VC internship at small fund vs McKinsey
Have offers for a McKinsey internship, Summer Associate, vs. a VC internship but at a small fund (the team's second fund, <100million). Long-term goal is to get a FT offer in Venture at a bigger fund. What should I do? Background is CS PhD from top 3 schools worldwide (Harvard, MIT, Stanford), excellent academic background, little business experience.
My thinking is that while VC experience is good and it seems obvious to do that if I want to end up there, larger funds may not have heard of some small young fund, whereas everyone has heard of MBB. Thoughts?
Bump.
McKinsey, 100%. I come from MBB, and it's pretty straightforward to get into VC from MBB (Bain is the top dog for anything buy-side, then McKinsey, and then BCG--but all of them still place). You'll have headhunters reach out to you instead of having to fish around for opportunities. The name goes a really long way, and you're 100% correct, some young small fund isn't going to be as powerful or punchy as McKinsey is.
Best,
KHC
McKinsey
Mckinsey. Optionality matters, and Mckinsey gives you that. Your profile post-Mckinsey is an easy sell to any VC firm
Thanks everyone! Should I not worry about the fact that I will have very little investing/startup experience after that? McKinsey's clients are large corporates, very different from investing/startups/venture.
Somebody who has worked at McK should confirm this, but my understanding is they prioritize staffing people like you (i.e. who have actual subject matter expertise v. some neophyte out of undergrad) on projects relevant to your background. Given the CS experience you should at least be around technology, and many of those will likely be corporate new ventures, in-house startups, etc.
Ok that makes sense. Thanks!
McKinsey staffing is done through both networking with the Partners/EMs on the case to get on as well as industry specific knowledge and expertise. If you really want to get on a specific case, then you can generally do so, as long as the partner likes you enough to pull you on.
McKinsey and it's not even a question.
McKinsey - a small firm likely has no true partner track and significantly limits your options down the road. Your CS PhD alone + McKinsey will open higher caliber VC opportunities down the road.
Going from smaller fund + bigger fund is much trickier and insanely competitive.
I’m going to go against the grain here. VC is really difficult to break into, and being at a VC firm as an intern, sort of gets your foot in the door for legitimacy and networking. There are a ton of MBB associates who you will be competing with and trying to break in to a tiny industry
If the fund is that small, it's just not worth it. McKinsey is the better bet
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