EBs NY vs SF offices

Worked at a BB in SF before lateraling to NY. Lazard: Laz RX is stronger than M&A, and RX is run all out of NY. NY's pretty sweaty, since some of the senior folks might still be stuck in the old-school Laz culture. SF does healthcare and tech. Tech has good connections with Google, but I heard from some buddies that they were disappointed from the lack of M&A work, as they do mostly consulting work for clients they have on retainer. Believe it's non-transaction ongoing advisory. HC did the Amgen/Onyx deal a few years back, which was huge. HC has good dealflow, though they cover specific repeat clients (Gilead).

Moelis: LA>NY>SF. LA is Moelis's strongest office, given its renowned rep on the street for exits and prestige. Of the SF/LA shops you mentioned, Moelis LA is the only one where you'll be able to get to NY for buyside later, if that's a concern. NY does most of the RX work and have been advisors on some big RX clients, but still sweaty. SF does tech. Most of the senior people in SF are BB rainmakers who brought their clients over. Heard SF has good culture, nothing like the sweatshops NY or LA are made out to be. Heard some wild things from my friends at Moelis on the WC though, like paid trips to Vegas and that they take the LA interns to play poker with the team at Ken Moelis's house.

CVP: CVP has 2 notable offices in California (SF, which does HC, and PA, which does tech). Had a buddy in one of the WC offices transfer to CVP NY after a few years, which is a good move. SF HC is huge in the biotech space (tons of public co sell sides) but is non-existent in other areas like devices and services. HC did Gilead/Kite and CVS/Aetna, so you can imagine that they're big players. One of the partners in SF used to be pretty senior at BAML. Since CVP prides itself on advisory, you'll get some consulting / operational strategy experience.

From a prestige standpoint, I'd argue the NY offices are much stronger than the SF ones. Since you're asking in terms of exits/prestige, would say CVP NY/Moelis LA/Laz RX NY will get you similar looks and are top on the street, though if you're looking specifically for buyout exits, Moelis LA is the strongest if you don't like CVP's three-year's commitment (not a concern imo, but lots of people here seem to hate it) or the fact that Laz RX will have more distressed buyside exits. All three are top tier EBs and would ake them over GS/MS anyday imo. Moelis NY is a tier below, then Laz SF/CVP SF/Moelis SF. I'd say the SF shops will make it hard to lateral to NY for PE/HF later on, and traditionally analyst exits have geared less towards buyout PE and more towards VC or growth, which makes sense given the Valley. This was a large part of the reason why I moved over to NY. The SF shops are also overshadowed by other big names like GS TMT or Q in SF tech banking, whereas everyone knows Moelis LA is the top shop in LA or CVP is one of the biggest M&A players in NY.