Does anyone have any insights on Gemspring Capital (MM generalist PE fund based in Westport, CT)? They're investing out of their second fund which is $750mm. Looks like they're doing well and growing nicely. That said looking on LinkedIn they appear to have had a fair amount of turnover at all levels, so not sure to what extent that speaks to the culture.
Any insights into their culture / work life balance? Founder is ex-HIG so does that mean the culture may be rougher?
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Sourcing-heavy sweatshop based in CT… probably a tough place to be a junior
Strong returns, growing fund size 2x since last raise, based in CT… probably a nice place to be a senior
Pick your poison. Between this and a headhunter email about a shop in CT, I’m guessing they’re hiring…
This is helpful, thanks. How do you think culture / work life balance is at the VP level? Is it a lot better than the Associate experience or is the firm only a nice place to work if you're an MD?
Couldn’t say, I only know an associate there
I've heard pretty rough things culturally - sounds like HIG 2.0. They also have a terrible reputation for re-trading sellers and generally just being bad actors. Not people I would trust.
CONFIRMED! This place is actually miserable. Founder is a POS. Stay away.
For what it is worth and I hope this helps, I was recently a banker at a MM/LMM bank and definitely enjoyed working with them or trying to sell them some of the companies my bank was in the market with. Not sure how great of an experience their associates were getting or being compensated, but from an outside perspective they definitely developed a good name in my book.
good luck and best wishes
Don’t join. Turnover is high for a reason. Their strategy is to look at very large volume of small deals (higher than HIG) and bid low on as many as they can — hoping one sticks. They’re sourcing heavy b/c of the volume of deals they need to see to be successful. Look at their team — it’s very large for a $750M fund — and that’s for a reason.
Serious question: how on earth do they pay people? $1.5BN AUM with 40+ investment professionals = <$35MM per IP.
Interviewed with them recently for a principal level role. I looked at their website and couldn't help but think how I would slot in here when there are freaking 15 MD's above me at a fund of this size. No f*cking thanks.
I’ve gotten easily half a dozen emails or more from different headhunters about a shop that fits their exact profile. Hiring must be tough right now
Former associate at Gemspring. Overall good experience, paid +/- market, and I learned a ton. Good culture/people but high-velocity model so they do throw a lot at Associates and VPs... but on the plus side you get to see a lot of deals. Have had a couple of friends work their way up the ladder quickly. I would still be there if it wasn't for them being in CT.
what type of place did you end up going after?
cap - it's the headhunter wanting to fill the role
If you look around on LinkedIn you'll see a number of examples of people landing in solid roles after leaving Gemspring. There seems to be a pretty astounding amount of turnover at the firm so there are a bunch of data points if you dig into it a bit.
I can't comment first hand on the firm but have heard things that corroborate the earlier comments in this thread through several 2nd hand sources in/around the industry (people that I consider to be reliable sources). I'd imagine you would get good experience here that would translate into strong exit opps but it doesn't seem like a place that you might want to build your career long term.
Bump-- looks like they raised a big new fund.
Any updated views on the firm? They recently raised a new fund and it seems there’s quite a few people that stayed for Senior Associate roles.
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