There is no straight path to success, but what does WSO think about each of these avenues?
Many students feel like the corporate, or BB route is the only path out of college. Everyone has opinions but what are the pros and cons of these careers from people who work in the professions?
I mainly see it as a risk / reward tradeoff, but the enjoyment gap is also significant.
I personally want to do: Undergrad -> BB/Consulting -> MBA -> Entrepreneurship
Why? I figure by the time I finish undergrad, two year analyst stint, and MBA I will have the tools (knowledge, network, experience) to build a successful business.
Don't do BB if you want to do Entrepreneurship. If anything do accounting.
My opinion? Being an entrepreneur is 10x better than being in IB. Also the pay is significantly higher. Most of you guys think MD's make boat loads of money, and although they make a lot of money, they don't make near what you guys think.
MD's do not make 6-7 million dollars a year, they make 1-2 maybe 3 max. Being an entrepreneur in my opinion brings in a higher pay if you do it correctly. It does not have to be just tech as well.
Let me add to my lifelong career goal:
Undergrad (4 years) -> BB/Consulting (2 years) -> MBA (2 years) -> Entrepreneurship (10 years) -> Venture Capitalism (10 years)
After my second or third IPO (I kid I kid) I think it would be great to go into VC and watch other innovate ideas flourish. My career plan seems a bit too structured and will probably not turn out the way I just posted. Regardless, would be nice to retire by 45.
Sorry but This is a really bad argument... the "if you do it correctly part" is actually the main point. Pay is also far higher in Professional soccer or Tennis, or showbiz... if you do it correctly...
The truth is that the average random banker that is not too dumb will clear 300k / year after a few years The average random guy who tries to be a soccer player will fail and play on the beach with his friends. The average random actor will get a subpar 3rd role in an unknown shitty movie then look for an other career. The average random entrepreneur will set a shitty business that will burn 15 000 $ then fail, or barely survive.
yes, Zuckerberg is far richer at 27 than 100% of bankers will ever be... But how many failures for 1 facebook ?
I ain't type A.
Entrepreneur is the best if you have the right ideas and skills to make them work. If not, Consulting/IB is my thought.
don't let your education get in the way of your learning -mt
Love how people act as if entrepreneurship is just another career path that you can embark on after you graduate. Unless you're a programmer, it's kind of hard to start a business when your parents aren't rich and you have tens of thousands of dollars in student loans. Are you guys just planning on coding websites and phone apps?
When BBs, MCs and Entrepreneurship are all available to someone (sadly speaking, it is not the case for many capable people), I believe it is better to go BBs/MCs first. After getting the knowledge and network, it is no doubt to start your own business.
Going into entrepreneurship doesn't have to mean starting a business. The tech world is currently flushed with more money than it has been since the late 90s and a lot of mid- and late-state startups have huge amounts of capital to pay employees well. One misconception of the tech world I think is that people see it as this huge binary payoff - go broke or become a millionaire. I would argue that in reality the distribution is much more normal than that. A lot of people are making 100-150k salary with stock options that may or may not eventually be worth a lot. But being at a failed startup gives you a lot of experience and people normally join or start another startup. The industry definitely takes a lot of perseverance. But take a longer term view of things - what sector does the world need growth in in order to increase the standard of living, science & technology or finance?
I also wouldn't necessarily focus on IPOs as an exit. You can get establish some stable, regional businesses, hire a manager, and let them operate as cash cows. They don't even need to be related. A stable of businesses throwing off a hundred or two thousand in profit each makes for a very nice lifestyle.
One of these choices is not like the others...
If I remember correctly from my undergrad class most successful entrepreneurs start businesses in industries where they already have experience (this is consistent across sectors). Therefore, you, as a recent / current student, with no network, expertise or experience are even less likely to be successful than other entrepreneurs. You bring little to the table. Unlike banking or consulting, hard work alone isn't going to get you results.
Before someone mentions a technology kid who made it big while in undergrad, consider whether or not they have been coding since before puberty (i.e. they have 10+ years of experience & expertise by the time they're at university).
which is why a BB does not foster an entrepreneurial environment.
You can't start an investment bank until your 40+, if you work for a large medical corporation, you can easily spot a negative aspect of the system and exploit it (for example) before you are 30
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