Finance vs. Traditional entrepreneurship

Hello,

There are plenty of traditional entrepreneurs on the Forbes 400 list (as well as lesser centimillionaires and decamillionaires) such as Bill Gates, the lateSteve Jobs, Ted Turner, the Home Depot guys.

There are also plenty of Hedge Fund Managers, Private Equity guys, VCs, and such on the Forbes 400 list. I may even count Real Estate as a type of finance.

My question is, how does one decide between the traditional product based business world ( trying to become the next Ray Kroc or Steve Jobs) vs. finance (trying to become the next Paul Tudor Jones or Gordo Gecko)?

In which world is it easier to reach an eight figure net worth? Which contains better risk reward ratios? What are the diferences in the skillsets required and how do the motivations of top entrepreneurs (like Bill Gates or Meg Whitman) differ from top investor types (whether long term types, hedge fund guys, prop traders, etc)?

I would appreciate any thoughts.

Thanks

2 Comments
 

Cupiditate nam sit sint et. At quia facilis non nostrum quos.

Nihil non odio ut quidem nisi non. Ut rerum alias animi laudantium eos excepturi et numquam.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (44) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (78) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (72) $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
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
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...”