Entrepreneur- need life advise (LONG post warning)

Hello guys. I am a long time lurker first time poster. I am making this post as it will now clear my mind since I have been thinking about this non stop for a while now.. I know this may be a long post but please bear with me.

I am having second thoughts about the direction of my life right now and would really appreciate everyone’s advice.

My background. Live in NYC, just graduated w/ biz management degree from Baruch college in February. Around 3.6 gpa w/ Cum laude. After graduating I took a temp job at a top BB bank doing collateral management. I just got laid off in the beginning of July due to budget/staff cuts with the temps being the first to go. I enjoyed the feeling of working at a big prestigious firm and I liked the people but at the same time they pissed me off since they were so unmotivated and were just happy to be mediocre their whole life. They were mostly people like me that just graduated from decent schools like Vilanova, Baruch, etc..

I have been an entrepreneur all my life. I started an eBay business my 2nd year of college which grew tremendously throughout the next 2 or so years when my company was on the top 10 list of eBay powersellers by revenues. I love having my own business and knowing that I am in charge of my destiny, however I really HATE the loneliness of being alone in my office in my house. When I was at the BB I felt pretty damn happy to socialize and have a good time with the cool people around me even though I was just another disposable temp. For my biz I do the product and market research as well as the sourcing for my company. This means that I do research on what products I think are hot or will be hot and then I find the suppliers overseas that will be able to supply us at the best price/quality ratio.

My partner in the biz is on the west coast and he runs all the operations there including overseeing the warehouse and the 11 employees that help run the business (customer service, packaging, shipping, return processing etc..) I have 0 interaction with any of them except daily MSN chatter with my partner. My only outside interaction is going to the Gym, seeing my GF almost everyday and seeing my friends on the weekends when they have free time from work. It gets pretty lonely running your own business and sometimes I think the trade off is not worth it. I am 23 years old and did fairly well for someone my age. I have savings in the low to mid 6 figures with 0 debt and no real big expenses.

What I hated about the collateral Job was the fact that I was doing tasks that were challenging yet were very meaningless. At the end of the day I was still just another employee at a cost unit that didn’t make any decisions or any money for the company. As an entrepreneur I like to do meaningful things with my life and see my projects come to life. I don’t want to be like some of the people around me that I saw which were in their late 40s and 50s doing the same job their whole life, wishing they were struck by a double decker on the way back to Staten Island.

Now I can finally get to the point of this post:

I have read monkey business and other books such as Den of thieves and Liars poker so I have a general idea of what the finance world is made of. I never want to do another back/middle office job again as it just makes me depressed knowing I am wasting my life and potential for nothing. I know investment banking has a terrible life style and I know some analysts that are living on 3 hours of sleep every day. However, in the end all the analyst training pays off and they can go to a biz school of their choice and then move on to becoming BSD’s later on in their life at M&A and PE firms or wherever else they wish to go. I feel that I am losing my interest in running my business. Due to the economy it has suffered pretty badly and I just hate running a small business. I love the feel of big business and reading about all the worldwide deals in the WSJ.

Do you guys think that getting into a Investment banking job is for me?
My dream is to one day attend a prestigious B-school such as Yale, or Columbia and then just going into the direction life takes me. I do realize that I come from a very non target school, I have no connections, and economy is in the pooper. I don’t mind waiting it out for a bit, as I am still in business and Im sure the only place Id even be lucky to get in to would be a Boutique, and I don’t mind that at all.

Thanks for reading, I would love to hear some thoughts, and feedback.

 

I think consulting at a big firm like McKinsey will be more up your alley. You get a good mix of the entrepreneurial feeling, work with smart people, and actually make an impact on an organization as they depend on innovative minds to solve problems within their companies. After working at firm like McKinsey and making a meaningful impact there, you will certainly have a shot in getting into a top b-school. The issue now becomes, can you get in?

 

I think you should carry on being entrepreneurial, and start getting involved in the community... charitable foundations, working with under-privileged kids, etc... You'll meet many other entrepreneurs, have ppl to talk to on a daily basis, and will probably start a number of joint-ventures, etc...

 

if all of the above is true.

You are young with few responsibilities - so you can afford to take chances. Your savings are also significant enough that you can invest in a decent new business. You should be able to be pretty hands off with your own business if you hire some staff (or at the very least, your hours should be very flexible).

You should really take some time to reflect on why you want to be an investment banker or go to business school because I think you would be better off carrying on what you are doing.

 
Best Response

I do have a friend that does consulting for a small consulting firm and he really likes his job and always gets to travel to cool places like France, Saudi Arabia etc...

My business is currently sustainable If I decide to leave but for a short term (about a year or so). That is due to the agreement I have with my partner on my pay structure and the fact that I bring in all the fresh ideas, otherwise if the market for what we sell goes bust, and so will the firm(happened last year with our main item). I am not sure I want to pursue opening another business right now, but really would love to work on working in a big business so I can have a bigger picture of the business world and see if I can come up with creative ideas to fill any needs.

Thanks for the consulting idea though, I didnt give it much thought before, but now I think it may actually be closer to what I wish to do. The reason for wanting to go to a good B-school is because I would like to get a better education and at the same time network with very bright people to bounce ideas around or just later on in my career they may come in to be helpful.

 

Tempora nam ut aut aspernatur. Distinctio aliquam necessitatibus reprehenderit architecto qui. Error eaque iure tempora voluptatem voluptas maxime quia.

Dolorem unde et illo et quis omnis voluptas mollitia. Aut qui aliquid nulla fugiat maiores est tempora.

Incidunt vitae qui in provident molestiae. Quod facere consequatur voluptatibus ipsa eos dolorem.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (199) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
5
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”