Chop shop debate - advisory boutiques

s one guy on this forum who keeps telling me that I have no idea what it's like to work in an advisory boutique (small - not big ones). He says I interned at a shitty chop shop. That got me thinking. I am also familiar with/aware of the tone of tire 1 bankers that talk down on guys who work in boutiques (small or big - mine is technically a boutique).

As far as I am concerned, it doesn't matter if you work in JPM, GS, TA Associates (recently this name came up in my team) or some what people on this forum call "chop shops." If those working in a chop shop is making more than those working at a tire 1 bank for doing less, I think the guys from the chop shop are having a better life. It should be about money.

My conclusion is there are no chop shops. There are guys who make good money and there are guys who have principles and no money. If there is a business model that is making money, chop shop or not, given that they are not doing anything illegal, that's a legit business.

When I started my paid advisory career in London, I came across with a number of prop trading houses that offered training in exchange for money. So employees paid. My colleagues and people on this forum made fun of those working there. Recently there is this shop called Institute of Trading and portfolio management. And those working in the City of London make fun of the management of the company. But the directors of this chop shop presumably make more money than traders or portfolio managers in the City of London?

I'd rather work in a chop shop making 500k than working as an associate at a tire 1 bank significantly less than that. The place I interned (unpaid in NYC), the managing directors were making a lot. The money just didn't reach the junior bankers. But they are still going strong, thanks to those desperate to break into the world of finance. It's a legitimate business and the owners are making a fortune.