Dream job in the wrong city (VC vs. BB AM)

I am a graduating senior and I recently was offered a job as an investment analyst for a growth VC in SF. It is exactly what I would want to do out of school, but I have always imagined that I would be in NYC. Currently, I've accepted another job in AM at a BB in NYC (cash salary is slightly better) but it doesn't excite me. The group is not great either, not many exit opps- I would most likely have to rotate within the bank (side note: the bank has recently been under a lot of fire, iykyk). Also, I would have to reneg my BB job to take this other offer. I don't have any friends in SF and all my friends will be in NYC. I guess my questions are: 1. Is it better to rotate in a bank, hope to get in a good group, then exit to VC/growth/PE? 2. Does prioritizing this VC/growth job make it more likely to get another VC/growth job in NYC? 3. If I end up going to SF, will I want to move to NY after a few years? (i.e. do you kinda get stuck in the city you take your first job in?)

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You'd be foolish to not take the VC job. Better from an exits, passion, and reputational perspective. I can also tell you that from a broader macro perspective, VCs are having a much more difficult fundraising season, and it's unlikely that this will recover in the the near term. Given that, looking for VC jobs in the next few years will likely only get harder from here. 

From the sounds of it, you're young, and making friends isn't exactly hard in a big city. You'll be able to move back to NYC at another time. 

AM jobs are a dime a dozen - jump into VC while you still can. 

Array
 

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