Oh yeah, the rollup, I'm all too familiar with that. We do actually do diligence for those, and I agree, I wouldn't want to work for one. In fact, I've left a company that got rolled up after it steadily became less attractive. However, in my diligence work, most of the companies I look at aren't being rolled up. (And for that matter, not all rollups are bad though those are exceptions.)
My point was not meant to be "you should go work for a PE owned company", but rather that, as someone who sees the companies PEs own, there exists a whole, huge world of software jobs between startups and big public companies, many of which pay very well and are nice jobs. However, these mid-stage private companies aren't making a lot of noise in the tech media and socials, so people don't realize how many they are or even know they exist. They just chug along, making money, growing sustainably, and getting sold every five years from owner to owner. There are many, many of these, and they are concerned with growth – but not crazy ponzi scheme VC bubble growth.
I've seen lots where I was like "when I was an IC dev, I would have worked here in a heartbeat".
My point was not meant to be "you should go work for a PE owned company", but rather that, as someone who sees the companies PEs own, there exists a whole, huge world of software jobs between startups and big public companies, many of which pay very well and are nice jobs. However, these mid-stage private companies aren't making a lot of noise in the tech media and socials, so people don't realize how many they are or even know they exist. They just chug along, making money, growing sustainably, and getting sold every five years from owner to owner. There are many, many of these, and they are concerned with growth – but not crazy ponzi scheme VC bubble growth.
I've seen lots where I was like "when I was an IC dev, I would have worked here in a heartbeat".