Sure. I was from a non-target university and worked at a middle-market investment bank after graduation, focusing on Internet companies there.

I was promoted to stay on for a 3rd year, but around that time I was also getting interested in moving on - I stuck around mostly because the economy was in a nosedive and we were just entering a recession at the time.

A few months after that, a company we had worked with before came to my MD and said they were looking for a corporate development Associate, so the MD referred me, I went through the recruiting process there, and had an offer a few weeks later.

I didn't want to follow the typical PE or HF path, and at this startup I would have a chance to work directly with the CEO and other senior executives and get a much better work-life balance, so I decided to take the offer.