Why Midwest Growth Partners: Interviews, Careers, & Portfolio

Midwest Growth Partners Overview

Midwest Growth Partners is a private equity firm which aims to make growth capital investments or succession planning liquidity in established companies. The firm tends to provide executive operational leadership or partner with existing management teams.

Midwest refrains from investing in start-ups, non-core real estate, or “pure-play” brick and mortar retailers. Instead, they follow a specific investing strategy.

• As a lower middle market fund, the firm makes individual equity investments from $500,000 to $10,000,000.
• The firm’s investments could be an acquisition, minority growth capital, majority growth capital, full or partial management team buyours, or an internal recapitalization.
• Prospective companies must have annual revenue between $4,000,000 and $100,000,000.
• While the firm’s preference is inclined towards established companies, they also evaluate distressed and/or turnaround opportunities.

In a nutshell, Midwest Growth Partners invests in businesses that are profitable, have owners who don’t have an exit plan for retirement, have core values aligned with Midwest’s mission, and have offers with defensible market position.

Midwest Growth Partners was established in 2013 by John Mickelson, Joe Greving, and Mike Taylor, and is currently located in Iowa, USA.

Midwest Growth Partners AUM

Midwest Growth Partners (MGP) is a private equity fund manager, responsible for more than $325 million of private capital across multiple funds as per the firm’s record.

Midwest Growth Partners Interview Process & Questions

It’s common for firms to make changes in their interview process for each candidate. However, some parts of the interview remain consistent at firms like Midwest Growth Partners.

• There will be 4-6 rounds of interviews.
• Junior investment professionals or the HR team will be in charge of the initial rounds, while the later rounds are handed over to more senior staff.
• The entire process could last for several weeks – unless it is “on-cycle” or “on-campus” recruiting.

Interviews at Midwest Growth Partners will most likely be a combination of behavioral questions, fit questions, and technical / investing questions.

Check out my Growth Equity Interview Guide for in-depth discussion of topics that are typically covered in interviews.

Why Midwest Growth Partners

One of the most common and most crucial interview questions you’ll encounter is “Why this firm?”

If you’ve done networking prior to your interview, this is the right time to mention whoever you’ve met and share how they’ve positively influenced your decision to join the firm.

It’s also important to do your homework and conduct some research about the firm. One of the ways to do this is to listen to interviews with the firm’s founders, investors, or employees.

As a starting point, here’s a video introduction to Midwest Growth Partners:

More interviews

• John Mickelson & Mike Taylor On Partnering With Company Management
• Joe Greving On Investing In The Lower Middle Market
• John Mickelson On The First MGP Investment

Midwest Growth Partners Case Study

Case studies are also a staple in interviews. Firms use case studies to assess each candidate’s technical knowledge and communication skills.

Most case studies at firms like Midwest Growth Partners center around investment recommendations and financial modeling. However, a cold calling case study may also be required for junior roles.

For detailed lessons and examples on case studies, check out my Growth Equity Interview Guide.

Midwest Growth Partners Salary & Compensation

According to publicly available data, associates at Midwest Growth Partners can earn an estimated total pay of $98,058 per year, while there’s no record for analyst hires. On average, employees at Midwest Growth Partners make around $86,114 per year. Keep in mind that these figures can vary depending on your level of experience, education, and skill set.

Associate

Midwest Growth Partners Careers, Jobs, & Internships

To view current available jobs at Midwest Growth Partners, go to our job board where you can also find all open roles for other similar firms.

Midwest Growth Partners Portfolio & Investments

According to Crunchbase, Midwest Growth Partners has already made 25 investments and manages two funds since inception. Some of the firm’s notable deals include AgCertain, Catalina, and ConTeras.

Notable Transaction: Jackrabbit

Jackrabbit is a manufacturer and designer of tree nut harvesting equipment and handling systems located in Ripin, California.

As one of the leaders and innovators in the industry for more than 35 years, Jackrabbit has helped growers and harvesters optimize their harvesting process – making it more efficient and labor-intensive. From a single product, Jackrabbit has grown its product line to a full line of proprietary and branded equipment such as carts, self-propelled shuttles, harvesters, conditioners, elevators, pruning towers, rodent control solutions, and frost protection.

In April 2019, Midwest Growth Partners acquired Jackrabbit.

Midwest did not disclose the financial agreement of the investment carried out in partnership with Jackrabbit’s team.

Next Steps

If you are looking to land a role at Midwest Growth Partners (or a firm like it), I highly suggest you check out my Growth Equity Interview Guide.

It’s a self-paced online course that will help you understand the key concepts and exercises that are commonly tackled during interviews such as case studies, valuation, basics of growth investing, cold calling, and more.

Get the course and start learning today!