AMA - New to WSO with 4 years of DCM experience
While I was fortunate enough to be granted the chance to build a career in Investment Banking, I know how tough the path can be—and I'm happy to share what I’ve learned along the way.
- Started from a non-target university and worked my way into DCM:
- 1.5 years in Origination: Built a strong technical foundation—became an Excel-god. 70-hour weeks were the norm.
- 2.5 years in Syndicate: Shifted to full deal execution and mandate-winning—deep exposure across the full DCM lifecycle.
Now considering next steps:
- Launching a platform startup, or
- Doubling down on DCM, even as exit opportunities become slimmer—bonus is still justifying the ride (for now).Open to your thoughts and remark.
There's a lot of talk about theoretical exits, but what are some exits you've actually seen? Where have folks you've worked with gone and what are some opportunities that you've considered?
What does the startup world like from your seat? I've always been interested, but seems like the cleanest switch comes from folks doing tech banking or ECM and I'm likely exposed to neither.
How are the hours? I know you mentioned 70 hours, but what did a typical week's worth of a split look like? Part of the reason I valued capital markets higher during recruiting was because I heard hours were better.
Thanks and good luck in your career!
Also interested in what the exit ops for DCM bankers are
Regarding exit opportunities the options are not endless. Most colleagues moved either to Asset Management or to Treasury. One colleague of mine was able to move to ECM, which surely is a rare move. For myself specifically Fixed Income PM or Trader are viable exit options.
70 hours were a usual week in my Analyst job, they consist mainly of slides building and numbers crunching. The MD and VPs are very demanding and I had little client exposure at first. Moving to the Syndicate side, the job became much more technical and tied to the market hours. Therefore my workload is les, scoming in around 55 hours a week now.
side note, you should click on the comments icon so you can reply directly to people
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