[gumby]

> ...it seems like being a trader in NY would be more prestigious and probably way more lucrative in terms of compensation.

Basically this is the case. In the case of compensation you get a piece of a much larger n (how many deals does a single VC do (and how much of the proceeds does an associate get -- none or almost none)). And in terms of private equity the VC industry as a whole is a barely visible bump -- there are many private equity firms each larger than the entire VC industry.