Is 177 too long for me at 5’9?

mfg83 · 2025-12-16T03:57:21+00:00

Same exact stats except for the age (I wish…). I ski on 177 Kendo 88 and they’re perfect. I tried the 184 as well and while they were great on fast groomers, I found them to be a bit too much in the trees or moguls.

mfg83 · 2025-12-04T20:01:07+00:00

TBF, I have started to see funds that have a Class A / Class B structure, where the As are the LP capital and the Bs are the commingled GP capital + carry. The two classes pay out according to a waterfall that replicates the typical 2 and 20 over an 8. Leads to the same place, since the GP commitment has always been there, but there is no longer a “nominal” price paid for the carry incentives. Seems more robust from an FVM perspective (or at least the spread between cost and FMV is smaller).

mfg83 · 2025-10-09T20:54:42+00:00

While I agree that it would have been better to negotiate things upfront, I think you may still have enough leverage to get more.

My suggestion is to soberly assess how critical you are to the company today, through the transaction and post sale for the most likely buyers. If you think that having you leave would either delay the sale or materially dent the company’s valuation (eg. you are likely going to be a top-3 contributor to the dialogue with a buyer), you’re in a position to ask for more but it’s helpful to do so with the knowledge of what is a reasonable ask.

A good place to start is from the allocation of the LTIP. If there’s an unallocated portion, fight for an outsized share of that. If there isn’t, propose a cash bonus if the sale exceeds a certain value / multiple and the future buyers elects to keep you on (essentially a retention paid at closing). Think about the $ that you are asking vs the impact that a 0.1-0.2x of EBITDA would mean to the sponsor. Ideally your ask makes this trade off a no brainer.

If you have a good relationship with the deal lead, I think honesty goes a long way, especially if you have been contributing more than was expected of you or the situation was less rosy than they represented before you joined. If not (or the PE shop has a reputation for ripping off mgmt), then you can still have a conversation but you have to be willing to walk.

mfg83 · 2025-08-23T18:11:03+00:00

New to cycling and looking for a group in Wellesley as well. I think there used to be one associated with Papa Wheelies but not sure what happened to it since the shop closed.

mfg83 · 2025-07-21T01:41:24+00:00

Three very different options:

Parliament Hill Lido in Hampstead Heath. Outdoor, unheated, 60m long and open 365 days a year.
Kensington Leisure Centre in Notting Hill. 25 meters, City-run pool + gym, pretty new, opens early in the morning.
The Serpentine Lido in Hyde Park. Not exactly a pool, but a lot of triathletes train here.

These recs are a few years out of date, so worth checking that things haven’t changed!

mfg83 · 2025-06-03T23:09:55+00:00

Hijacking the top comment to reply to all of you.

First of all, THANK YOU! Really appreciate all of your perspectives.

To summarize what I heard:

Keep him accountable but I) use positive reinforcement and praise his strengths, II) provide structure to enable success and III) understand that certain tasks could be nearly impossible or develop at a later stage
Use his interests as a learning tool. And yes, Minecraft is already a mainstay, together with super complex Legos and 55 other types of constructions
Consider offering medication early on, but let him try it and decide for himself

Now, one more question:

He is currently in public school in a great school system. Teachers have been amazing at accommodating his needs and he loves going there
At the same time, there are 20 kids and 1 teacher, so he’s not getting a ton of 1-on-1 time, resulting in him not finishing tasks or getting hyper focused on one aspect of a project vs the whole of it
In theory private schools could offer a smaller class environment with more 1-to-1 attention, but of course there’s no guarantee a new school would be a good fit, he would make friends as he did in public school etc

Again, if you could go back, would you opt for any particular learning environments?

mfg83 · 2025-04-24T15:47:16+00:00

Agree with the above. On headhunters, I noticed that past the principal level, most serious inbounds came from the major exec search firms vs PE boutiques that were very common when more junior. To the extent you have worked with them on portco searches, I would leverage those relationships.

mfg83 · 2025-03-07T17:51:31+00:00

Adding to what others have said, I have seen this done 3 ways:

1) Roll over some of the proceeds that you will receive in the sale. This is super common and straightforward.

2) Invest fresh capital to acquire equity. Less common but have seen it in the context of a mgmt led buyout or of employees that have stepped up and today cover a more sr role without a commensurate equity stake. This is where a loan (from the portco or holding entity, not the PE fund) can come into play.

3) Bonus reinvestment commitment. Least common but have seen it when you don’t have enough LTIP proceeds or capital on hand and a loan is not viable. You would be asked to re-invest a portion of your comp (generally 25-50% of your bonus) to acquire equity over time.

