NYC - Growth Equity and Pros & Cons

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Welcome back!

Today’s piece is part of my City Guide series. After spending a lot of time on fast growing, warmer weather states, we’re focusing on the #1 market in the U.S. - New York.

IMO, New York is the best city for the beginning of your career.

I’ve put together a large list of NYC Private equity firms and NYC Investment banks, with a list of a few dozen growth equity firms at the end of this piece. Additionally, a later piece on Credit firms in NYC is coming. There’s also a large list of NYC based firms on Buyside Hub as well.

Before I get into the list, I wanted to emphasize why NYC, despite its flaws, remains THE place to be in finance.

NYC Won:

What we need to talk about right off the bat is the fact that NYC won. It’s over, NYC won.

While there are a lot of jobs heading to Dallas, NYC and the return to office trend is winning. The short-term tailwinds to other cities coming out of covid are dying down. Rates have stayed high, pushing labor back into a weakened negotiating position, and driving a steady return to office and pre-covid norms. 2024/2025 is the timeframe where a lot of 3-day/week folks from 2021-2023 are now being pushed back in 5-days a week.

There are still tax, crime, and cost of living related tailwinds that will push jobs away from NYC, but mass exodus issues coming out of 2020 did not play out.

This is the Finance Hub of the world: Almost every large buyside and sell-side institution has a presence in the city, and it’s very hard to not come across some firm that’s currently hiring. The abundance of opportunities here, even post-trading automation, is incredible. There’s so many different ways to get your foot in the door here. Like Jay Z said, if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.

Pros and Cons of NYC:

Pros:

Money, Money, Money: If you’re talented and in the right industry, you will make an ungodly amount of money very quickly. Well above $300k, but don’t let the internet (FinTwit) tell you $300k isn’t a lot of money in NYC. Especially in your mid-20s, or late 20s/early 30s. If you’re making 95^th percentile plus comp you need to realize how lucky you are compared to the median U.S. income. As a lot of the users of my Wall Street compensation platform Buyside Hub see, the path to $500k-$700k TC is very fast.

Osmosis: You’re generally surrounded by very sharp people who rub off on you. I can’t hammer this point enough. You want to be surrounded by smart people who 1) challenge you,  2) you would want to strive to be when you’re their age, and 3) instill in you their best practices and process.

Convenience: Everything you need is at the tip of your fingers, a grocery store is a stone’s throw away, and there’s a bar right on your block. That level of convenience and the multitude of options is unparalleled. And you don’t need a car to get all this. This is an amazing benefit, and I highly recommend spending some time living in a neighborhood where “you’re in the middle of everything”. It may be the only time you get to do so in your life. While I have criticisms about the externalities caused by ubereats/doordash, you can also get a shit ton of great food delivered immediately to your place.

Nightlife/Things to do: This is an expansion of the point regarding convenience. There’s an insane amount of things to do. There’s so many good restaurants and so many bars. There’s an option for whatever you want, whether it’s a cheap dive bar, a standard night out, a fancy hotel, or a fancy club, there’s plenty of options depending on the night you want. Bars close late, and there’s also afters. Given how many people are in this city it’s very easy to make friends and to find your crowd.

Dating: I actually have this section as both a pro and con, but generally think it’s significantly more of a Pro. There’s thousands of thousands of people in NYC that you generally should see yourself liking. It’s very easy to go on a date in NYC because there’s an abundant number of things to do, and because there’s so many people dating in the city. This is the most populated area in the country, there’s a very large dating pool here. The cons with dating is because there’s so many people here, you have an abundance of options that can make people overly picky and too dismissive. There’s a reason why the median age at first marriage keeps rising.

Cons:

I’ve been very vocal about wanting to get out of Manhattan at some point and that point is coming in 2026/2027, so I’ll get a bit into why this is the case.

Cost of living: Cost of living here is nuts. Taxes are very high, but rent is brutal too. That’s why if you want to save money, you need to focus on having a roommate or two. Restaurant prices for mediocre food is getting out of hand. Drink prices can be insane (outside of your local dive bar) so you need to get a sense of how much money you’re willing to spend every weekend.

