Background: I'm a 2nd year analyst at a prominent non-big 4 firm doing TAS (valuation / M&A DD) and I just got an offer for a boutique bank (I'd solely be doing middle market M&A) in a second tier city, which I'm currently working in. FWIW, this is the first banking offer I've gotten.
I have a few hesitations: 1. Comp seems low 2. Exit opportunities - I'm hoping to jump to a MM PE firm after my analyst stint but given this is a growing IB (has been doing extremely well), I'm worried about the weight of the name.
I met with a good amount of folks and it seems like a solid culture but my main reason for doing banking is to get to a good PE shop or corp dev (two main goals).
If I don't end up taking it, I'd be trying to get into a MM bank such as Piper, Jefferies, Baird, HW, WB, etc.
PS: I've looked around and have seen what a few ppl have done in this situation but they seem to be very dated and obviously the IB industry has changed in the past few years.
$60,000 is street, if not slightly above, for boutiques. They know they have you by the balls and have no reason to pay you more. I would take the offer and not look back.
I'm going to be very blunt with you: your chance of moving into MM IB out of non-Big Four TAS is almost zero (yes, I'm sure some guy is going to reply with how his friend's brother's girlfriend's cousin did it once). Not only do you not have the requisite transaction experience, you don't even have the Big Four brand name. You will not only lose to Big Four TAS kids, but you'll lose to kids from boutiques, other MMs, BBs looking for a change of pace, etc. This boutique offer is your golden ticket if working in M&A is your goal.
My suggestion to you would be to take this offer (I think I've said that three times now) and see how you like the boutique. It might sound crazy, but some people truly enjoy the environment, and as someone who took a pay cut moving from IB to corp dev, I can tell you that culture>pay. If you hate the boutique or really need to make six figures, you can always try lateraling after six months to a year of working at this boutique (check out my lateraling guide if/when that time comes).
Put PE and corp dev on the shelf for right now. You need some transaction experience first, and this boutique offer is your best way to get it.
EDIT: Just for clarity, I started off at a boutique and made $60,000 all-in, so I'm talking from experience.