VC's Going the Way of the Buffalo

So my pipe dream of one day running my own venture capital fund may stay that way. 60 hour weeks, nice little seven figure exit every now & then, an office on the beach & in some nice Rocky Mountain town, days comprised of blogging and board meetings....gone. I wonder if its too late to get into s&t?

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/01/venture-back…

6 Comments
 
Best Response

Edmundo, I'm no expert, but I do spend as much time peHUB & TechCrunch as I do here to know that the industry is in a little bit of trouble. I should clarify that I meant to have a sarcastic tone in my post, but that fact of the matter is that a majority of the major players in LP roles for VC's haven't been happy with the traditional returns they've seen on their VC investments, which will keep capital out of the hands of a lot of first time VC's. Even during the tech bubble burst VC's where able to exit some great companies and eventually ride that out to the web 2.0 era. Now however, the talent pool for investment is starting scrape the bottom of the barrel especially in the tech/web world. I agree, yes VC wont go away because there will always be companies starting up, but I think the mega funds like KPCB are not going to have the kind of exit market that could justify the size of their funds. Smaller funds w/ experienced entrepreneurs running them will be the norm. Which means, in my opinion, that its going to be even tougher for unconnected bankers to get into. I guess that was the point I was trying to make.

Ace all your PE interview questions with the WSO Private Equity Prep Pack: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/guide/private-equity-interview-prep-questions
 

I think when we emerge from this market cycle, you will only find leaner, meaner firms left standing. In spite of that, I still think there will be a lot of opportunity to move into VC, albeit at a smaller firm.

We won't stop innovating. If you look at how VC has morphed over even the last 30 years you can see that it is pretty much in a constant state of flux. VC always seems to find a way. Stick with your ambition, I think you'll be glad you did.

Besides, it's basically the one area of investment banking where you can actually participate in the creation of value for the economy rather than just sitting back and collecting fees without producing anything of any tangible worth.

The WSO Guide to Understanding TARP

 

Dolor iure aperiam amet reiciendis. Sit modi quasi eligendi numquam reiciendis non. Est consequuntur et autem ipsam est quo iure.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”