IB > ? > VC: Help me maximize my odds
2nd year analyst at a BB M&A group in NYC. Long term goal is to be a partner at a (at least somewhat) respectable VC fund. Assuming an offer from a16z doesn't magically fall into my lap in the next 2 months before I leave banking, it looks like my options are the following:
- Corporate VC: In final rounds to be the first junior hire at a new corporate VC team focused on enterprise fintech. It's a hybrid corp dev/venture role where I'd be both leading and participating in venture rounds and executing if the company decides to acquire. Historically has led Series As for niche bootstrapped financial data/software companies that later get acquired by them or other institutions. Opportunity to move up very fast in a couple years and potentially move to the parent company's more established CVC fund that has a much broader sector-agnostic mandate and a more traditional sourcing model (where the leaders of this new team came from originally) but of course this isn't guaranteed.
- VC at a large overseas asset manager: I guess this job is more "real VC" because they are solely returns focused, but this team almost never leads deals and pretty much exclusively jumps on hot Series B or C rounds. Seems to be much less active with portcos than #1 as well
- Growth at niche startup with early exit: consumer fintech/data startup in the online betting space. Founders bootstrapped for 3 years then sold in a $1XXmm exit (so probably the equivalent of series A stage). The company will be operated totally independently of the parent and I'd be working directly with the cofounders to scale the business globally. Both have top tier backgrounds and one is a serial founder that has raised from top VCs in the past.
- Strategy/BizOps at growth-stage "startup": Interviewing for a couple similar Strategy/Ops roles at hot Series B - D stage AI/fintech startups backed by top investors. Worried I wouldn't be "high-impact" enough to really impress early stage VCs but I guess that's up to me ultimately.
TLDR: Current or former VCs, how favorably would you view someone from each of the above backgrounds for a lateral associate/Sr. associate job? Given previous banking experience, would you rather take someone who spent 2-3 years at CVC or quasi-VC or from a startup? In a pretty unique situation and would love to hear any thoughts. Thanks!
Based on the most helpful WSO content, here's how your options stack up for maximizing your odds of breaking into VC and eventually becoming a partner:
1. Corporate VC (CVC) Role
2. VC at a Large Overseas Asset Manager
3. Growth Role at Niche Startup with Early Exit
4. Strategy/BizOps at Growth-Stage Startup
Recommendation
For a lateral associate/Sr. associate role in VC, option #3 (Growth Role at Niche Startup) seems the most compelling. It offers the operational exposure and high-impact experience that VCs value, especially for early-stage investing. If you can leverage the founders' network and your contributions to the startup's growth, you'll position yourself as a strong candidate.
Option #1 (CVC) is a close second, especially if you can transition to the parent company's established CVC fund and gain broader exposure. However, you'll need to be proactive in demonstrating your ability to operate in a returns-focused environment.
Option #4 (Strategy/BizOps) is solid but might require extra effort to highlight your impact. Option #2 (VC at Asset Manager) is the least favorable due to limited deal leadership and portco engagement.
Ultimately, your ability to network, tell a compelling story about your experiences, and demonstrate a deep understanding of startups and venture investing will be key to breaking into VC.
Sources: Q&A: 2nd Year Associate at a VC fund - Breaking in With a Fund of Funds + IB background, Q&A: 1st year VC analyst (~750M AUM), Q&A: Corp Dev > Strategic Finance > VC, https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/venture-capital/corporate-venture-capital-vs-independent-venture-capital-firms?customgpt=1, Lesser known MBA career options? Looking for advice on what to do post-HBS.
Bump
Assuming 2 is Mirae? I think 1 or 2 is fine. Heard Mirae is sweaty (has that Korean workshop culture).
OP here - yup you guessed it lol. Would you take the CVC or mirae over a startup? Ppl on this forum act like it’s impossible to move from a CVC to an independent VC
Personally, I think a place where you're leading a Series A looks a lot better (in terms of diligence, work product, "thinking" skills, etc) vs. just following whatever is hot and new.
Went banking -> buyouts -> Series A / B operating roles -> Series A / B investing.
The reality of venture capital is that it is super unstructured and everybody has a different path to the asset class. I would optimize for (1) impact in role / ability to quickly progress, (2) developing expertise in a vertical or technology that you really like.
Having said that - the age old advice of just doing the thing that you want to do applies here. The corporate VC role sounds very interesting; if you truly want to do venture, that might be a very good seat, especially in this environment.
Thanks for the reply man - did u feel like having operating experience gave u a boost when trying to move to ur current seat? I’ve seen a lot of thought pieces from early stage investors lately about how capital is becoming a commodity and the “emerging managers” that have actually run companies will be able to provide more value. Or is this just marketing fluff to hype themselves up?
For added context, the CVC does not have a target # of deals and I wouldn’t really be involved in sourcing as they mostly rely on inbounds / invest based on strategic fit. In the startup role I’d be directly tasked with scaling revenue as much as possible and driving strategy for the S&M teams. The terms of the exit are structured so that 50% of the payout only materializes if they hit certain revenue targets in the next year, so I’d be guaranteed to have measurable impact to point to if successful. Interested in any further thoughts on this - thanks!
A few thoughts on operators turned investors:
Re: the two roles - I would use your judgment as to whether or not you feel like you're developing applicable venture investing skillsets. Sourcing is important, but so is deal evaluation; at some point, you should source, but I don't think the lack of sourcing is an automatic disqualifier (especially given that you're at a strategic). The startup role seems like a mix of BD with strategy; I'd carefully diligence which component is bigger. I'm personally a bit dubious on the learning you get in a junior sales role (I think that chief of staff / product are probably better roles for early stage operators looking to transition to VC), but that's a personal POV and others might disagree.
Not OP but appreciate the insights on operating experience. Separately, I'm also curious to get your thoughts on the value of PE for 1) initially breaking into VC and 2) on the job in VC. Would you advise someone in TMT IB to recruit for PE if the end goal is VC (let's say series B+)?
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