M7 Admit Looking to Enter PE: start w a small fund vs. BB/EB Investment Banking?

I've been fortunate enough to be admitted to an M7 B-School (obvious which school given the timing of the admittance). My background is Boutique M&A in SEA (SEA resident) doing local deals, typically around $20-50 million and my GMAT is in the top percentile.

I'm under no illusions that I stand a chance at getting into a Megafund but looking the M7 admits with similar backgrounds as me (SEA school, local IB experience, M7 B-School), they've mostly gone into BB or EB Investment Banking so I feel like I can be competitive there. That said, I am primarily interested in getting buy-side experience and prestige isn't much of a factor for me (and neither is compensation past a certain point where I'll be able to pay off loans related to B-school) so I'm also considering smaller US based PE funds and SEA PE funds (these guys typically have $10-15m minimum investment sizes to give an idea of their size). Would it be worth it to get started in PE earlier and get the experience if my long term plan is to return to my country in 15-20 years or is it a safer bet to go into BB/EB IB and then transition to a larger PE fund in a couple of years?

 

it's incredibly difficult to get a post-MBA PE job without prior PE experience. Especially, if you're coming from a no name boutique IB. Just work hard, network like crazy and hope that you get lucky enough to get in at a small non-name PE firm. From there, again work hard and then try to move up to a legit lower MM fund. Moving up-market is also very difficult.

 

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