Best banks / groups for VC exits?
Rising sophomore, want to pursue VC, do any banks / groups have a particularly good path into VC? I'm industry agnostic so not necessarily attached to tech or something — I really like my current internship in VC, but the partners at the firm told me to do IB first before going into VC. I'm sure some places like GS SF TMT, MS TMT, and Q place well, but anywhere else in particular?
Any reason given for why you should pursue IB before VC?
From the research I have done in Bay Area VC, GS TMT SF looks to be the best, and MS Menlo,Qatalyst, Evercore SF are all good as well
Partners at the firm (MM VC, not silicon valley) are all ex-IB or ex-Entrepreneur. They advised me to ideally start something, but to not force it, and still try for banking because of the modeling/industry exposure.
Best VCs are the ones who have started something from ground up. Like your advisor said, don't force an idea, but in order to invest in good companies and properly support them it's good to know what it's like to be on the other side of the table.
Upside of starting something: learn a fuck ton. set your hours, potential for growth/exit. network full of entrepreneurs, vcs, angel investors and the richest mofos you've ever met. Downsides: no banker pay. eggs 3 meals a day. possible failure.
Upside > downside imo.
I was told by a banker in an informational interview to not pursue banking if I wanted to do VC. The skillset is dramatically different at the analyst level. If you want to break into a Series A / seed stage fund out of college (which is very doable), I recommend acting like a VC and sourcing a list of startups in your local area. Mentioning that list in an email to any VC during the recruiting process should be able to get you a quick phone call. Then hypothetically, if you were a good investor, you could move up the chain into larger funds that invest in better companies/later stage rounds. You should also start publishing your insights on twitter or medium.
Source: I worked as an intern for an early-stage VC firm and have a number of contacts in that space.
It definitely matters what stage you're interested in. Banking may not be particularly relevant to seed stage investing but when you're dealing with later stage firms with real financials, complex cap tables, etc. banking skillsets are pretty sought after.
Leaning towards the Growth Equity space, don't think super early seed stage is my vibe, 100% industry/business/sector agnostic though. I believe IB is better suited for GE than VC from what I've heard?
I would agree with this sentiment. I guess it breaks down to what you want from the experience.
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