West Coast vs. NY Exit Opps
Hey guys, I just recently accepted an offer in the SF bay area with a BB for banking in tech. Just wanted to get your thoughts on what the exit opps are like on the west coast for tech....
It seems like in NY, 1st years are approached like 6 months into the job by headhunters and can secure an offer 1 year into their job for PE/HF (give or take). There's a lot of buy side recruiting in NY obviously, but there's also a ton of analysts. It seems like there's a decent amount of buy side recruiting (PE, VC) on the west coast as well, but a fraction of the analysts.
I'm interested in PE and VC, so given the supply and demand b/w the East and West Coast, could you guys elaborate on the transition from banking to buy side on the west coast, namely for technology? (ex. the firms, difficulty, the process, VC vs. PE, comp, hours, interviewing, etc.)
Thanks!!!
SF: Great for PE/VC for Tech
You are wrong about the 1st year crap. Hiring right now is pretty shitty, most bankers are doing 2 to 3 years before moving over (if at all). By the time you're out it should be fine but this is from the NYC office. I hear SF would be much better due to less analysts as you mentioned as well as tech still staying strong.
If I had to start all over aiming for PE/VC I would definitely take Silicon Valley (aka SF).
If you accepted the offer already, why are you asking? Whether it's good or bad, you're stuck. If I tell you west coast exit opps suck, is that going to stop you from applying to the same places you would have otherwise? It's great that you get a self-esteem boost from anonymous college kids who don't know shit and will say yes you have a chance but stop wasting this forum's time.
chill monkey. I was more interested in the process of transitioning and some more details about it (east vs west). Quit PMSing
monkey: why wouldn't he "have a chance"? Where do you think silver lake and other pe firms out there take its kids from? There are probably 1 analyst in SF for every 10 analysts out in NY.
there's other PE firms out there other than silverlake...
never said its the only pe firm. lots more out there, vc's too.
1styearbanker, not sure where you're getting your information but top bucket analysts are still getting PE offers and jumping ship after their two year stint. OP is correct - HH's approach you about six months into your first year and you should have an offer wrapped up by the time you begin your second year. This is the case with top analysts in strong groups at GS/MS.
Timing is the same, getting noticed by HH and/or funds directly is not difficult either, if your group has a decent history of placement.
There's plenty of funds out here, both tech-focused and/or otherwise, SF is probably the second-most concentrated place after NYC for that, and you're right, there are a fraction of the analysts.
Explicitly for technology, HH will help recruit for PE (the names in that space are not that many). w.r.t VC, I think you will need to be more proactive, they don't tend to need junior staffing as much, and HH's haven't made the same inroads into that space when there are staffing needs.
i think pe hiring is preetty hard righ tnow though
tothedeath: yeah I said 2 to 3 years, and you said 2 years. I was responding to the case of moving over after 1 year. Where do we disconnect?
You wrote:
I think OP was saying that you secure an offer one year into banking, not necessarily that he's looking to jump after one year. So it is pretty common to get a PE offer after one year of banking - you are generally expected to honor your two year contract in banking prior to joining the buy-side though.
Oh ok, I know most of my peers are not having as much luck "securing" a PE offer after just 1 year, which is my honest assessment. Some get approached but its a lot harder than before. You're probably at a better bank :)
Not to steal the op's thread but on a related note, does anyone know a good place to live out in San Fran? I was thinking Soma but perhaps financial district would be a better idea?
depends on what kind of neighborhood you want to live in.
financial district is dead after 5pm. certain parts of SOMA are a warzone (starting around 4~6th st and above) though i think southbeach would be nice.
mission is for trust fund hipsters and the marina is for white frat boys.
russian hill is nice, kinda like the marina, but a bit older, like 30's, and less crazy.
Thanks everyone for your replies. It's definitely cleared up a few things. I think I'll just focus on doing a good job now and worry about recruiting a few months in. I still haven't graduated lol....
Living in SF sounds great, though its real expensive. A lot of offices out there are in Menlo Park and Palo Alto, and living there would probably be like 400 bucks cheaper per month. All the places between San Jose and San Fran seem real suburban though.
^ Menlo Park and Palo Alto are very expensive areas to live in, more so than SF. It's easier to find cheap rents in a city.
Totally dependent on your bank. Our bank doesn't make it too tough but others vary. Just ask around and see if it is a common occurrence.
Had a friend at JPM Healthcare group in SF who moved over to a VC covering healthcare. Pretty sure he stayed in the area.
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