Wharton for B-School or take the job as Director of Finance at a startup?
I have 3 years of work experience and was accepted to Wharton for the class of 2017. However, I also received a job offer to work at a startup as Director of Finance. I'm having trouble deciding whether to go to Wharton now or get some more experience at a startup (
whats your background / stats? What would you want to do after Wharton?
Go to Wharton. Jobs like this will definitely fall into your lap from there, and you'll be able to explore other career opportunities as well. There are some brands that are simply gamechangers for any resume; Wharton is one of them.
You might want to ask Wharton whether you'd be able to defer a year assuming this opportunity aligns with the career goals you had when applying-this way you get to have your cake and eat it, too.
No on can defer.
I have personal experience with this at schools like Wharton. They have it on their website but now that decisions have been sent out it doesn't hurt to ask.
I agree minus the deferment part. You'll get plenty of job offers like this after graduating from wharton. That is if you can afford it.
I've been involved in numerous start-ups and given flashy titles. 99% of start-ups are just BS that will ultimately fail. If you don't absolutey believe in the product and the people then don't waste your time.
Go to the start-up. The opportunity to throw hundreds of thousands of dollars away for a 2 year networking event (bschool) will always be there.
Depends on what the start-up is and who the key personnel are. Not all start-ups are equal. For example, a start-up cyber security firm where one of the key principals is the former head of the CIA is slightly more "legitimate" in terms of prospects than a start-up for a weather phone app where the key principal is your drinking buddy from high school.
My stats are good (HYPS undergrad, high GPA, 750 GMAT). Long-term career plan is to be CFO / COO at late / growth stage startups, and possibly co-found my own startup eventually. I guess even if I can get the same opportunities after Wharton, is there a point in doing an MBA and taking out heavy amounts of debt if I'm just going to go for the same type of role post-MBA? Is the main benefit having that network, or will the MBA & Wharton brand also help significantly?
The main benefit is that your start-up gig or gigs are likely to fail. The overwhelming majority fail OR don't produce enough income for the principals to justify their time.
I was involved in a start-up where, after 2 years of intensely hard work, I was able to turn a personal profit of about $50,000/year. I determined that 100 hours/week for $50,000/year wasn't worth it. One of my best friends bankrupted himself in the 5-year pursuit of his dream. I nearly bankrupted myself in that pursuit. On the other hand, one of my other friends has a niche skill that he can sell to the government and he built a successful business around that. So back to my original point, not all start-ups are equal.
My current organization owns many office buildings that we lease to the public. We used to lease to start-ups just to fill space, but we found that almost every start-up failed--well, almost every start-up failed to make it to the end of its 5-year lease term and vacated the premises prior to completion of their term.
If you're dead-set on joining a start-up then go do it. Statistically speaking, more than likely you'll be coming back to Wharton hat-in-hand, if you're lucky and haven't already bankrupted yourself. And keep in mind that you don't go to a start-up, fail, and then just re-enter Wall Street to a bad-ass job. 1) Wall Street doesn't value start-up experience or entrepreneurship, by and large; 2) this is a young man's game. You get hired young and you move your way through the corporate ladder. You don't do 3 years out of college, take 5 years off, and get an associate job at [name the firm].
I'm going through a similar decision process - also in at a school like Wharton. It sounds like the OP is joining a relatively later stage startup if his comp is high salary / low equity. And I'm not sure that if the startup route doesn't work out he would be going hat in hand back to Wharton. He has a strong background and only 3 years of work experience. A couple years doing something "startupy" may make him a more interesting candidate to business schools. Also, based on his description of the startup opportunity, I think the situation is different than someone bootstrapping from idea to prototype. This sounds more like a Series B or later company (correct me if I'm wrong).
OP are you trying to keep the option open of reentering finance down the road?
I think the main point is not to have your UG at UPenn-- it means that you're only slightly closer to Wharton alums but you're already close. if you didn't have Upenn in your resume already, it may be worth it (HYPS... P is probably a Princeton right?)
Or you can also grind it out to go MBA later--but it is never a guarantee that previously admitted re-app will be admitted again.
It sounds like you got the offer you would want post mba. It true, then why get the mba? Do you want that much debt for networking? If you're not going into banking/consulting/FLDP, then it's pretty hard to justify the expense in my opinion. You're young, go with the start up and if it doesn't work out you could always go to bschool. Just my .02.
Thank you for your insight, DCD. Well the comp structure is low equity and high salary, so there's no chance of me bankrupting myself. It's actually a raise from my current corporate job, and I don't have wild expectations of cashing out a 6 figure check for my equity.
Do you think that the 2 years of your work experience was a waste of time, or do you think you learned lessons that will be valuable throughout your career (and what is your career goal)?
It was valuable life experience but I walked away $500,000 poorer and I make about half as much in salary today than if I had stuck with my career path. It'll take me years and years to fully recover. Many people say that they regret nothing in life because it all made them who they are today. Bull crap. Going the start-up route was the biggest mistake of my entire life and I wish I could go back 5 years and stop myself.
Admittedly your situation sounds pretty different with mostly salary and with Wharton as a back-up in a year or 2. I'm sure a Wharton MBA would allow you to break back in if the start-up gig isn't as great as advertised. That's a luxury that few have.
+1 SB to neutralize your score.
Who gave DC shit? Tech startups have probably the lowest risk adjusted return of any career path; realistically most people would be much better off working a mid level government job and retiring early with a pension.
The majority of VC funded investments fail or at least fail to return money to their investors - If highly connected & funded professionals who pick startups for a living get it wrong 90% of the time, what are your chances?
You will only get quality advice if you post the name of the startup. Sorry, but its true. However, if its low equity, then its most likely not worth pursuing.
Think it is difficult to step into anyone' shoes even when you know them so commenting here may not be that useful but if I was in a similar situation would go for the degree and post two years if the current economy prevails aka no tech bubble burst or whatever it would be relatively easier to find startup gigs; +point of the degree among many, as others have stated would be if the gig fails you can get into other gig very quickly
Honestly need to know a bit more about the start up and director of finance role for anyone to be able to make
Yes most start ups fail
Youve already got HYP I'm not sure if you NEC need Wharton
Startups value your MBA just as much as those MBA wielding finance types value your experience (there is a joke that you need a Harvard MBA on your team to attract funding and nothing else)
If the role sounds right I'd take it and reapply in the future. Worse comes to worst you'll be at M7 I'm sure
Go to startup, Wharton ain't worth it, plus is 200k+ opportunity cost when you can be a rock and rolling at a great place rather than studying to be back at square one.
Isn't a startup one of those things that don't have income and every employee is a VP or director
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