Currently, a VC associate executing early stage investments (Series A and B) primarily around fintech, SaaS, infrastructure; But i'm growing more and more dissatisfied with VC; I like the work, but feel like there really isn't much to learn and its always about trusting your gut at the end of the day; Terribly long feedback loops as well and the comp is horrible.
Trying to figure out alternatives and want to move back to NYC. Has anyone seen a VC make a jump to a HF? Does anyone have advice? I really don't want to go to bschool.
You probably can't do this unless you (i) worked for an elite investment banking group (e.g., Laz/Evr/GS TMT/PJT/MS M&A or maybe a rung below those), (ii) worked for a top 5 VC firm by AUM (e.g., Accel, Sequoia, etc.), (iii) accept a rather weak HF position (e.g., sub $500mm AUM without much pedigree or track record) or (iv) have otherwise exceptional credentials to where people might give you a pass (e.g., Summa Cum Laude Princeton). I would suggest you go to B-school and try to get into investment banking or PE first if those conditions aren't met, though do feel free to try. It's not that one job is "harder" than the other, but they are hard in different ways. Working at a hedge fund requires a far, far sharper public markets finance acumen than working in venture capital and you likely will lack this skill set unless you have the right background and training. It's not that hedge fund people are "smarter" but I do think it's very reasonable to assume they could get to an answer 10x+ faster than you, because they might be just better at processing public financials than you (which doesn't require genius, just a lot of practice for many years).
How are you at self-directed personal investing? It's pretty much a different sport in HF investing (i.e. time horizon, psychology, expectations, liquidity, competition, portfolio turnover, etc)
Are there any Tech-focused HFs around? Perhaps as someone from VC, you have a special knowledge set or you're able to better articulate what's going on within the Tech industry... might be valuable to a PM
Exactly what poster said above. The reason is simply that there are not a lot of transferable skills that you can take from VC over to HF -- maybe domain knowledge, but that in and of itself is not enough for a fund to hire you if you don't have any buyside experience in either private or public marking working with financials/models. Therefore, you would have to lean on your experience prior to VC, which I assume is banking, but that is usually not enough unless you have some sort of hook or personal connection like previous poster said where the HF would be willing to make an exception. That is assuming that you want to move to a reputable HF. I'm sure there are plenty of startup or smallish funds that can't pay competitively, given their size, and would be willing to hire someone who is otherwise smart and capable for a fraction of the price in exchange for providing that person an opportunity to break into the industry. But even then, that's a hard sell...
I find it very interesting that anyone who is 'in vc' posts on this site. If you were truly in VC at a somewhat reputable place, even geographically reputable you would have been forced to network and make connections as an effect of your day to day job. Speak with people in your network, GPs, LPs, Principals, etc. They'll actually be able to help you. Similarly, if you're smart enough / hustle enough to get into VC you should be able to get into an HF regardless of current financial literacy. There are value investment shops, family offices that would take you.
Short answer: no, i've never met an analyst at a HF who came from VC.
I was going to say it might work in super niche fields like biopharma/life sciences stocks, but you mention you're in fintech.
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