Pros
Some really smart people from top firms worked on some great projects. There were a lot of Columbia grads and business school alums who built a big network. The environment was pretty relaxed but the hours were long when a big project was underway and you're never really "off" since asset managers will reach out to you at all hours to solve some tough problems. The money was great: $60k for most junior-starting folks but after a year or two, good folks were making $150-500k. After a couple of years here, the better researchers and consultants landed at prominent hedge funds, banking/ capital markets, and consulting firms.
Cons
The practice partner and Managing Director who ran the quantitative/tech practice was the former Gabelli CTO and was great to work for as a consultant, but after some personal family issues, he moved back to a hedge fund on the west coast. After his departure, the head of capital raising/seeding line of business left followed by the legal and compliance person. The company was left with Brian and he focused only on recruiting only. This made it impossible to get back to the more interesting, profitable, and sustainable projects that generated the most revenue and let to the recruiting opportunities. The model was broken and Brian was unreliable and untrustworthy.