Rent: Rent in the city is insane, it was just reported that the median rent for one-bedroom in Manhattan is $4.5k, up 6.4% y/y, but tbh you’ll have people paying $4k/month for a studio too. It’s bonkers, and the city is actively working to take as much money from you as possible. You don’t need to have the nicest apartment in the world - save some money. Remember, you’re supposed to spend as little time in your apartment as possible anyway, especially when you’re in your early 20s.

Weather (maybe?): I would argue the Falls have gotten a lot warmer in NYC, but the winter is not enjoyable when the wind gets rough. This February was terrible. Then on the flip side, the summers can be very muggy. This is generally why everyone who can leave, leaves, and goes abroad or goes out east (the Hamptons). Maybe talking about the weather as a negative is a bit nit-picky, but people complain every year and during most of the seasons, so this feels like it’s fair to bring up.

Crime/Dangerous Situations are very in your face: You can argue about crime rates all you want, but by far the most miserable part of NYC is crime and threats you get while being in the Subway. My two least favorite experiences were when a guy rocking back and forth right next to me said he’d stab me and when a guy, in my face, put their fingers at me in the shape of a gun and pretended to pull the trigger. The latter one really bothered me because everyone else on the subway looked awhile and pretended this guy wasn’t going crazy around me. In that situation, I tried not to look at him, while getting myself into fight or flight mode. These were two of the many deeply troubled individuals that I’ve experienced on the subway. A lot of New Yorkers have similar anecdotes. Someone having an erratic experience on the subway is at least a weekly occurrence. Sure, I’ve had people scream at me on the street, but if you stripped out the subway issues I’d be a lot more favorable on New York. Overall, it’s really important to keep your head on a swivel at all times. If someone suspect is on your side of the sidewalk, then cross to the other side. Like I said, have your head on a swivel and have strong situational awareness.

Politics: I would generally argue politics has been a con of this city. A lot of the issues the city deals with in regard to crime and cost of living are due to the poor policies that have compounded over the years. Then again, Manhattan is inherently HCOL because it’s on an island and there’s not really any more room for real housing. So that will never change unless the jobs leave.

Fresh air and space: Central Park doesn’t count. I’ve definitely longed for more fresh air, driving down country roads, and having actual space. The space part is a big thing for me, whether it’s more space in an apartment, more space without being surrounded by people, or actually being in a spacious bar instead of a jam-packed one. Or not having to worry about crossing the street, or walking normally on the sidewalks, because a doordash biker is flooring it when he shouldn’t be. One of the under-discussed problems as of late is the fact that doordash bikers are regularly racing through red lights and speeding along the sidewalks. It’s ridiculous how many times these guys have almost hit me, but I’m sympathetic to the fact they’re incentivized to deliver as many slop bowls as possible to yuppies who are too lazy to cook or walk outside and grab some food.  

Picking Where to Live:

There was a debate on X as to whether someone moving to the city should focus on space vs. location. I think the answer is to focus on location – go live in an area by everything (West Village, Soho) as opposed to opting into more space in Hudson Yards (there’s nothing to do there).

The West Village wins: The place to be, if you have a lot of money go here. Soho is very trendy as the 2^nd next best place to be.

Entry-level locations: If you work at GS or Citi, you’ll probably end up in Fidi. If you work at a bank in midtown, you’ll probably live in Murray Hill. I also think East Village and LES is great in your early 20s.

Remember, if you’re going to move to work in Manhattan, then you should reap the benefits of living in Manhattan. It’s kind of ridiculous to live in deep Brooklyn or live in Jersey early on. You should be trying to get into Manhattan and soaking it in ASAP. Sure Hoboken has a lot going on, but my point stands, don’t let the opportunity to live in Manhattan in your 20s pass you by. Move to the “last stop in the city spots” in your late 20s or 30s. By last stops, I mean the last area you’ll live in before you move to the burbs – so UES, UWS, Jersey, and Brooklyn.

So now that we’ve talked about NYC life, it’s time to include today’s list of Buyside shops - with a focus on Growth Equity for the edition.

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