How Do Startup Internships Look for TMT IBD Recruiting?
Hi all, I'm a sophomore at a HYPS school looking to recruit for TMT IBD for summer 2023. This past summer, I interned at a mid-large sized tech company (~1B revenue) as a product management intern. I'm interested in VC/growth equity long-term (and want to keep short-term options open), which is why I want to recruit for TMT banking.
This winter, I also plan on interning at a VC firm ($300-500M AUM). For next summer, I'm considering recruiting for product management roles at either big tech (think Poshmark or Upwork) or a Series A startup (20-30 employees). Would doing a 2022 tech internship (in addition to the one I did last summer) make me a worse candidate since I could seem less dedicated to finance? Would it matter if it was at big tech/startup?
Would the "I want to do VC so I wanted to get both product and finance experience" argument be compelling or do banks only want people who are dead set on banking?
You’re definitely going to need to show a concrete interest in banking / M&A to be competitive IMO. For what it seems like you’re just gunning for VC and have a great resume for VC/ maybe even early growth equity shops - but IB usually happens much later in a company’s life cycle, has a somewhat completely different work environment re: constant transaction closing / sales / banking hours etc. It’s just nothing on your resume says you’re actually interested in IB , even if everyone secretly is planning to exit ASAP - I don’t think you should come across as that so early
Dude TBH they're not going to look at your CV, see you worked as a PM intern at some tech company and then think you're going to be fit for the TMT SA spot. They're much more likely to give it to someone with a demonstrated interest in corporate finance and advisory who can just articulate a sound interest and understanding of the TMT landscape.
3 internships that all point to VC (2 of which are basically the same thing) could work against you pretty badly... just my .02
Update: Ended up signing with one of GS TMT/MS M&A/EVR M&A/PJT RSSG
cool
BeveragedFinance liquidiot Thanks for the feedback! What kind of experience for next summer do you think would better signal that I'm interested in IBD?
Anecdotally, I've seen many people do VC internships and then get IBD internships. I've also heard many people say they "had no idea what they wanted to do" and do banking internships. What do you think of these cases? I mean people do change their minds right? Is this something the interviewers would understand?
Don’t listen to these other people.
You’re at a top school with finance internships under your belt (even if not banking). If you have a good GPA and come off as a normal person in interviews you’ll be totally fine for SA.
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