I have a penchant for asking stupid questions but here goes another one...
I got an email from a friend of a friend at BCG in Dallas. I interviewed on a whim. Long story short got the offer earlier this week.
I've been at a relatively large no name seed VC in NYC for a very short while. I love it, but I wonder how the lack of brand will impact me in the future.
Long term, I want to move to a larger VC fund and go to B-school, in whichever order. Should I jump?
I'm not the type that considers order very well, as I went to get my MSc almost right after getting the BSc. I also am not the typical WSO user who dreams of an NYC top-tier bank as my employer. I just wanted to mention that as a disclosure to my response.
I'd personally say go with whatever the hell you want. Obviously, that is quite the open answer, There are several considerations including pay, location preference, etc. Personally, I've heard the Dallas/Fort Worth area is nice. Life is more than work. If you think you can balance life better in TX than in NY, while living comfortably, than I'd say go after it.
If you want to make a career out of being a venture capitalist, you'll likely need some operating experience at some point. Either leverage your VC experience to get in with a promising portfolio company or take this BCG gig for a couple years, go to business school, then come in as a strategy & biz dev at a post-Series A company.
Both good points. On the operating angle, is a consulting job sufficient? And particularly with BCG, they seem to be a great firm that oddly has a hard time placing people into pe/vc roles.
Would love to hear other thoughts.
No, by operating role, I mean at a startup. Startups are generally better able to afford to pay ex-consultants to do strategy and biz dev work after their Series A funding. Doing consulting would allow you to 1) get a pedigree and skillset that will be valued and 2) prime your resume for business school. If you think you can get a good operating role at a startup that will allow you to grow, then maybe you can skip the consulting bit. But it sounds like you want to get an MBA regardless, so keep that in mind.
Anyways, you'll likely want some significant operating experience. Having an MBA under your belt, being VP Biz Dev at a somewhat high profile startup that exits, and simultaneously keeping up and forming opinions on the VC industry at large should set you up well to be a VC at a good fund.
I don't know the numbers, but I've only met a few VCs that rise through the ranks from associate to partner.
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