Joining a Startup Out of College is “Hard”

Chris Dixon posted an article a few months ago on the lack of fresh grads joining startups, where he ended with:

“Whenever I see a brilliant kid decide to join Goldman Sachs, McKinsey, or Google, I think to myself: a startup just died, and as a result our world is a little less wealthy, innovative, and interesting.”

I agree that this is an issue. I was not “brilliant” enough for a Goldman, McK, or Google; but I did decide to become an investment banker. My reasons were simple: (perceived) security, exceptional compensation, and “prestige”, which is really the same thing as security. When I looked at startups (which I did, as I had failed at starting a company in college), I did not see those things, and that scared me awayt. I also did not have much to look at; my alma mater was a great conduit for finance jobs, but finding opportunities at startups was a challenge.

Obviously, I am not the only one who has had this issue; I get emails everyday from undergrads and recent alums in the exact same situation, with the exact same confusion, and without the frothy job market of 2006.

Fortunately, the solution seems to be in slow effect: a friend of mine from Penn recently told me that Andreessen Horowtiz was recruiting on campus, not for the fund itself, but for junior positions in their portfolio companies. After hearing that, I thought it was just brilliant; venture funds should be hiring junior talent directly. If I was hired by Sequoia for a junior BD or PM role at a startup, or even a rotational program between Sequoia’s portfolio companies, I might have foregone wall street altogether:

Brand Value: for undergrads, especially at “higher tier” schools, brand-name resume builders are craved. Having venture funds recruit and directly hire for startups solves this problem, as in the example above: being hired by Sequoia into some kind of “startup-development” program. Turn it into a rotational program, and the brand+experience is more valuable than any investment banking or consulting program (especially for applying to business school, which is an appealing “hook” for most).

Compensation: this needs to be on par with other, more immediately attractive career paths. Foregoing the wall street bonuses is obvious, but comparable salary? Maybe student loan subsidizing? Paying student loans is a common reason for going after the larger compensation packages wall street offers, so getting help here would be another attractive hook.

Security: the perceived security that comes with “Sequoia” is higher to most of the students in question, than that of Sequoia’s portfolio companies (at least for the most part). This is optics, but optics matter; the rather hefty influx of resumes Andreessen Horowtiz received (or so I heard) attests to this.

Venture-driven junior recruitment could be a simple solution to an obvious problem of confusion and misdirection, for countless talented undergrads. Especially nowadays, with so many 22 year olds graduating not only jobless, but clueless as well, what great timing (and messaging) for funds to invest in expanding future human capital.