Monkeys, we keep on hearing news about how startups in the valley are constantly innovating and how technology is changing the world. The amount of money flowing into tech companies and the kind of wealth that is being created is mind boggling. I would like to know how the valley and its startup culture is perceived by the wall street folks.
Perceptions can be about anything. It can range from your first impression on seeing a startup experience on a CV to thinking about transitioning into finance/ strategy roles in the valley. Curious to know the views of the WSO community.
Tulip mania
I work in tech banking, so we definitely look favorably upon experience in Silicon Valley with big name tech companies, especially from juniors looking to make a change from tech to finance. Startups are more of a mixed bag - if you are exceptional in other areas (good GPA, leadership, etc.) we might do some digging and see what kind of startup you worked for - if the company looks like it's on the path to be successful (good founder, backed by top VCs, lots of money, etc.) then we'll be receptive. We're less receptive to seniors looking for FT jobs who spent their junior summers interning with tech companies, but still open.
It's all optics. We look for brand names because it's a way to mitigate hiring risk. But to be honest, we don't get many of these profiles - people with backgrounds in tech tend to not want to move over to investment banking.
With regards to how bankers view Silicon Valley opportunities after a few years as an analyst - among the analysts who for some reason struck out in traditional private equity recruiting (or were too jaded to go through it at all), Silicon Valley is a pretty typical alternative. I've seen a lot of former classmates (including those who didn't work in TMT groups) from brand name banks move over to top startups and big tech companies, filling in roles ranging from strategy and analytics at Google to biz ops at Uber to strategy at Palantir.
Perception is that finance people at big tech companies make less money than bankers but lead much better lifestyles.
As for startups - most people think bankers who join startups have essentially lost their minds. It's a very rare transition and one that is almost always viewed with serious skepticism (as in, that dude just made the biggest mistake of his life). Wall Street tends to be a cynical bunch of people.
That was insightful. Thanks. Do you see any trend in terms of profile, previous work experience and qualification for moving into different roles (Strategy/ analytics. biz ops)? This is for the analysts who move into such roles.
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