It should be possible to go back into PE after doing CD since you’ve already done PE and VC (even if at smaller firms). In terms of your competitiveness, I don’t think CD will help a lot if your long-term goal is PE because you’ve already had PE experience. More deals will help on the margins, but it’s not the same as it would be for someone who has literally no deal experience. A top business school would actually be more helpful for the brand/network/access to recruiters, especially since your experience has been in emerging markets so far. So, if you can afford the time/money, a top MBA would be more useful in this situation. If you simply want to return to PE, though, I don’t really think you “need” either CD or an MBA to do it. It’s more that the MBA would be useful if you want to work outside your current geography and/or at larger firms.

It is definitely more difficult this way (strategy to corp dev rather than the reverse). I don’t think it’s especially common, but it should be doable at large companies (e.g., Fortune 500) because if you can prove yourself in one area, you should have a big advantage in internal recruiting for others. You will probably need some evidence of learning accounting/valuation/financial modeling and deal analysis to do it because that will be one of their key objections.

After 2-4 years in Strategy, I’m trying to build a strong case for jumping into corporate development. I’ve seen corporate dev to strategy before but it seems to be more difficult the other way around. Welcome your thoughts.

Thanks! Congrats and glad to hear it.

Sure

Makes sense – but certainly doable right? I’m in a similar situation and don’t care as much about higher compensation but would like to have more free time / lower stress etc.

It’s possible but not that common because there aren’t that many corp dev roles, and most people who work in IB/PE generally want higher compensation. But it is probably more of a demand issue than a supply one.