Experience at a top vc-backed startup
Hello,
I am a top 5 mba school hopeful looking to jump ship over to a top vc-backed growth stage startup with a ton of momentum. They are backed by the likes of Accel, Benchmark, Sequoia, you get the idea.
Quick profile: Graduated from a top 40 universities w/3.5+ GPA, 3 years of experience so far (1 in strategy consulting, 2 in bluechip entertainment as strategy / biz dev manager. Haven't taken the gmats yet but aiming for 700+
How do you think they'll value the experience? Since I already moved around 2 companies since graduation, will they look down upon how much i transferred? I was promoted x2 at my last company so hopefully that'll show enough vertical movement?
Is going to a top vc-backed company in the valley help strengthen my profile for a chance at a top 5 school? What if the venture goes south? Will this significantly taint my resume in terms of b-school admission?
When do you plan to apply to b-school? Later this year? If so, then changing jobs probably does not make sense. You will have little in the way of accomplishments at the startup to put on the resume/essays. Schools care about your experience much more than the fact that Sequoia, et al., backed the firm. Also, joining a startup only to ask your new CEO right away for b-school recs won't go over so well either.
Now, if you were applying later next year or wanted to work for a startup even if you didn't go to b-school, then that's a different story. Pursue whatever you think you would enjoy and be good at. If the startup tanks you'll have great essay/interview fodder about "lessons learned in entrepreneurship" as well.
No, it's fine; if you end up applying for round 2, then you'll have six months of experience to write about when applying to business school. I know several people that switched jobs the summer before applying top top MBA schools -- myself included -- and it worked out fine. You shouldn't put your career progression on hold just so you can apply to school...as long as your move fits in with your story, you'll be OK.
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