Google APM vs McKinsey as first job to start company
Considering Google APM and BA at McKinsey in BTO. Background is undergrad CS with lots of software engineering experience at startups and Google. Also have been doing VC part-time for past year. Have good connections with some tier 1 VCs in the Valley.
Goal is to start a company in the next 2 yrs. Itching to do so now but don't have ideas that are compelling enough. Been advised from VCs that for my goals, an operational role is best bet out of college and VC is not a great choice, so not considering that though I have the network.
Given my goals, Google seems to be the logical answer. Program supposedly aims to train leaders in tech.
Also didn't get a good vibe from McKinsey - not many were thinking about tech or starting businesses. Everyone wanted to go into PE, government or become CEOs/VPs of companies in old age industries. Felt like for non-CS people, McKinsey is one of the best options out of college, but the same is not true for technical people.
Realize that I won't get the breadth of exposure at Google that I would get at McKinsey, but all the other cons seem to outweigh the pros. Also being in BTO means that 50% of studies will be in software or IT of banks and companies that are hopelessly behind today's startups. Am I missing anything that would make McKinsey a decent choice?
Sounds like you're thinking about it in the right way. If you know you want to be in the startup realm of the tech world, you'll want to be as close to that as possible. Google is much closer than McK BTO. If you wanted to be CIO/CTO of a F500 long-term, you could make a much better case for McK (based on exposure to F500 senior leadership), but it doesn't sound like that's what you want to do.
Google's APM program is remarkably well-respected. You obviously know this given how thoroughly you speak about the industry and all the small things you're mentioning.
Lots of APM alumni get funded. I don't know many McKinsey alumni who get funded, although that's probably the result of self-selection bias given that the type of people who do the sort of things that get funded don't waste their time at McKinsey. That's not to say that time at McKinsey is automatically wasted; it's to say that an entrepreneur is very likely going to languish in agony at McKinsey.
The advice you've received is correct. Get an operational role, get startup experience. Build your business on your own as long as you can. Wrap your life around your passion project until it demands so much of you that you need to make it your full-time pursuit. Make your deck, mine your network for VC intros (you already mentioned this), and run a tight fundraising process for your seed round.
The APM program will help you much more when VCs look at your prior experience than McKinsey will.
Uh... https://www.quora.com/Which-startup-founders-worked-at-McKinsey
I didn't even expect to find much on this online, but first-page Google results give insight specifically on APM alum. http://www.businessinsider.com/what-apm-graduates-are-doing-now-2014-10…
This one was interesting as well (some surprises): http://founderdating.com/entrepreneurial-company-alumni-networks/
Also worth pointing out the massive long tail of people with successful and healthy exits at lower valuations ($50-250m) that no one hears of (whether because they're enterprise instead of consumer, foreign vs. domestic, or in stealth all the way to exit). Granted, I am no paragon in the industry, but anecdotally, I know over half a dozen Google alumni who have successfully exited at least one business of their own compared to only one from McKinsey.
Google APM all the way.
+1 for Google APM. It seems you know the appropriate choice but just looking for further affirmation. Go for it.
As most others have mentioned, it sounds like Google is a better fit. Just to play devil's advocate, one thing to consider is where will be a better source of great startup ideas?
Working at Google you can find access to talent/ideas/funding and maybe come up with a cool idea but things are pretty well run and at the cutting edge. If you join McKinsey, you can get deep in industries that are "hopelessly behind today's startups." Legacy industries with lagging software/infrastructure are more ripe for disruption, which lead to bigger startup opportunities...just a thought.
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