LAZ-MM, DB IBD, or MS Tech IBD

i have an offer from another West Coast industry group of a top BB (JPM/MS/GS) and another one at a top boutique in NY. for my decision, i would love to hear your input about exit opps at the West Coast BB.

If you have any venture capital aspirations, you would be very well positioned with MS Tech Coverage. Menlo Park is the epicenter of the world for the tech arena.

how about private equity from menlo park, SF, or LA?

MS tech is a very well known group anywhere. they do very well in PE recruiting.

it is in terms of both experience and prestige, likely better than LAZ or DB

MS tech hands down. MS tech is based in Menlo... you'll actually be getting a better experience and exit opps than MS tech guys in NY.

Ask around... the general consensus is that MS Tech in Menlo is only second to GS TMT in terms of all of the facts you mentioned.

can you check your pm ? jack

MS Tech is a well known group that places well in PE. The proximity to the Bay Area / Silicon Valley are a HUGE advantage...especially with the type of work that most PE firms do, you would have an edge.

Lazard is known for working its analysts to near death, but they are also very prestigious and place at PE firms like Carlyle.

Business school wise, they will give you similar experiences. The only difference would be if you feel you have a stronger fit with one firm - the better you get along with your superiors, the stronger your recommendations will be and in turn the stronger your application.

Breaking Bankers

Chase Us, Break In! http://chasingconsultantsbreakingbankers.blogspot.com/

First of all, thanks for all the advice fellas. Few more questions.

Does MS Tech still have the ability to place into non-VC PE stuff? Like if I was more interested in LBO-type work rather than angel investing. Would I be at a disadvantage if I wanted to break out of silicon valley afterward and do something in NY? I like Tech now, but I acknowledge the fact that I'm 22 and don't really know shit....just want to make sure I wouldn't be at a disadvantage to others if I wanted to go to NY after my analyst years -- it seemed like most of the analysts at MS Tech placed into buy-side shops in the area.

Breakingbankers: I know that Lazard typically has that reputation and places extremely well at PE firms, but does that generalization hold up with Lazard MM as well?

Also, does any of the advice change if M&A at BAML is thrown into the mix?

My main concern about DB would be if I got thrown into a group that I didn't really like. I feel like I have no control over that at this point.

MS Tech in Menlo Park is one of the stronger tech groups and will place into any megafund. I know a guy personally who went to one (KKR, TPG, SL). The move from Silicon Valley to New York is something that I know little about - and, frankly, I have worries about that as well - but from what I gather doing IB in the west coast doesn't preclude you from moving to New York later on.

Lazard MM does not place into megafund PE nearly as well as their traditional namesake - I would avoid, given your other options (unless you really want to do mid-market deals).

M&A at BoA-ML would arguably give you broader exit opps, but not necessarily better. MS is still a golden egg in terms of placing into top PE funds and their tech group is stellar out there. Not sure you can say the same about M&A at BoA-ML.

I would put the preference order as so:

1. MS Tech
2. BoA-ML M&A
3. DB Generalist
4. Lazard MM

MS Tech does great in PE recruiting, particularly in the bay area. Coming from the west coast and going to the East is more challenging, but not impossible. The west coast ibd community is pretty small, and then post-analyst finance jobs so few, so you're working with small numbers here. Its not common, but its partially a function of many west coast people coming out to the west coast because it suited them. My friends who wanted to go back east/didn't care about location after analyst life have not had trouble finding gigs back east.

that being said, if LBOs on the buyside is your goal, SF is probably the best place to be, after New York.

MS tech will place you the best into PE, no questions asked. However, do you want no life for 2 years, literally. You HAVE to live in Menlo Park or the close surrounding areas at MS Tech. San Fran is just too far of a commute. It would be very rare that you ever got into SF for a night. I literally think if you did MS Tech you would not get laid for 2 years, and would not have anywhere near the social network that you would in NY, where if you get out at 12am you can still go out.

That said, if you are from stanford, than you will have many friends in the area and it's a different story.

Also, I don't know about you, but I have never met more socially awkward ppl than at the MS Tech office. If you can work with those analysts for 2 years, go for it. I would go insane if those were my coworkers. Don't underestimate the social aspect of a job.

