Big money-management firms expanded their dominance in Silicon Valley last quarter, crowding out venture capitalists in a once-niche business and putting 2021 on pace to nearly double last year’s record in startup financing. Investment in U.S. startups for the first half of 2021 hit $150 billion, eclipsing full-year funding every…...
Private Equity Firms Are Cutting Out Banks
More and more, private equity firms looking to finance big leveraged buyouts are cutting out the Wall Street banks, and borrowing money from each other or from direct lenders. These loans often come from the credit arms of private equity firms, or from standalone direct lending funds. The appeal of…...
VC Pledged to ‘Do Better’ on Diversity. It’s Barely Changed
IT'S NO SECRET that the venture capital industry, for as long as it's existed, has been overwhelmingly white. Last summer, as the murder of George Floyd focused national attention on racial inequalities in the US, firms seemed committed to changing that. “Black Lives Matter,” the firm Benchmark tweeted last May. “Change starts with…...
Private Equity Recruiting with a Headhunter
Key characteristic that private equity firms look for is that the candidate is able to think like an investor rather than an execution or junior investment banker. Remember, private equity involves making successful “investments” rather than successful transaction closings that are not affected by post-transaction performance. Recruiters, or “headhunters,” play…...
A Look at the Current State of Private Equity Recruiting
The past year has brought a degree of challenge to private equity that surpasses industry events that have confronted the very best fund and portfolio operators over the last several decades. The spreads between winning and losing decisions have increased dramatically and the variance across verticals and industries are both…...
A secret pact between private-equity firms and headhunters is pushing associate recruiting into 2021
The private-equity arms race for junior talent is seeing a temporary ceasefire this year, with top recruiting firms pressing pause on courting first-year investment banking analysts for 2022 roles. Five recruiters told Business Insider that the disruption of the coronavirus pandemic is responsible for upending the timeline, which has moved earlier…...