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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

#331

Post by Hamuko »

agentgumshoe wrote: post #329
Hamuko wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think elderly care nurses need to euthanise their patients just because the family can no longer afford the treatment. There's a TED talk on just how shitty being a veterinarian is. https://www.ted.com/talks/melanie_bowden_dvm_what_being_a_ve...

And vets don't have to sit there day after day watching a husband or wife sit lovingly next to their partner who can't remember them, or worse hurls abuse at them, or can't speak, etc. Or a dying person that their family can't be bothered visiting, etc. They can both be immensely horrible and also immensely rewarding jobs, it's not a competition.

How high are elderly care nurses on the suicide statistics?

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

#332

Post by taeric »

atourgates wrote: post #314
taeric wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is painting physicians as more unique than they are. Carpenters, artists in general, electricians, plumbers, etc. are all in roughly the same boat. A lot of trust built into a reputation that someone built. Now, sure, the modern world doesn't built up on reputations as much. But the general idea is the same. Such that, yeah, you may find you have nothing that you can sell without you in it, if that is what you b…

No, I would actually agree that those can be very similar situations from a “selling your business” standpoint, with the difference that while some of their professions have been particularly scarce for a few years, medical specialties have been scarce in many parts of the country for decades, and the pathway to become a medical specialist is highly capacity constrained, while the pathway to becoming a tradesperson i…

I agree with that. I also think, for better and worse, a lot of us that moved around to find a place to live don't value the "reputation" side of things. I hate how hard it is to find services local. So much easier to just hit up Home Depot and such. Medical is, sadly, "what does my insurance/job support?"

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

#333

Post by red-iron-pine »

int0x2e wrote: post #317
dx034 wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's important though if you don't want to stay at the current company forever. With the right title it's much easier to get a well paying job. Otherwise you'll have to convince future employers why you didn't have that title despite your qualifications and work.

I call this "resume engineering". Some years ago, I decided to pass on a very impressive position at one of the then-hottest tech unicorns. I kinda liked the people, thought the tech was cool, but didn't see any way for the company to succeed. As I thought, that company died, firing 100s of folks before the end. It's been a few years, but a former colleague who took that job, managed to land an impressive title at my…

titles certainly matter and some fields have very specific definitions as to roles and levels of responsibility. medical workers come to mind.

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

#334

Post by JohnFen »

dx034 wrote: post #306
JohnFen wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Prestige is a powerful motivator. I know this to be true because I've seen so many people given BS titles instead of raises and be happy about it as if they got something of real value. But I don't understand it at all. Apparently, I lack the "prestige" gene.

It's important though if you don't want to stay at the current company forever. With the right title it's much easier to get a well paying job. Otherwise you'll have to convince future employers why you didn't have that title despite your qualifications and work.

I have never once had a potential employer express any sort of interest in job titles. They want to know what you did in your job, how much responsibility you had, that sort of thing, and they know that job titles don't tell you that.

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

#335

Post by dv_dt »

WalterBright wrote: post #296
dv_dt wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After the n-th supermarket merger in my small town making every major supermarket in town a subsidiary of Albertsons, the inventory management was so bad that empty shelves started and continue to be an occurrence. Worse, the fresh produce declined in both quality and selection. But hey, the Kroger-Albertsons merger is before us... I hope the antitrust analysis blocks it, but really it's already too late.

I've lived in small towns. Part of being in a small town is there isn't a smorgasbord of businesses in the same business and competing with each other. We'd wait until we had a long enough list to make the drive worthwhile, and then drive to the Big City to take care of the list.

Oh the town is big enough that there are 4-5 supermarket sites. It’s just that it’s vons, pavilions, Albertsons, etc all owned by the same parent company which has made the choice for all of us that we don’t need to actually fill shelves with items or maintain a quality of product. In that respect, late stage Capitalism looks a lot like poorly formed Communism where a small cabal of people make wide impact decisions for others with no feedback.

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

#336

Post by JumpCrisscross »

avrionov wrote: post #305
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…

It is an interesting theory, but it is not how it works. Private Equity partners become board members of the squired companies, some time CEOs, but they don't manage day to day activities of the squired companies. You can check a company like Francisco Partners which one of the biggest PE firms now. They have another company called Francisco Partners Consulting which helps with the management. The partners are too sp…

Nobody argued the partners are managing. They’re the ones pulling the arbitrage.

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

#337

Post by tduan »

Genuine question, why do most articles discussing PE seem to portray them in a malicious light? Fundamentally, PE investors have skin in the game - they do invest on behalf of their LP, but typically GPs contribute a portion of their own income into the fund as well, not to mention their compensation is tied to performance. The consequence of that gives them every incentive to help a company succeed, and not ruin it.

Sure there are failures as with every investments, but one can simply evaluate the overall returns within the asset class across a period of time to see that there is value being created (or at least allocated)

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

#338

Post by archon810 »

tduan wrote: post #337

Genuine question, why do most articles discussing PE seem to portray them in a malicious light? Fundamentally, PE investors have skin in the game - they do invest on behalf of their LP, but typically GPs contribute a portion of their own income into the fund as well, not to mention their compensation is tied to performance. The consequence of that gives them every incentive to help a company succeed, and not ruin it.…

Because Private Equity is associated with squeezing every penny from the purchased business and making user experience a secondary concern.

For some examples, read some of the stories in other comments here and on the web.

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

#339

Post by 3-cheese-sundae »

singleshot_ wrote: post #287
manfre wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

For every self-checkout kiosk I have ever used, they do not have to stay on the scale. If you wanted to, you could remove each and every item and put it in the cart once it has appeared on the list of items.

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

#340

Post by WalterBright »

dv_dt wrote: post #335
WalterBright wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've lived in small towns. Part of being in a small town is there isn't a smorgasbord of businesses in the same business and competing with each other. We'd wait until we had a long enough list to make the drive worthwhile, and then drive to the Big City to take care of the list.

Oh the town is big enough that there are 4-5 supermarket sites. It’s just that it’s vons, pavilions, Albertsons, etc all owned by the same parent company which has made the choice for all of us that we don’t need to actually fill shelves with items or maintain a quality of product. In that respect, late stage Capitalism looks a lot like poorly formed Communism where a small cabal of people make wide impact decisions…

If they were not serving their customers, a competitor will emerge.
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