There are very few quality seats in tech investing out of undergrad where you will have the opportunity to build the investor skillset. Bessemer is an amazing and differentiated opportunity and I would recommend taking it over almost any IB offer if the long term plan is a career in tech venture or growth investing.

The caveat to this is that if you want to do buyouts, the IB role will be more beneficial.

 

Insight is a strong brand name, but the analyst program is heavily sourcing focused. Sourcing is an invaluable skill to build early in your career, but you will have to hustle to learn modelling and other technical skills on your own, especially if you don't want to stay at Insight through your associate years. 

In general, I've noticed my peers with banking jobs are unhappier with their quality of life compared to those in investing seats, likely due to the monotonous workflows in banking.

I am a strong advocate for taking brand name investing roles out of college if possible-- you get to train an investor's mindset doing work that is more intellectually stimulating than banking, and at the right shops, you don't really have to sacrifice having a strong brand name/early career prestige on your resume. 

 

When you say tech investing, what sort of investing do you want to do? Do you want to do venture, bootstrapped growth, buyouts, or publics? If you’re unsure, banking will give you more optionality, but if you know you want to be working with high growth, earlier stage businesses, take the investing seat. 
 

As for Bessemer vs Insight specifically, I’d encourage you to talk to analysts at both firms to get their thoughts on their experience; as well as gauge exits/outcomes of past analysts on LinkedIn. Both are great seats.

 

Got it got it thanks! I know I’m interested in earlier stage growthy tech stuff so in that case would Bessemer/insight be a better decision than doing an EB and recruiting for this stuff after IB? I’ve heard people say only go to buysife programs over IB if they’re absolutely top notch otherwise ur at a dis vantage so just curious

 

Yes, 100% Bessemer and Insight are great seats to pursue early stage growth from.

At the end of the day, no one can make this decision for you. It sounds like you have some great options, so congratulations. If I were you, I’d evaluate this decision as if I was making an investment— write out the merits and risk of each opportunity, the upside, base, and downside outcomes. Factor in your personal risk tolerance and what type of work you enjoy, and trust that you’ll make the right decision. 

 
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