Management Consulting to VC?

Wondering if anyone has/knows people that have made the transition from consulting (more specifically management consulting) to VC? Is that even a good route to take instead of doing banking -> MBA ->VC? If you can't tell from my previous threads on here, I am obviously interested in working in VC but not sure if trying to get in right out of undergrad is the best thing to do. Insights would be much appreciated.

side note: PE out of undergrad and then transitioning to VC also seems like a good idea to me but as far as I can tell breaking into PE is even harder than IB out of undergrad, especially from a non-target.

 
Best Response

VCs want you to know how transactions work, cap table analyis, basic P&L analysis. They don't care where you get this from, and it seriously only has to be "good enough". Banking, consulting, whatever. none of those things are going to set you apart or make a difference, you're checking a box that they won't have to reinvent the wheel teaching you how to do like an exit waterfall or calculate some unit economics. They're much more interested in your industry expertise or what unique thing you bring to the table to drive investments.

 

Did you ever hear about PwC´s Accelerator? It has similarities to VC and i guess its very well possible to switch to VC afterwards. While moving to the top Tier funds is hard regardless where you worked before, i think its definitely possible to switch to the mid market/ boutique funds. A friend of mine who works at pwc corporate finance is currently interviewing with a VC fund.

I was already so far beyond the point of no return that I couldn't remember what it had looked like when I had passed it.
 
ky0ung:
why don't you try to apply to a VC? If you got your mba, then you are far enough along in your career to try and get into VC.

Two reasons.

  1. I'm not in my MBA program yet, just planning for post-MBA routes.

  2. I could try and hunt down good VC gigs in Asia, but in English speaking countries such as Singapore or HK, it's a bit difficult to find truly meaningful opportunities. And after a top MBA in US/Europe, I hear the exit opps directly to VC are not that hot because it's not a feeder industry like consulting and IB, so VC is not really good at sponsoring visas and such.

 
brutalglide:
MBB --> VC isn't a unheard of route. You could get into VC post-MBA, pre-MBB too, it's not impossible. Will be tough though. They prefer people with some experience at start-ups / tech firms + MBB experience though.

This. Firms like Golden Gate Capital come to mind.

 

Morespinach: A good path for you would be to work at a VC-backed startup over the summer, then network with that VC during that time, and all you'll need is a lot of luck. Getting in VC is all about luck and timing.

If you want to do VC in the US or Asia, go to a top US School. EU MBA programs are big company management oriented, and the VC sector in Europe is quite small and getting weaker.

Aei ho theos geōmetreî
 

I applied for the class starting this September (2014) but soon realised that if I was accepted I would probably ask to push back my admission for personal and professional reasons. I can't remember if I mentioned something like this to the interviewer or if it is a lucky coincidence, but when I heard back from the admissions committee they explained that they wanted me to get a bit more professional experience before coming to INSEAD and therefore had pushed back my admission one year: win-win.

 

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