Top SM HF/Crossover vs. Founder of YC Startup

Current MF PE associate who did 2 years at a top banking group prior. Have offer from top SM HF/crossover shop (think Greenoaks, Lone Pine, Thrive, etc.) and was recently accepted into YC as well (with a technical co-founder). I find the investing job interesting (heavily dislike the process work in banking and PE) but have always wanted to build my own company. Not optimizing for money; would weight interest/fulfillment and money equally. 

Any advice on how to think about this?

5 Comments
 

Neque culpa et dolorum aut dolor minima et alias. Voluptas voluptatem eos ipsam sed ipsam. Et velit dolorum expedita ipsum accusamus sit. Sed qui rerum nobis libero.

Nisi sequi hic quam quibusdam dolores quia temporibus. In reiciendis quia incidunt ducimus recusandae velit.

Accusantium quia id at magni autem. Excepturi qui consequuntur accusamus odit.

Career Advancement Opportunities

September 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Point72 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.0%
  • Citadel Investment Group 97.0%
  • AQR Capital Management 96.0%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.0%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

September 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Magnetar Capital 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.0%
  • Blackstone Group 97.0%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.0%
  • Two Sigma Investments 94.9%

Professional Growth Opportunities

September 2026 Hedge Fund

  • AQR Capital Management 99.0%
  • Point72 98.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.1%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.1%

Total Avg Compensation

September 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Portfolio Manager (9) $1,648
  • Vice President (27) $464
  • Director/MD (11) $372
  • NA (9) $320
  • Engineer/Quant (83) $287
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (26) $284
  • Manager (4) $282
  • 2nd Year Associate (32) $253
  • 1st Year Associate (76) $193
  • Analysts (234) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (29) $145
  • Junior Trader (5) $102
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (276) $95
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”