Working in private equity is a lot like investment banking, but for smaller firms rather than banks. They're essentially vultures who focus on Venture Capital (investing in start-ups who aren't really ready to go public but need outside capital to grow), Growth Equity (companies who are successful but still need increased liquid assets to grow; Growth Equity investors look for a majority share long-term investment), and Buyouts (companies that are failing, either private or public, who need to be bought out to either improve operations or be liquidated/absorbed into similar companies). A lot of times, private equity firms are the cause of both the rise and fall of small to medium businesses and generally ruins lives all while earning huge profits for themselves.

Can we have some context for people who don't deal with finances?