16 comments

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CuriousFox
WR Officer
11
๐ŸฆŠ
PE only cares about profit - so they can sell you off.
sleepingjaguar
Opinionated
0
CSM, Emerging Markets
+1
E_Money
Big Shot
9
๐Ÿ’ฐ
I worked for a company that was bought by PE, ruined everything. We hired a new CRO who was a total douche and the company was never the same. Still just a business acquiring profit machine to this day.ย 
SlanginHCSaaS
Executive
5
Enterprise Sales Executive
I'm going through this right now. PE firm bought us last year. We've been gutted, tons of churn, no backfills, a lot of "do more with less" conversations, etc.

I've never heard from a sales colleague about how amazing the transition was from startup to PE backed. The feedback is similar to what you see in this thread.ย 
Pachacuti
Politicker
4
They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy
skilled and competent = jack up your quota to unattainable levels.ย  Have a fun ride!
sleepingjaguar
Opinionated
0
CSM, Emerging Markets
+1
washedD1soccer
Politicker
3
Regional Sales Manager
PE firm bought a company I worked at and screwed every internal process up by trying to maximize short term profits to make it attractive enough to re-sell. 10 years later and still dealing with issues. Not trying to be a bearer of bad news but thatโ€™s what my experience was.
Annonny
Big Shot
3
Account Executive
LOL sounds like it
TennisandSales
Politicker
3
Head Of Sales
you will most likely lose the start up sparkle.ย 

you should also expect metrics to become more intense and a real focus on production.ย 

if you dont produce you become a cost center.ย 

this is never fun.ย 
Boutdamtime
Politicker
2
Client Executive
PE is scum of the earth and a huge reason why our healthcare system is absolutely fucked.

That being said I like money too and itโ€™s kind of the name of the game for some of these ideas/incubators/companies.

Imho the time to jump is when they start putting profit over people and cutting your ability to make $$$ as well.
SunTzu
Opinionated
2
Legendary Historical Figure
PE? Get ready for dog shit leaders who've never cold called anyone and haven't learned anything but how to stroke themselves off since they graduated from Harvard in 1996.

If anything was a silly numbers game before, get ready for 10x that level of nonsense
ChunkyButters
Tycoon
1
AE
My last three roles were all with PE or VC backed organizations. A PE shops goal is to increase the bottom line. That could be cut backs, reducing infrastructure, increasing sales resources, higher quotas, or all of the above. When the bottom line hits their ROI point, they will sell to the next PE shop. Their end goal is returns for their investors.

Your experience will GREATLY differ depending on the PE shop. Our current PE is very demanding, some slightly unrealistic quotas (but not that bad), and definitely adds stress to our team. Typically right after an acquisition there will be changes, how those changes impact the org are very dependent.

That said, some of the hires they came in with are absolutely fire. Any time sales needs a resource, tool, or anything else to get a deal done, they make sure we have it. Our current backer considers sales the most important aspect of the company and it's all hands on deck to win deals.ย 

Some people think PE only applies to smaller orgs. There are 100M, 500M, and 1B+ revenue companies that are PE backed. It's all about having additional capital at your disposal for growth.
1nbatopshotfan
Politicker
1
Sales
All of the stuff you like about the job is probably gonna disappear or get way worse. Itโ€™s not fun.ย 
Justatitle
Big Shot
1
Account Executive
6 months from now the company will look very different. Prepare for layoffs and any other moves to make the bottom line as attractive as possible in the near termย 
AnchorPoint
Politicker
0
Business Coach
"eyes on aggressive growth" - where you focus, energy will follow.ย  Buckle up.
NotCreativeEnough
Big Shot
0
Professional Day Ruiner
PE will hound you on metrics, cut anyone who doesn't hit their insane standards without a second thought, and work you to death until you finally fail or leave on your own. Their whole goal is to make the business as profitable as possible as fast as possible to sell it off to a bigger fish that wants the tech
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