Currently interviewing for a VC Associate role (pre-MBA), a FAANG PM Role, and have 2 Series A funded startup offers for product/growth. Does it make sense to wait until I can get MBB experience?

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Your plan doesnt make much sense. One doesn't just plan to be a founder at a particular age and then timebox it to 5 years lol. No successful entrepreneur starts a company for the sake of getting into VC. If your end goal is VC then it's much better to be PM at an early stage company than at MBB. HBS/GSB would also be more useful than MBB.

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Absolutely.

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If you want to be a VC partner go to the VC fund or the series A startups - whichever of the three you have the most conviction in. Will definitely be more valuable experience than MBB for your goals.

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Agree for sure. MBB is great but not the end all be all - and very different from startup roles. It will prepare you well, sure, but if your long term goals are to be in VC or in a startup, then you get way more from trying to do that early vs later.

For many, having MBB helps break in. If you’ve already broken in to a decent spot, then you don’t need it. The piece around experience is true but you can’t be 100% prepared for everything. The kind of path you write out isn’t one you can plan.

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What kind of experience do you need for a VC associate role?

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If you actually want to be a founder, joining a startup is the best bet. No level of consulting actually prepares for the day to say challenges of being on the business side of a startup (personal opinion: came from tier 2 consulting to growth series A)

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People -leave- MBB to get the roles you mentioned. No reason to go with MBB at all if you can get one of those offers. You’ll just be taking a detour instead of working toward your goals.

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How did you get the Series A offer for Product? I am targeting those but because I don’t have Product experience, I’m having a hard time. Wharton MBA here..

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I responded in detail on the main thread. Please have a look and let me know if that was helpful and if you have any additional questions.

Mainly concerned around long term impact on career growth and trajectory. 2-3 years at MBB can help anchor my work experience and position me for a more senior role at a fund or startup down the road, so I’m not sure opportunity cost of leaving current position to non-MBB is worth it. Would love to know your thoughts as well. I don’t see myself going back to b-school or working in ‘someone else’s startup’. If I were to leave to a startup it would have to be my own.

Ideal career path would have been Big 4 -> MBB (Late 20s) -> FAANG (2 years max) -> Founder (35-40) -> VC Partner (40s).

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Appreciate all the responses. Let me try my best to give a detailed response for those of you curious about the startup path. I am a state school graduate from a Tier 2/3 school working at a non-MBB firm. I knew my interest was eventually breaking into venture so I hired professional mentorship/coaching services from a reputable firm around 4.5 years ago. They helped me lay out a framework and actionable long term plan focused around three areas:
1. Expanding my network
- reached out to startup founders and VCs (paid for additional networking tools) - used alt travel to work remote from different cities on Fridays, taking advantage of in-person opportunities to grab coffee with VCs/founders
- made multiple introductions between VCs and Founders - one which resulted in a Series B funding round

2. Making the most out opportunities available within my current firm
- I cannot say much here because it would be a giveaway as to my identity. All I can say is I’ve done two very unique roles including being the Product Manager for a custom build app that we helped a client go to market with, as well as a PE due diligence project. Two very different skillsets but I’ve covered both.

3. Picking a domain/vertical I’m passionate about
- attended (on my own dime) multiple tech conferences a year for past 3-4 years and met additional founders/VCs

Both startup offers + VC Associate role were not a result of a short-term interest - both were a result of around 4 years of consistent effort, gaining the correct client experiences, building out a network, gaining a twitter following, and understanding the end to end market pulse of the domain/vertical that I’ve actively been tracking.

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Not sure how this matters in your decision making - just go for it! If your end goal is truly what you say it is, MBB doesn’t need to be part of the path to get there. It sounds like you want MBB as a fallback option in case you have a wrinkle along the way, but you gotta shoot for the stars not plan for contingencies in a hypothetical and uncertain scenario like this

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