Pros
1. Remote workplace (Anywhere, anytime - also a negative when you’ll never sign-off) 2. Plenty of opportunities to assume responsibility and learn 3. Protected Saturdays for Analyst team, but depending on the client, even this is subject to regular encroachment 4. Diverse Team: Likely the best thing about the firm. Staff is distributed all over the world with team members in the US, Canada, Europe & India (Be advised that this also means you could work 24/7 if you’re not careful) 4. Senior Management: Very outgoing and enjoyable company 5. Great Track Record of Above Market Valuations (Although, this doesn’t counterbalance the costs)
Kontras
1. (For Prospective Employees) Compensation: Greed at the top, taking advantage of those working for / with them. Don’t be fooled with false promises of “industry average, adjusted for a boutique IB” (Total comp will be <50% of the position below: Associates paid 50% of what Analyst make at a comparable firm & <25% of comparable Assoc positions) - DO NOT stick around for a YE bonus, because it will be utterly disappointing (Solely to buffer pay for upper management & senior bankers, and it goes so far as to boasts of how much money they’re making, while the junior team is treated like cattle and paid less than half of their peers elsewhere) 2. (For Prospective Clients) Overpriced: Excessive fees are going directly into the pockets of the leaders of the firm, and the specialized industry expertise in retail, eComm, etc. (negotiating tactic) is not worth what you’d pay a comparable M&A/fundraising advisory firm, so when you’re selling all or a portion of your business, do not skip getting market rates when contemplating working with this firm (It’s fair to estimate that 50% of work will be outsourced to low-cost, international labor vs. mid-to-senior staff, so why should standard banking fees even be acceptable) 3. (Both) Culture & Work-life Balance: Integrity is key and missing. There are massive internal and external discrepancies dealing with these guys, highlighting those previous the points as samples 4. (Both) Above Market Staff Turnover & Inexperienced Junior Team: Internal issues have driven an unmanageable training and onboarding schedule for staff to effectively provide industry-standard service to clients (If you’re an employee, you’ll want to quit as soon as you contemplate the 80+ hrs work weeks with a complete lack of appreciation) - Everybody that has left the firm leaves with a very bad taste in their mouths with little positives and an abundance of negative feedback (w/ a core team of ~5-10 FTEs, there are >5 departures in a <12 month timeframe, and by not maintaining a structured hiring/training cycle like most banks, overall work quality suffers) 5. Culture (& Other Promises Communicated): At first glance, it’s an Eden, but it will quickly fade. Employees will be thrown into an unsustainable work-life balance that hurts overall work quality, and the hard work / long hours clients would expected are misallocated and misaligned with client preferences, making them ultimately unproductive Takeaways: -If you are a prospective employee, it’s just not worth it - find something else & don’t forget that nothing may be better than this something - you’ll be lied to and strung along with promises that will never come to fruition and you’ll figure it out at the latest possible moment when it’s too late. -Prospective clients, do your diligence, find an alternative, and save the thanks for later.