PE associate job vs Tech Startup backed by tier 1A VC firm with substantial path to growth.
As it says above, could recruit for a pe associate role or join a tech startup backed by a tier 1A firm (a16z, Sequoia,etc) that bootstrapped to a substantial MSDmm ARR before even taking the money. would be like employee number 10 so part of the founding team.
That said you can join startup and then go VC after if you’re passionate about something and want to attack a theme. Hard truth about startups is that if you don’t have the founders ear you have to understand you’re going to be on the other end of some really hard decisions / pivots /changing strategy
My first comment didn’t load idk why. My hot take is that unless youre a first 5 employee hire at the startup, the worst investing seat will be 1000x intellectually stimulating than even the best, most fast growing startup.
This shouldn’t be a hot take— you’re absolutely right. Startups are a bit overrated. They can be extremely political / have pretty dumb bosses, and you have to assume that the startup equity is worth $0 (it’s also often issued as exercisable options btw , which you have to pay in to to get and that money is likely to be lost).
The real prize of working at a startup or corporate in general is if you can find ppl that you mesh with, a comp / WLB that suits your needs, AND perhaps most critically, be in the mental space where you’re ok just coasting at a particular pay level without much (or any) development
This is a personal decision that depends on your willingness to take risk and your interest in tech vs. private equity.
A few things:
Downsides:
I passed on a few startup jobs back in the day, and on jobs at tech companies that have since achieved incredible scale, in favor of my "path" on the buyside. I sometimes feel pangs of regret that I didn't take more risk earlier in my career. Now that I'm earning pretty decent money and will need to take a 50%+ pay cut to join any startup, I doubt I'll ever be able to take that leap.
PE is dead as an asset class. Take the startup role.
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