got into M7 deferred MBA - when should I go?
I was recently accepted into a non HSW M7 program for deferred enrollment (2-5 years). I just started IB in NYC and would like to eventually break into VC. Should I head straight to MBA after 2 years of IB?
Interested to hear what others have to say, but I know that people normally do IB -> PE/VC -> MBA business schools">M7 -> back to PE/VC. It would probably be in your best interest to break in after your analyst stint, because a decent amount of people placing at PE/VC shops after business school were already in the industry prior to attending. Perhaps, if you strike out with buyside recruiting then you can just go to business school instead of continuing on to the associate track.
just my opinion, I don't have any experience with this.
I would say if you can get into a great buyside role (MF) after your analyst stint then you could go 2 years analyst, 2 years assoc at PE, B-school, then go back into PE to a UMM firm as a VP/Principal with a clearer track to Partner. For large PE funds, the upward mobility is less certain so you can leverage that experience in post-MBA PE recruitment.
If you can't get a good buyside gig after your analyst stint then I would say go to b-school right away. The thing is post-MBA PE recruitment isn't as structured as buyside recruiting for Analysts and the roles are generally VP/Principal level. But if you go after 2 years in banking you could still potentially get a Sr. Associate role given you would be on the younger side of b-school candidates.
Just my take, not that interested in buyside but speaking from what I've seen colleagues do.
I'm just an analyst but OP clearly said he wants VC so the MF/UMM/PE Fiasco isnt worth his time lol
Ah if its VC only then I agree with you. I looked the first reply above and saw VC/PE so I wrote it based on PE lol.
If OP is set on VC then you can go straight to b school after analyst stint. From my colleagues in VC, its primarily network driven which is the main reason to go to an MBA business schools">M7. You'll amass an impressive network of people that can hopefully lead to a good pipeline of investments.
Why not get some VC experience before the mba? I think that would provide you with not a better grasp of early-stage investing, but also a more structured plan as to how you hope to leverage the mba.
As mentioned above, it will also make a major difference in post-mba recruiting. I would shoot for 2 years of banking, 2 years of VC, and then the mba
thanks for the replies guys. One piece of info I was given is that everyone is on the same playing field when it comes to recruiting out of MBA (since there are so many career switchers) so in that case it would make sense for me to go to B school right after 2 years in banking. It seems like the main reason why people do IB then PE/VC then MBA is because MBA programs are reluctant to accept candidates with only 2 years of WE but this deferred opportunity makes it possible to go after 2 yrs. Any thoughts?
While I think that business schools love to sell the narrative that "everyone is on the same playing field when it comes to recruiting out of MBA", I did not find that to be true at all. It is likely to be most true for roles that have structured recruiting paths (Consulting, Investment Banking, Corporate Dev Roles). However, when it comes to securing a seat that does not have a structured recruiting path, it is not as straightforward and firms value prior experience a lot more.
For one, these other roles (IB/Cons/Corp Dev) have relatively structured training programs/resources that can smooth out whatever gaps in training you may have and that means firms are more comfortable leaning on abilities/values/personality vs. skills. On the buyside, these programs do not exist to the same extent and they expect hires to be able to hit the ground running and to add value much more quickly. Additionally, these firms (excluding a number of PE firms who treat the H/S universe as more of a structured pipeline) are often going to be comparing candidates without an MBA, but 6 or so years of relevant experience to a candidate coming out of an MBA program. In your case, a VC firm would be comparing a candidate who did 2 yrs IB/2-4yrs VC or a full 4-6 yrs VC vs. 2yrs IB + MBA. For what it's worth on VC in particular, I think they are much more willing to take shots on interesting candidates with compelling stories/backgrounds and no direct VC experience relative to PE firms.
Full Disclosure: I went to a top 10 MBA program after a number of years at a HF. While I really enjoyed my time at MBA program and my reasons going there were rather unusual, it definitely very little to advance my career. As desired, I returned to HF universe post-graduation and my MBA had little to do with anything (i.e. I was hired because it was a job I had already done).
Great insight yahoo. Question, how did you go about post-MBA HF recruiting? Did your school’s career center help or did you mainly use your personal network and/or headhunters you knew before b-school?
Thanks!
Hey Op — also a deferred admit here to MBA business schools">M7 so take with grain of salt. But wouldn’t it make sense to leverage your banking experience / headhunters to land something after your analyst stint? Maybe it’s a growth equity role, maybe something in VC, maybe a certain strategy within a larger PE fund. I imagine even one year of investing experience before b school would help cement your story better and provide anecdotal evidence of “I like this part about investing, but am more interested in VC now for xyz reasons”.
Either way congrats on admittance!
Generally agree with the comments on here, feels like a lot of thoughtful takes. Only thing I would add is getting some sort of “promotion” prior to B-school can be very helpful with recruitment. This especially holds true for VC as you’ll be more of an owner (sourcing deals, etc.) as opposed to crunching models in certain PE roles. Obviously if you can get any VC experience prior to MBA I’d do that, but even an associate strategy role could be helpful just to show some career progression.
What about doing IB for a bit and then working at startups? From what I know about VC generally (not late stage stuff), they want to see experience in startups or familiarity with products. If you want to do early stage VC, experience at a startup would give you a ton of experience and keep your options flexible. If its shitty you can start your MBA a year after banking, if its great you can do it for 3 years, if it goes extremely well then you probably started an amazing company and can jump to VC or let it ride.
Going to disagree with a lot the comments so far - you SHOULD NOT go to business school after your two year Analyst stint. Almost all VC/Growth Equity funds recruit IB Analysts to come on as a Pre-MBA Associate, so by starting in IB you are in prime position to break into VC/Growth directly. Most of these Pre-MBA Associate roles are not partner track, so the expectation is you’d go to b-school and then recruit for a Post-MBA role. This is a very common path and would set you up well for later stage VC and/or Growth funds that value the IB skillset.
There’s also an argument that could be made to do 2 years at a tech startup after 2 years in IB, then get your MBA and recruit for VC out of school with both IB and start-up experience. This path would make you particularly attractive to the earlier stage VC funds that value some operating experience.
In either case, getting some sort of additional experience to complement 2 years of IB before b school will serve you well and make you a more attractive candidate for Post-MBA recruiting. Regardless of what admissions says, the MBA is not a complete reset especially when it comes to buyside roles. More Pre-MBA experience = better.
Plus, you’ll simply get more out of your MBA with 2x the experience under your belt. IMO 2 years experience is not enough to be ready for school.
Source: I was admitted to a similar deferred admissions program a few years ago and have spent a lot of time thinking and talking to others about when to go.
100%, you can definitely get an associate role at a VC after 2 years of IB, and this is far preferable to only having IB experience coming out of MBA
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