Look you got into MS Tech, obviously you are very smart and would be a top top top analyst at DB. If you are THAT good at DB, you will have great exits. Go DB, better culture, you are in NY and can have fun when your 22-23 and still land a great job.

Elaborate on the group, westfald please?

Isn't Lazard MM simply an middle-market ibank that Lazard bought in the past 3 years to increase its market share in the MM? From what I understand, the culture, people, and exit opps there are completely separate from 'Lazard' (Freres).

Hmmm, MS would be my top choice because you can probably get some cool biz school recs for Stanford. BOA-ML and DB would be below Lazard, I think the Lazard name looks better...thats just me though.

Of course I would not want to live in Menlo Park over NYC ever, so if I were you I'd pick Lazard haha

I have a friend who worked at MS Tech Menlo Park for two years, and while he said it was a ton of hard work with grueling hours, he really enjoyed working there. This is what he's told me about the office.

MS Tech Menlo Park have some of the strongest deal flow in the industry. If you read WSJ today, the deal on the front page is being run out of MS Tech Menlo Park. It has been featured in Business Week as a group well-known for the high quality of its Tech IPOs (just do a search on Google).

MS Tech Menlo Park is also one of the few groups at MS that executes its own M&A rather than outsourcing this work to MS M&A (I think the Global Head of Tech M&A sits in that office). This is the group that took Google public, advised on DoubleClick / Google, aQuantive / Microsoft, First Data / KKR, Yahoo / Microsoft (before it fell apart), and the list goes on.

Now, if you are the type of person who views an Investment Banking Analyst program as a stepping stone to Private Equity, then you should know that, every year, the group generally sends 1 analyst to TPG, 1 to Silver Lake, and others to Francisco Partners, General Atlantic, etc, and these are all PE firms that consistently send Pre-MBA associates to Harvard or Stanford business school.

Also, keep in mind that the group has 5-7 analysts per year, and not all of these analysts want to work in PE. The ones that don't want to work in PE either stay with the firm or move to Corporate Development positions with companies like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, etc.

I don't think you'll find even remotely comparable deal flow or exit opportunities at DB or Lazard MM, even if you're a top analyst.

The only "downside," as others have mentioned, is that you live in Menlo Park, one of the most temperate and naturally beautiful (not to mention affluent) regions of the Bay Area (if not the entire country). Admittedly, living here is a terrible and miserable fate that is more than worthy of bemoaning. But all joking aside, there will certainly be less of a night life in Menlo Park than in NYC, and you probably won't be able make it up to San Francisco anytime you want.

That being said, you have to ask yourself what's more important to you. Sure, you can work at DB or Lazard MM in NYC, enjoy the "nightlife" there, kicking it with "models and bottles" (like AJ), and get "laid" by different girls every night (and of course this will occur with 100% certainty 'cause you're in NYC...Right?...Right?), but this will be at the expense of the tremendous opportunities that would be available to you at MS Tech Menlo Park. If the prospect of those "rewards" is enough to entice you to choose Lazard MM or DB in NYC over MS Tech Menlo Park, then you probably wouldn't have been a good fit with the group anyway, and you should make the decision to simply go with the offers in NYC.

But if you value the deal flow and exit opportunities more...then I think the answer to your question is more than obvious.

reallycoolguy, you seem a bit defensive of both Menlo Park and MS tech for it to be your friend.

A bit of hyperbole in your post for sure, but I don't want to get into an argument on the Internet with you over it.

It's possible that I said that just to conceal my identity...

This really isn't that difficult of a decision, the drop off between MS tech and DB/LAZ mm is huge. If your goal is megafund PE, MS tech will give you more options BY FAR. If your goal is to just get a buyside gig in NY post analyst stint then its closer but pretty comparable IMO.

Bottomline: if you really want to do your analyst stint in NY, take DB or LAZ mm. If you don't mind as much about location and care more about your experience, it's MS hands down. Also keep in mind that this decision isn't only going to affect your PE placement. If you decide to go corporate or b-school, MS will still give you a distinct advantage.