Would you join a start up IB group out of undergrad?

Curious to hear people's thoughts on joining a start up IB group as an analyst? Let's say the MD starting the group is a reputable, well-known individual in his respective industry. The firm has a strong MM presence, but not in this space (obviously). 

Any glaring pros/cons to consider? Seems cool in theory to join the group and build it from the bottom up. But, you could be risking lack of group recognition for exits, group could do poorly or have no growth, etc.

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I'm essentially in this position right now. It's not a full start-up, but rather rebooting a previously closed team. I was the first analyst hired on, and get to work directly with an MD who has been in the business and more specifically, the sector of my interest for over 20 years. 

It's kind of a love/hate relationship. On one hand, I'm getting an excellent learning experience, working directly with an experienced MD, and getting great exposure to all aspects of the business.

On the other hand, I'm building our model templates from scratch, as well as templates for everything else. This is great and all, but it's a ton of work, and I'm pretty inexperienced so it's been slow so far.

The way I see it is that analyst years are the prime time to learn and make connections, so even though I might be getting paid slightly below street, bonuses have the potential to be bigger (less mouths to feed), and the experience I'm getting is pretty damn good. At least that's how I rationalize it.

All-in-all, it's been fun and engaging, but I can't really compare it to a BB IB experience, as this is my first foray into the world of IB.

 

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