Early-stage Tech IB vs Industry-focused Infra PE - What to do for best exit options?

Background: late 20's. 3/4 years M&A/IB experience at a no-name boutique in London, in addition to other misc. experience in very small institutions. Sent a huge number of applications over the past 12 months to move forward/upward. I now got:

Offer A: Early-stage tech IB (for capital raises only) at good BB, in a different European city, need to relocate and probably learn the language. The move implies some social and personal life damage/delay, especially if I do not move quickly back to London, but no impact on my visa. I am very interested in tech and it's a partially a new vertical for me - will be good to get exposure to high growth, product and distribution strategies. Afraid that early-stage-only IB will pigeon-hole me into growth equity/VC which I am not too keen on doing (too power-law like - either top 5-10 funds or bust). But I would finally have a decent brand on CV, which I expect would get me through the door in PE or would be appreciated from investors. Pay, level, hours are comparable

Offer B: industry-focused infra PE at low-tier fund in London. Small fund, no carry for some time. Standardised process, so particularly important to identify cycle stage to know where to buy cheap. Mostly execution and fairly repetitive work. While I could definitely pick up some useful skills (like debt terms negotiation, albeit with project finance focus), I do not think it would be lots. Industry could fall out of favour if politics change in Europe. Very good hours, good pay (slightly lower), but unknown fund name

Lingering alternative option - reject both and keep rolling the dice: wait a few more months, to collect a bonus and keep recruiting for a better-name fund or another BB in London. In fairness I am pretty exhausted from the recruiting process and am also super keen to leave my current workplace, but can suck it up I guess

Goal: Most interested in entrepreneurship/search fund path soon, but would be happy to move to PE/investing side if a great opportunity shows up.

What would you do? Anything I am missing?

Any inputs are much appreciated

1 Comments
 

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