I've recently been given an offer to join a growing, already large hedge fund (approx. 1.5 B AUM) as an Equity Research Associate, which typically develops into an Analyst role after a couple years. I am also still interviewing for two other positions, one as a valuation analyst with a (very) small IB and Advisory firm, and the other as a business analyst with a consulting group at Bearing Point.

In the long-term, I think I'm mainly interested in doing VC or working for a Mezzanine fund...Can you please give me some insight as to the pros and cons of the 3 positions I mentioned above that I'm involved with and which one would likely be the best step for me to take? I appreciate any advice you can give, thanks