Lateral as an Associate to Director Level Position at Lower-Tier Competitor for Crypto?
I'm a pretty young guy at 25 in the crypto-space and there are several firms > 300-400 employees. I've been at two competitors in 2 years and there is a well-known firm in the crypto space from SG/EU that is looking to build out in the US. I am currently an associate at a competitor that is described as a "Goldman of crypto" (Sorry for using this terminology just don't know how to better describe it). They are looked at as a very solid brand, nexus for the industry, pay very decent, and everyone is trying to poach from them.
A competitor reached out to be and is interested in picking me up for a Director level role as one of the first US trading hires with the potential to be the US Head of Derivatives if performance and KPI's are met for the first year. This sounds like a no brainer in terms of responsibility, opportunity for growth and industry recognition, and to see if I have what it takes to build out a team. If it doesn't go well I can probably just hop back to another top-tier competitor if it fails.
I guess it boils down to - If you enjoy what you're doing now as an associate at a top tier firm, would you lateral to a director level position at a mid-tier firm for the opportunity to see if you have what it takes to build out a team from scratch. It seems high-risk high reward but something I am definitely up for and being US Head of Derivatives at 26 sounds amazing.
EDIT: Just realized this as well, blow-up risk in crypto is obviously big no matter what so due-diligence on risk management and things should probably be done if it's a lower tier but still solid. Everyone thought BlockFi and Celsius and Babel were safe until they werent and my current position has very minimal chance of blowing up - it's run by some of the huge names in TradFi.
Just be honest with yourself about what you think you can accomplish. I’m assuming this would compete directly with your current function at your current shop? If you believe you have a decent shot at being successful in building a team that competes with, and wins business from, your old firm then do it. If you don’t think you can do it then stay put. At 25 there is no way (or a very small probability) that I could have managed people and won business from my boss at the time but if it’s going to happen anywhere the crypto space seems like place it could happen.
Thank you for the great response. This is exactly what I was thinking. The Crypto space is such a niche industry right now that a lot of people know everyone and even at 25 I am someone who does have a strong network with project companies and traditional firms. I think you're exactly right - maybe I could compete, but at the end of the day we would not be number 1 for quite a while; I would literally be building the product offering out. We already have a mass of institutional clients on one side of our business that are eager to see the new business-line develop and would be initial clients which I think is where I don't really have build anything from scratch client wise - worse case I can source from our lending business and those clients and managing risk there.
I think I am someone who wants to prove myself and I do have a decent shot of managing our current clients and getting the new product off the ground especially after seeing how two of the largest competitors do it and the questions I've asked while working here and what I've learned as well. I know a lot of the pain points and places where the business has failed for the big guys so we wouldn't be wasting time exploring avenues we already know won't work. I know for the foreseeable future I would not be enough to grow this into a massive competitor but definitely a sizable amount of business and revenue generation that would be worth it for the firm to have me build out our US offering.
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