Vista Equity Partners vs. McKinsey
Have offers to intern at both. Don't know exactly what I want to do in the future, but know it's related to tech. Which is better?
Nov 25, 2019
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From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship
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If you are sure of tech, vista.
Vista - it's literally one of the top tech PE funds. You'll gain an incredibly toolkit especially if you spend your analyst/associate years there.
You can literally replace what you said with McKinsey and consulting.
Agreed but Vista is literally one of the best exit opp you can get from IB/Consulting. I think a better question is what does OP want to do in the future? I feel like while your exits are potentially more varied at McKinsey (more corp stuff but you can arguably do this after Vista), Vista is literally at the forefront of all software-based tech deals and the experience is unparalleled. And ofc they pay more.
Consulting over PE? Hahahhaha funniest thing I've read all month
You laugh but I've seen a fair amount of people at my school turn down PE offers for consulting/banking
Sure... do people at your school also turn down the 7-8's for the 2-3's too? Lol
Vista and it's not even close
I'd go vista IF its for the standard PE/investing summer analyst type role. If for anything else, McK without doubt
Thanks for the input everyone. Ended up accepting McKinsey for a few reasons:
I'm not set on PE, and the exit opps at McKinsey are objectively far broader with a much better alumni network to lean on. If I want to do tech, it seems clear that Vista wouldn't lend itself nearly as well.
Culturally, Vista sucks. No question about it. McKinsey on the other hand might be intense too, but everyone was super down to earth and interesting. If these are the people I'm spending 70 hour weeks with, I want it to count. Also, protected weekends at McKinsey doesn't hurt ;)
Analyst work at Vista is often bitch work. McKinsey appears to be the opposite.
Feeling pretty confident that this is the best decision for me personally, though given this is a finance focused website, others may have different personal preferences. That said, shouldn't be too hard to exit to Vista in 2 years time (or a bit more if I take the free MBA...) if I decide I'm interested in PE after all.
Make sure you keep in touch with the people you got to know at Vista, especially if you're in Texas, as it will help for potential later recruiting. Other than that, congrats on joining McK and best of luck!
Congrats on the offers, and best of luck with the decision.
That said, I'd question the idea that it "shouldn't be too hard to exit to Vista in 2 years time". PE associate recruiting is very competitive among ex-MBB people, and Vista is near the top of a lot people's lists.
Good decision, but expect a lot of bitch work. We all did
Sincerely, someone that did bitch work and will pass it onto you this time
I know this is an old thread, but people often look at old threads to make their decisions, so I thought I should put in my own two cents.
The Vista analyst role is glorified busy or grunt work. You aren't allowed to touch the models, so don't think you're going to walk in and bust out LBO's (as other threads on this site mention, the interviews for this role often don't test if you even know basic accounting or finance).
My roommate works there and has said only horrible things about the culture. Hope you took McKinsey OP, though you'll obviously be fine regardless. MBB is the clear choice.
I thought more senior people generally source deals - what do analysts do then? Also what has he said about the culture?
Bump
Nice humble brag, like not taking vista is even an option.
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