PHD->MBB/quant/swe -> VC?

I just defended my dissertation for my PHD in applied+computational math at a top school (think stanford/mit/princeton/harvard), and I have a few job offers. I really want to get out of academia, and I dont want to earn minimum wage as a post doc for 5 years b4 reaching tenure. My end goal is venture capital, but I also really want to make some money asap (I've been earning under living wage for the past 5 years). Here are my offers:

Top Tech company - Google/FB level - sf: 300k, but i think i can negotiate a higher sign-on to make it ~3350k

Quant Research at a Citadel/de shaw/jane street type place (ny/chicago): 425k

Mckinsey/Bain - (ny at one, sf at other): standard post-mba offer ~200k 


I have done internships at the first 2, and have close connections/friends there, but I dont know anyone in consulting or vc.

Thanks

 

I would probably rank it

SWE->MBB->Quant->Gov’t

my reasoning is you can probably do SWE then go to a start up then VC as the easiest route. I’m sure MBB is also possible but usually you’re consulting for large corporations not start ups so you’re playing in a different world than VCs. Quants just make a shit ton of money but I don’t think it would be too relevant to VC (unless you did the start up route first but that’s a reach) 

Edit: I’m just a 1st year in IB so I don’t have great insight, this is just my opinion from what I’ve seen/read. Hope others with more info will chime in. 

 

I heard that mbb to vc is common, but swe to vc requires product and startup experience. How true is this?

 
Most Helpful

It's very true. Think of the skill sets required. VC is largely a sourcing + network driven ecosystem. Your pedigree is great and all, but honestly not much value add given VC's don't really need your depth of knowledge to understand & invest in most companies. On the flip side seed stage VC (where perhaps deep technical expertise would add more value) is turning into a complete and utter clusterfuck of writing checks and hoping one hits unicorn status.

This is the same reason SWE -> VC is not common and generally difficult.

 

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