Going to San Francisco, who should I meet?
Hey WSO,
With the communities help last year I finally landed an investment banking internship at a middle market brokerage in Toronto. Since the commute was terrible, I slept on my grandpa's laundry room floor for four months, haha.
After the four months, I realized if I want a career in tech banking or VC I need relocate to the valley. Since my internship I've got to do a couple due diligence projects at a VC locally but there's not an opportunity to join FT. Prior to the internship I've been starting businesses from my bedroom since I was 12.
I've spoken to a couple brokerages and VC funds in SF, but suggestions on other firms to reach out to would be helpful. My girlfriends coming with as well. Any date ideas? Definitely going to a Giants game! If anyone wants to grab a drink while I'm out there, let me know. I'll be in San Francisco and Palo Alto for a week before leaving for LA.
Here's the list I've thought of so far brainstorming for a few minutes..
Brokerages:
Qatalyst
Jefferies
Buldge Brackets firms
VC:
IDG Ventures
Golden Venture Partners
Battery Ventures
Andreessen Horowitz
Google Ventures
The help means a lot guys, appreciate it. I'll blog about my adventure while I'm there.
lol do you even have contacts at these places? from what i remember, you can't even get into qatalyst's lobby without someone letting you in.
and jeff tech is in foster city, or it was last time i checked.
hey kidflash, some I do, some I don't. I'll reach out to them before I leave. For now, I'm just compiling a list. Not leaving for another month+
Look, I admire the hustle, so I apologize for player-hating here, but you need a little bit of a reality check:
1.) Don't fucking call it San Fran. Acceptable names are SF, San Francisco, or "the City" (as it compares to "the Valley"), there's no middle ground. (It should also go without saying that you should never ever ever call it Frisco.)
2.) As far as lists go, yours is pretty fucking random. I understand why Qatalyst is on the list, as they're definitely one of the top firms people think of when you say "Tech Banking," but there's been some mean-reversion, as they've missed out on some pretty premier mandates in the space. Also, why the fuck is Jefferies the second bank you think of when you list tech groups? Do you even know what their platform is like or what deals they've worked on? Have fun pitching ~$100m Application Software companies for the next two years. On the VC-side, again, this is a really random list. I straight up had to look-up who Golden Venture Partners was; literally never heard of them. Also, being a (non-Stanford) college student saying "I'm coming to San Fran, I better set up a meeting at Andreesen Horowitz!" is the equivalent of saying "Hey, I'm going to the Big Apple, better call up Hank Kravis and ask him about an internship."
Appreciate the response, and edited for 1, haha.
My list is completely random, there's no ranking to it. I've spoken to a few Jefferies people and they were kind, that's why I listed them. I use one of Golden's portfolio investments regularly. That's why I listed them.
I'll update the list as learn more. I'm open to suggestions too.
Lol just a side note. I was interviewing for a SF tech group, and I mentioned that I interned in the City (meant NYC; I'm from the east coast, so I had no clue, haha.). They were half-seriously offended, haha. Were like 'the City = San Francisco. Don't call NYC the City.'
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