Did I make the right decision joining a newly established M&A firm?

Where to start...

So just like most of you, I graduated from a semi-target business school in London with a dream of landing that top tier IB job straight out of graduation with no relevant experience whatsoever. Did it happen? Of course not. Didn't even land a single interview until I had to move back to my home country. Mind you, I hadn't just applied to BBs in London but also MMs and EBs both in London and my home country without succeeding.

Once I moved back, I began making use of my LinkedIn and reached out to people in my country who had gained experience from BBs in London. The few who agreed to meet with me told me that the main difference between London and my city was that you are less significant in London firms as you are one among many and the organisational structure is more hierarchical. Meaning, all you do is sit and do a bunch of work without feeling appreciated and you certainly don't get any client interactions as a first year whereas in my home country, you do.

When I heard them tell me these things I immediately changed my plans and wanted to start off in my country, gain significant experience and accelerate my growth so I could move on to a BB in London in a more advantageous position as my experience would allow me to get in at a more seasoned level (i.e. 2nd year analyst or associate) with less years of work.

Hasn't really turned out that way...

I was unemployed for a few month until I finally landed an interview as a Corporate Finance intern at one of the Big 4 accounting firms. Aced it thanks to WSO and landed the internship which would last for 6 months. I learned a great ton and was highly appreciated by my colleagues and worked on two sell-side M&A deals where I was given the trust to put in meaningful work and sit in on client meetings AND SPEAK! The people whom I'd met from LinkedIn were right about the level of exposure that you were given and I loved it.

Once my internship ended, the majority of the team had quit for bigger and better so I decided to leave as well for a BB in my country. This time, it was an internship at DCM. It did not take long until I realised that DCM was not for me; M&A is what I wanted to do and what I felt I was really good at. I declined a FT offer and applied for a local M&A EB, if you will, and made it to the last round whilst still on my internship.

All of a sudden, I get a call from a previous colleague from the accounting firm where I had done my first internship. He had started his own M&A boutique together with some others and gave me an FT offer right on the spot as the firms first analyst. Funny thing is, the risk of joining a completely new firm didn't even cross my mind, I was just happy that I would be able to have such an impact and be given such immense responsibility despite my lack of experience. Also, the fact that I knew the guy from before didn't hurt either as you, as an employee, love to work for people who appreciate you and know what you are all about. So I turned down the last-round interview at the EB and accepted his offer, and that is where I am since a few months back.

Everything, and I mean everything, has been phenomenal thus far. We've closed several deals, I am given a tremendous amount of exposure to the whole deal process, I get to sit in on MPs, I get to pitch cases to potential buyers (both strategic and financial), I am the "head of everything powerpoint-related incl. IMs, pitch books etc.", I get to speak to clients whenever they have questions and I have interns under me from the top business school in my country. I am literally loving it. Super appreciated by all the partners and we're all like a family. The firm is doing super-well, well above expectations despite COVID and it will keep getting better without a doubt. The pipeline for the fall is stacked!

Now to my internal problems. Still, regardless of how content I am with my situation, the stupid dream of that top tier experience keeps spooking in the back of my mind. I guess I'm craving the affirmation of knowing that I am one of the very best at what I do and the only way for me to have that confirmed is by receiving an offer from a BB firm. Aside from that, I crave the challenge as I feel like I haven't been pushed to my limit yet and I want to go toe-to-toe with the very best. At the same time, I kind of fear that if I were to make the switch from where I am now to a BB firm, the transition from having the level of responsibilities which I have now to basically being non-important whatsoever will be detrimental to me.

I guess the reason for this post is to see what all you analysts att BB firms think of the path that I have decided to take and whether it would be worth switching to a BB firm (if even possible). Is there a unique value in my experience? What would you have done in my situation? Is it likely that people just want to land that BB job until they get it and all of a sudden see it for what it really is and don't appreciate it anymore?

FYI, I have not even completed my first year as an analyst. Just saying for the sake of comparison.