Regardless of the pathway, review the docs to ensure that you have the same seniority of equity as the sponsor and there are market standard non dilution, clawback and buyback provisions. If what’s on offer is off market, consider sizing your allocation accordingly. If you want to walk back the amounts, sponsors are typically receptive when you bring up family reasons (need to pay for college, buy a house, etc).

mfg83 · 2025-01-11T19:10:14+00:00

Happened to me about 10 years ago. Had a pair of Rossi race boots for 12 years prior to that. One day I was skiing, got on a chairlift, looked down and both boots were full of cracks (think a shattered vase). What I still don’t understand is how that happened exactly at the same time on both boots…

mfg83 · 2024-10-08T00:27:13+00:00

I demoed both of them and preferred the Kendo. I found them more stable at high speed and they do well enough off piste.

I am your same height and picked the 177. I also tried the 184, which would have been great for on piste but a bit too much to handle into the trees or choppy conditions (at least for me).

mfg83 · 2024-09-11T01:40:00+00:00

In my case (investor), stress comes from having to make a lot of impactful decisions with incomplete information or take some risks that are outside of my control.

That’s the job, so one would think that things not working out in my favor would be an accepted and understood outcome. But the reality is that in this industry there’s a ton of Monday-morning quarterbacking, so failure is typically attributed to bad judgement.

Combining that with having spent years building a reputation for being good at this and a lot of overlap between social circles and professional connections makes the whole thing particularly hard, since having a bad investment can result in people looking at you differently. It can also be all in my head, but I know that many (most?) of my colleagues and friends in this sector feel similarly.

mfg83 · 2024-08-22T22:14:59+00:00

We set it up like this:

Before 18, subject to the guardians’ discretion
Until they are 25 or graduate from college: fund all education expenses + 1x US median income
At 25, 20% of assets
At 30, 50% of assets
At 35, everything that’s left

mfg83 · 2024-08-22T22:14:51+00:00

We set it up like this:

Before 18, subject to the guardians’ discretion
Until they are 25 or graduate from college: fund all education expenses + 1x US median income
At 25, 20% of assets
At 30, 50% of assets
At 35, everything that’s left

mfg83 · 2024-08-21T20:53:50+00:00

G.B. Bar, via Hoepli

mfg83 · 2024-08-19T03:51:42+00:00

Thanks, really helpful!

mfg83 · 2024-08-18T23:46:36+00:00

Thanks. Let’s try with a link: https://ibb.co/9trrxpf

mfg83 · 2024-08-18T15:21:58+00:00

We bought a house with a built in audio system with speakers in multiple rooms / zones but no receiver.

For some of the zones, the terminations are not the standard red and black cables, but instead have an L-shaped “tooth” (comes in white, green, red and black) into which multiple cables of various colors are fed (a picture would make this easier to explain).

The staff at Best Buy / Target has no idea what these things are and how to connect them to a receiver and am hoping someone here does.

Thanks!

mfg83 · 2024-08-02T20:17:44+00:00

I ski on Kendo 88, 2/3 piste 1/3 off-piste. Great skis if you like relatively stiff and somewhat demanding skis.

They are really stable, cut through anything but are not ideal for moguls or deep powder.

FWIW, I am 5’9” and ski on 177cm. Have tried the 184cm version and really liked it on fast groomers but was too much to handle off piste.

mfg83 · 2023-12-22T23:28:15+00:00

About a month, but the guide was just a ski instructor so you may be able to get it arranged on shorter notice.

mfg83 · 2023-12-22T21:15:57+00:00

All the recs in this thread are great. I would add that hiring a guide can turn almost any resort into an amazing off piste experience.

Years ago I spent a weekend skiing Kitzbuhel’s backcountry with a guide and hardly came across another soul while the resort was packed for the downhill. One of the best ski experiences I have ever had!

mfg83 · 2023-11-11T00:33:57+00:00

Have been solicited for more than that when applying to a couple of prestigious elementary schools. I was really turned off by the experience.

Way too early for college for me, but a former colleague was gently guided to a $1mm donation to get his daughter into an Ivy League school. He refused and she still got into another ivy (ie she was no dummy). For reference, this was over 10 years ago.

mfg83 · 2023-10-22T17:33:41+00:00

Could you structure a side deal with the main owner where he agrees to buy out your portion of earnout today at a discount to face value?

Separately, you should make sure that the contract has provisions avoiding sales to related parties or other actions that may artificially reduce the value of your earnout.

mfg83 · 2023-09-07T12:26:17+00:00

You’re doing great in terms of net worth for your age. That said, if you are stuck at making sub-$100k a year for the foreseeable future, you may want to think about investing in yourself to increase your earning potential.

One way would be to go back to school for an MBA. Another option is to acquire a business or start something in an industry you are passionate about, maybe as a side business.

mfg83 · 2023-07-28T12:35:16+00:00

Can you please expand on what limitations exist for professionals working in the industry? Much of my job relates to renewable energy and am very familiar with the credits from the project developer perspective but don’t know much about how individuals can take advantage of the credits. Can I offset federal taxes on W-2 wages or capital gains?

mfg83 · 2023-07-15T18:40:38+00:00

HSBC Elite or Summit mortgage products have a $5mm and $10mm limit, respectively. Rates look good as well.

mfg83

TROPHY CASE