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R/GA vs Critical Mass?
Me, during virtual onboarding

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Anecdotally I’ve heard it’s easier to move from buyout to growth than the other way around. You might get slightly more hard skills at a buyout shop and can always move to growth later. But if you’re fully sure you want to do growth, then it might make more sense to just start there
Can someone explain the difference for us that don’t know
Growth is a later stage funding mechanism than say VC or Seed. So the companies have traditionally proven their model and need cash to grow. Can be minority stake.
Buyout is exactly what you'd think of when people say private equity. Control ownership and debt are usually a differentiator.
The best roles aren’t solicitous.
I think you should go to the firm that most closely aligns or invests in alignment with your personal thesis. Valuations can't always go up (market, circa 2001).
I also had offers to do leveraged buyouts and growth. I went down the LBO route because it was the "established path." At the time, I didn't really know that I'd prefer to do growth, but I do now... if you know that growth is what you want to do, then turn the offer down and keep recruiting. I know it sounds hard, but it will be worth it in the end.
Coach
If you’re interested in growth, there’s a good chance you’ll find buyout quite boring.
McKinsey, what does that brain do?