FT Offer at GS/MS but Startup can raise $1M+, which route should I take?
Recently interned at a top group at GS/MS and honestly had a great experience, received a return offer and if I stay in finance would love to go back. The problem is I am pretty entrepreneurial, had a couple companies before (even had an exit) but decided that finance/IB would give me some great credibility, skills, and exposure if I wanted to pursue something in the future, which I do.
I've been working on a startup for a while now, and I believe that it has potential. Been having conversations with some early stage VC funds, nothing serious but just to gauge interest, and it seems that they are at least interested if I were to seriously try and raise funds. Our prototype is functioning and have run some tests on friends/family which got pretty great feedback. Would wanna test more before fundraising and make sure that I'm onto something big, but would you sign a return offer and go do IB or would you go down this startup path (seems just too risky for me)?
Startup. If you fail, go get an MBA then go to GS/MS or VC
Top MBAs hate startup founders/entrepreneurs. Post mba exits from GS/MS suck also.
Ask if you can postpone your start date by a semester or year - could possibly do both
I would honestly do the 2 years as an analyst, you already have an exit and unless you are positive that this is the one, you will most certainly have more chances in the future. With a top group at GS/MS on your resume you are more likely to succeed on your next few ventures just purely due to the credibility you gain and the network.
Agreed. If your startup is truly big you can spend your first year coasting in IB / working on developing the product more and develop a fundraising timeline (which is a good 6mo.-year for a full round). Drop out after ur first year bonus (might be shit but whatever) and invest it into the business to start fundraising full time. Then you can say ex-gs ex-ms whatever and VC is a networking game, they'll eat it up. You're not going to lose that much ground in one year - be smart.
this is horrible advice conditional on "can raise 1mm" being true
raising 1mm for a startup is WAY harder than landing an IB analyst position, and far more fruitful for future career moves - even if you fail this is a profile that would get you looks at any top VC firm for example
that said, the way they phrase it they have just talked to some VCs who said they might be interested - that does not count. as long as you are not a complete time waster every VC will say this because they want the chance to get a look at it if it goes somewhere.
assuming you just finished your junior summer internship and now have senior year, why not just accept your IB return offer, and then spend the whole year aggressively seeking funding for your startup. if you can actually get 1mm (or imo even like 500k of seed money on decent terms) in SIGNED COMMITMENT LETTERS from VC funds by next fall when you would have started IB, just tell your bank the situation and ask if you can defer for a year to do the startup. if they say no, still do the startup. this approach maximizes your options
Raising 1M from ANY random VC isn't that hard if you have a half-way decent idea, background, and any semblance of traction. Worth seriously considering GS/MS depending on the quality of the idea and of the VCs.
^ This. Take the GS/MS offer. You can raise any time in your life. Its not hard to raise when you have GS/MS on your resume and a top MBA later on. You also won't have the energy to do an IBD analyst stint after failing in a startup.
I'm biased against startups also, but do what makes you happy. Have friends from undergrad who are running series A "zombie" startups with little to no equity given recent market changes.
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