they've been PE funded, then I check by going to their website and looking for the "investors relations" page, or googling " investors". It's crazy how often it's the case.

Re: Private equity is buying everything from vet offices to tech conglomerates

#286

Post by singleshot_ »

evancox100 wrote: post #234
singleshot_ wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe because now that the retail vet is destroyed and rich people need vets who are not pathologically inconvenient and terrible, there is a brisk market for retained private vets. This is a trend I’ve noticed that goes along with “enshittification” wherein the normal thing (let’s take grocery stores as an example) become either so downmarket-oriented (e.g., Dollar General) or aggravating (e.g., self-checkout lanes,…

Dollar General didn’t move down market, they moved up. Still plenty of regular grocery stores around, at least here. And who abandons the middle part of the market? The providers? The customers? Not really making sense here but I get it if you’re just venting or whatever.

I didn't mean that dollar stores had moved down market; I meant that dollar stores moved in, split the low end of the market out of the old "regular grocery store" and now the medium grocery buyer is left with the choice of dollar store groceries or some kind of grocery delivery service/meal kit/personal chef.

If this doesn't make sense, maybe it's a metaphor. Does it seem like the normal way of doing things from 20 years ago has now been replaced with an absolute garbage version, and a version you can't afford?

Re: Private equity is buying everything from vet offices to tech conglomerates

#287

Post by singleshot_ »

manfre wrote: post #274
singleshot_ wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe because now that the retail vet is destroyed and rich people need vets who are not pathologically inconvenient and terrible, there is a brisk market for retained private vets. This is a trend I’ve noticed that goes along with “enshittification” wherein the normal thing (let’s take grocery stores as an example) become either so downmarket-oriented (e.g., Dollar General) or aggravating (e.g., self-checkout lanes,…

> aggravating (e.g., self-checkout lanes... self-checkout lanes are not viewed as a bad thing by many. Given the option of a self checkout or staffed checked, I'd choose self checkout. The negative aspect of self-checkout is that it's usually paired with the store being understaffed, instead of redirecting the freed up staff to other roles.

Where am I supposed to put all the groceries? They have to stay on the scale, but the scale is very small.

Re: Private equity is buying everything from vet offices to tech conglomerates

#288

Post by JALTU »

jazzkingrt wrote: post #176
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #136

I have a pet theory: there are managerially-minded university graduates who value prestige more than power or pay. In the post-War era, they became beige-suited company men. In my generation, they went corporate finance. Today, they work for private equity. Banking was great. Everyone–from liberal arts to engineering majors–could putz around for years in a pre-defined and prestigious path with moderately above-market…

A friend of mine is VP (not partner), and he seems to spend most of his time on deals. Market research, building financial models for a potential LBO, or for the sale of a portfolio company. From what I understand, the on-the-ground management work after acquisition is outsourced to specialized executives with whom the firm has a relationship. They can bring expertise in a specific industry, and the deal structure pa…

I had just such an engineering manager once confide to me that it was, for him, a comfy deal at his PE owned company. (n=1)
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