BCG Digital Ventures named a top employer in Los Angeles
BCG Digital Ventures was among the 100 Best Places to Work in Los Angeles, according the Built In network – an online community for startups and tech companies across the US cities of Austin, Boston, Chicago, Colorado, LA, NYC, and Seattle. Other firms breaching the top 100 list included Google, Electronic Arts, Ticketmaster, and Tinder.
Founded in 2015, BCG Digital Ventures (DV for short) is an offshoot of Boston Consulting Group that focuses on corporate investment and startup incubation. DV invent, build, scale, and invest in startups, sharing risk and investing alongside corporate and startup partners through a range of collaborative options. The firm has 225 employees in the LA area, and has an office location in Manhattan Beach. Digital Ventures has 700 total employees.
The startup investor/incubator/collaborator carries over the winning workplace culture of BCG, which appears on many ‘Best Employers’ lists alongside consulting industry heavyweights like McKinsey, Bain, and the Big Four. DV was recently named one LA’s 100 Best Places to Work by web publication/startup community Built In LA.
Like its parent company, DV offers an exceptional raft of perks and benefits, with generous health insurance and wellness packages, retirement and stock option, generous parental leave and vacation, and excellent avenues for professional development.
As is the case in most of the consulting industry, a job at DV means excellent compensation and benefits, interesting work, and stellar career progression. The negatives are long hours, heavy travel, and stressful periods to meet project deadlines. Consulting firms, however, still end up getting top marks on workplace rankings and employee reviews because the positives still outweigh the negatives.
“One week I am flying to a far flung city to understand big customer and market frictions, the next week we are ideating on how we solve these challenges,” said a DV senior architect of a typical day. “By far, some of the most interesting and fast paced work I have ever been part of.”
DV also has a supportive workplace full of smart colleagues, another typical note sounded in employee reviews of top consultancies. “There’s always something new to explore and learn, as most DVers have a wealth of business and life experience,” commented a strategic designer. “Lunches (and occasional late night dinners) are eaten family style and the people are supportive, which helps us all keep calm during high-stress situations.”
In both the quotes above, you can see the positive suffused with the negative. DV strategists are solving interesting problems for clients, but they’re flying around the country constantly, away from family and friends. They’re eating dinner ‘family style’ with their supportive colleagues, but it’s late at night while everybody’s working to meet a stressful deadline, instead of eating dinner with their actual families. These are the trade-offs of the high-pressure, high-reward consulting workplace.
Finally, BCG Digital Ventures is a place where exceptional talents in tech and business can boost their career development further. “Long-term career success is determinant on you making a name for yourself-- not only at DV on the project you're on, but longer term in the industry,” remarked a product director at the firm. “I always try to find ways for my team to develop their personal brands and show them off as experts. Our employees' personal growth, visibility and brand is just as important as our ventures.”
DV’s LA office is located at the center of the El Segundo/Manhattan Beach tech community, 2 miles from the Pacific, and not far from LAX either. BCG Digital Ventures also has centers in NYC, London, Berlin, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Sydney.
