Working in publics when you don’t like it
I’m an MBA getting far along in interview processes with the top LOs and some of the big name SM HFs. The former in particular is an unsexy job but for the lifestyle comp is great, and I’m sure I could learn to enjoy stock picking.
However I really want to do late stage venture in deep tech. My heart is in that, and also running down a very technical entrepreneurship idea of mine. But recruiting for venture growth is so bad right now given the market and growth prospects in a high rate, sticky inflation environment, which make it a less attractive role.
I am really not sure what to do. I need to withdraw from some of these public markets interviews out of courtesy to these firms and my classmates if I am not serious about them. It’s just that they’re so good on paper from lifestyle to comp but I just don’t want to do them honestly because stocks are boring to me.
I feel like in the song Piano Man where he’s like “Bill I believe this is killing me / as a smile ran away from his face / well I know that I could be a VC / if I could get out of this place”
I don’t know what to do. I would appreciate some wisdom from the people who are 30+ here. I need to figure out what’s important to me. I think about it a lot but how can I know in 10 years whether I will be happier for having picked a chill LO job vs chased my late stage venture / entrepreneurship goals?
Almost no one can be great if they’re not passionate. You know what you want to do. Find a way to make it happen or find a way to convince yourself that the job you take puts you on that path.
For 30+, the time to get on the path you want is ASAP. You will only be more constrained over time - family obligation, personal finance, your own cost to future employers.
Get assigned tech as a sector or perhaps find a HF that does cross overs - publics and privates. Leverage your sector experience in tech and exposure to privates to VC.
LO being chill is the biggest myth out there. Anybody managing big money in public markets is stressed out of their mind right now. If you’re not truly passionate about it you’re going to flame out in 2 seconds. Trust me - keep trying for VC, don’t do publics unless you really love it
Perpetuated by the almighty Dick The Sell Sider who also commented on this post
I'm at a LO AM and I'm hella stressed lol. Way more so than my time in PE. Sure hours are less but my recommendation matters more to my comp. Got flack this year for a few bps of underperformance relative benchmark for a bad call and that was not fun. I don't know where this perception comes from and this should be dispelled.
Not in LO so please correct me if I'm wrong. Does LO have more leeway in terms of underperformance vs. benchmark for any given year, especially a down year? I am lead to believe the time horizon relative to the bench mark is on a greater time scale.
Relative to a HF, LO definitely provides more leeway given the longer time horizons. Your skill as an analyst is also often judged over a multiyear period so its rare to get fired over 1 year of underperformance. But relative to PE, you are far more accountable for your own recommendations and this happens much earlier in your career too.
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