McKinsey (NY) vs. Insight/GA
What advice would you have for someone who is trying to decide between McKinsey (BA in NYC) and an Investment Analyst position at a well known growth equity firm (i.e. Insight/GA)? My goal would be to join a high growth tech startup in a strategy/operations/product role after ~2-5 years. Not sure whether I'd prefer to be an investor or operator in the long term but would like some exposure to both sometime in my career. Trying to avoid business school.
Currently leaning towards Insight/GA, though I'm concerned that skills in sourcing (since that's most of the analyst job) might not be that useful for roles at a high growth tech startup. On the other hand, I've seen many ex-MBB consultants join Insight/GA in their operations groups (and sometimes move to their investment teams) - I'm curious as to how the learning opportunities might differ at entry level positions between the firms.
is it FT or summer?
FT
what did you do junior summer?
Can't go wrong here - both can get you to where you want at a startup. I'd guess a top tech investing role would help you build a network and skills if you want to become an investor later on
If your goal is to work in bizops / S&O at a startup, def go McK - the skills are directly transferrable. Insight is the no-brainer choice if you have an interest in investing (given they are a top firm in their space)
Generally agree with the above point. Operations/Product, go with McKinsey. I know some PMs who were former growth analysts but that's not a very common exit. If you want to do M&A strategy stuff, it is a lot closer imo. The main thing I would point out is that Insight/GA will give you a lot more exposure to tech companies. This can help you learn what specific kind of tech company you want to work for and improve your chances of placement into companies that you have already spoken to (if you demonstrate your knowledge/ability, it's not all that uncommon to get job offers over the phone in this role), portfolio companies, etc.
Great advice - really appreciate the clarification. What is the value that a high growth tech startup (i.e. a startup that is close to / recently achieved unicorn status) might see in hiring a Growth Equity analyst? Do you know what kind of roles they've been hired for? I get the "knowledge" part but based on other comments on this post, I can see how the skills might not be "directly" transferrable.
When you're talking to founders/CEOs in a role like that of an analyst at Insight/GA, you can and will discuss anything ranging from the startup's go-to-market strategy, competitors/differentiation, financial metrics and unit economics, financing, etc. So, if you can provide them with an insightful viewpoint on any/all of these topics, I think you can demonstrate that you know how technology companies work, know what seems to be working/lacking in their company, provide input from what you have seen succeed/fail before, and generally that you are a capable/intelligent person. The most direct skill they would see in a growth equity analyst is certainly your sales ability, but beyond that, in conversations like these, you can demonstrate your knowledge (but not necessarily experience) in finance, strategy, operations, etc. One final point, you said you wanted to go into a operational role in 2-5 years, if you do your job well then by anywhere from 3-5 years in at places like Insight/GA you'll likely have had the opportunity to sit in on board meetings as an observer or possibly actual member. That's a somewhat small thing and I'm speculating here since I am nowhere near that point, but I feel like that experience could prove very valuable.
For the people that I have seen go work at startups after a few years in growth, they have gone on to a mix of PM roles, strategy/growth, business development, or operations/strategy. So your intermediate goal of a strategy/operations/product role after a few years is definitely still attainable if you end up going the growth route. However, the primary exit (by a pretty large margin) from a growth analyst role is lateraling to an early-stage VC or to another growth fund. The other common paths I have seen are business school (for those that do choose to do this, Insight/GA seem to place well into HSW) or starting your own company.
McKinsey will get you to wherever you want to go. Congrats on the offers!
For what its worth I feel like you could do 2 years MBB -> 2 years Growth Equity -> high growth tech company pretty easily compared to trying to go MBB after Growth Equity. That way you'd get skills as both an investor and operator before deciding whether you'd rather be an investor or operator long-term
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