Have offers from Houlihan Lokey, Jefferies, and Terra Firma (UK private equity company) - all for London office.
Just wondering which do you think will be best for Silicon Valley VC?
Edit: Regardless of which offer I take I imagine I will have to do a MBA in the US before moving into VC.
Some pro/cons of each I have researched:
- Houlihan is headquartered in LA, and is pretty strong in CA. Have talked to one of the analysts and he hinted at possibility of moving to a CA office after a few years in London, but I'm not sure what the process is for this or how feasible it is.
- Jefferies' only real advantage I can see in their favour is that they do bigger deals than Houlihan, but correct me if I'm wrong, I dont think that really matters in terms of breaking into VC, and I imagine in VC since you work with early-stage companies it my be advantageous to work at a shop that does smaller deals?
- Terra Firma, private equity firm, ie. buy later-stage companies than you'd be looking at in VC. Work is the most similar to VC I figure, but the grad programme is 3 years long with 5 rotations of 6/7 months each in:
Investor Relations; Portfolio Business Finance; Portfolio Business Operations; CEO Rotation (ie. you spend 6/7 months as the CEO's PA); Deal Origination
What do you guys think I should go for to maximise my chances of breaking into VC?
I can tell you that you don't want to go to Jefferies London. Their deal flow is pretty poor and they are weak in most sectors, plus they have the most depressing office you've ever seen. I'd take the Houlihan out of all of those options.
damn, thanks for telling me this :D
Asatar, not a fan of upper thames street I take it?
If you are banking on mobility within a firm, i think you could roll the dice on Jefferies as well, not just for Houlihan. Jefferies SF has a good tech team, that could be a good office to transfer to if you're interested in VC/that vertical.
Not sure how any of them would help will a move to Silicon Valley VC. Heck only way I see that transition happening is if you do 2 yrs IB + 2 yrs buyside then go to Stanford GSB.
With regards to making yourself competitve for buyside recruiting, I think HL is your best bet
Thanks for the input.
Yes, I envisaged I would do 2 years IB (LDN) + at least 1 year IB (NY or LA/SF), then MBA in the US and then VC. Does that sound feasible?
My ideal path is similar to OPs:
2 years IB analyst (preferably LA) 1-2 year(s) IB analyst SF MBA (UCLA/USC/Haas) 2 years PE assoc
Then the glorious exit to VC
Thoughts?
how did you get an offer for terra firma already? i was under the impression that they didn't have their AC yet?
I think Jefferies is a stronger name in Europe than HLHZ- don't know about their London office culture etc though.
Would opt for Houlihan, think about TF certainly not Jefferies
I hope OP was able to extend his offer deadline 5 years since his original post...
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