Entrepreneurship or IB... How do you choose?
How would an undergrad student make this decision? Would you spend your time creating a valid business plan and then evaluate your decision? Would you work on your skills for IB + your business idea at the same time? Or would you just stick to getting into IB (Assuming you get in).. play it safe and then take a shot at your idea?
Let me know what you think + if I should elaborate more on what I am trying to ask.
I must say, those qualifications you mentioned don't help distinguish your choice in any way. It qualifies you for either but that's it. It's nearly impossible to determine (as a kid) if you are better suited an an entrepreneur or employee. 90% want to be the entrepreneur and society tells us all to have that dream but maybe only 1-2% really are. So, 88% of future entrepreneurs are deluded. Here's the difference, everyone wants to be a Navy Seal or F1 driver or Entrepreneur. Only one of those can you do fully with zero skills or qualifications (entrepreneurship).
I'd try to get at it differently with thought experiments; - If you were born upper-middle-class in, say, Guatemala with a good family, good schools and good opportunity. let's say your mom was a nurse and your dad an attorney - would you move to the city, work hard and use your natural talents to become comfortable upper-class? Or would you hop a train north, sneak across the border into the US and build your fortunes from nothing? - If you were in a communist country, how long could you resist entering the black market? - How close have you grown up to entrepreneurism, do you really understand it? I came from generations of entrepreneurs and people who never fit in the mainstream. My wife's family excelled right smack in the mainstream. They would succeed 100/100 attempts to have a great career and would fail 100/100 attempts at entrepreneurship because the just don't understand the street-fighting nature of what it takes to survive on your own.
Stuff like that, I think it will help you sort this out.
Man, I feel your pain and really want to be helpful - and I Really want to do it without sounding like a dick.
Go with your 3.7 and honors finance program. That's a whole 'nother stratosphere from where I was at your age. That, an internship and your maturity, drive, etc - you'll do fine. Go get laid and enjoy your age a little. And then learn niche-tricks in finance with your spare time. Learn the intricacies of asset based lending, commodity hedging, study a section of the UCC - cool niche stuff that will keep you focused and be just arrow in your quiver.
Anytime someone equates ideas with entrepreneurship - RUN. It's like a child playing with a loaded gun. You just triple-convinced me that you should abandon all thoughts of entrepreneurship for the next 5 years.
I failed at entrepreneurship when I approached it with all my heart, dreams, love, talents, passion and desires. My second shot at entrepreneurship I went at it with rage, absolute fking rage. Like someone did something horrible to my daughter level rage. And you know what, that's the speed the game is played. I'm not a wolf amongst sheep, I'm a fox amongst wolves (and a few Tyrannosauruses). By your own words you might be a confused, passion-lacking bunny rabbit with a proud academic career - focus on your strengths.
I greatly admire what you've done, where you are and your (anonymous) openness. If you ever end up in commercial finance in Canada, PM me and let's find a way to work together. Or go find some hairy industrial deal we can buy.
Agree with many comments above. Let me add a few more not-mentioned points:
Entrepreneurship is not about grinding hard. Many many people in this world work hard. The single mother working three jobs to put food on the table works hard. The neurosurgeon who completed a 32 hour straight surgery works hard. That does not (necessarily) mean that either one of them should or could be an entrepreneur. Most important is your ability to grind when everyone doubts you. How many rejections can you handle? Would you still keep going if 50 different VCs tell you you're an idiot? Would you double mortgage your home to keep your business running? Would you beg your parents / grandparents / friends for money if required?
It's been said above, but ideas are worthless. There is a reason why so many new businesses fail, and it is because anyone can come up with an idea that he or she thinks will be the next Facebook or Uber. But the reality is that there are so many other things that determine if a company becomes a success. You have to consider the economic climate. You have to consider if the world is technologically ready for a certain change. You have to consider if your future competitors are smarter, luckier, faster than you. All of these will determine your own success.
Most important as an entrepreneur is your ability to execute and build a business. Do you know how to raise money, e.g., the specific process and tax considerations that investors must take into account for different jurisdictions? Do you know how to sell? Do you know how to code? Do you understand the industry and unique challenges, processes, regulations that that industry faces? Do you have industry connections in high positions to introduce you to the right people? Can you push those people to go to bat for you? Can you lead other people to do those things if you can't?
All of these doubts and roadblocks leads to the low chance of success. You hear about Zuckerberg and Gates building multibillion dollar empires, but what you don't hear about are the millions of 35-45 year old entrepreneurs with years of work experience in their respective industries building successful multimillion dollar companies. The former is almost impossible; the latter still incredibly difficult. An IB analyst position in comparison is a cakewalk.
Reiterating some comments but want to accentuate a reality:
If you have to ask which, you're not an entrepreneur. Being one isn't learned in school or by getting modeling experience. Being an entrepreneur is a mindset. You have to welcome risk, have a burning desire to start something, not care what anyone else says or thinks, and you must be able to SELL (your product, service, vision, process, etc.). Think of an org chart with your name in most of the boxes. You make some revenue, you hire and replace your name with someone else. You make more revenue, hire more people and ultimately you're only in a few boxes. The really hard part is figuring out when to work on the business vs. in the business - two very different things. The failure rate is high because the vast majority are not cut out for creating, building, and running their own thing. If that doesn't appeal to you, go IB all day. Ironically, if that does appeal to you, you'd hate IB all day as you'd feel like a caged beast.
Definitely different mindsets!