First year analyst or startup
deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted deleted
Good luck with either
I won't pretend to know anything about the startup world, but from a general life perspective, my opinion is that if you're talented enough at 21 to build a startup and raise $500k on your first attempt, you'd be wasting your potential in IB. Worst case scenario is that you fail, and statistically most startups do, but consider the skills you would have built in the process. In that scenario, I imagine you'd be in a good position to either take another swing or join a more established startup.
Two things to consider are 1) Who are your customers and how will they fare in an economic downturn? We're probably entering a recession and looking at broader layoffs in Q4/Q1. Consider how consumer and business spending will be impacted and how that affects your startup. For example, dining out is one of the first things cut from consumer budgets in a recession, so if you're selling a SaaS product to restaurants that could be trouble. 2) What is your personal safety net in the event of failure? Not sure where you're located but $65k isn't a lot to get by in a major city like NYC or SF. Do you have savings? Do you have parents or family who could backstop you in the event of a liquidity crunch?
Best of luck whatever you decide.
To keep anonymity, my customers wouldn’t really be affected by a downturn.
I don’t have a nest egg and my parents don’t have much money either. My total amount saved is between 10-15k, as I support myself completely.
youre awesome bro
yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
Is this a startup that could go “on pause” for a year without anything really changing?
Had a friend in a similar spot but he felt like the start going into maintenance mode for a year was fine - he had a friend manage existing customers but didn’t sell any new products or innovate at all, then did a year in IB, got a bonus, and then quit.
If you can make it work, this path has a lot of pros - you should be able to leave with $50k+ in savings, and you’re also then considered an experience hire down the road if the startup world doesn’t work out. Failed startup with no prior work experience would honestly make getting a job in IB / PE / etc pretty tough (VC way more likely), but a year in banking -> failed startup keeps way more doors open if you wanted to go back to the finance world. Something like 95%+ of seed funded startups fail, so just important to think about where you land if this doesn’t work out.
Obviously if this is some super competitive market and waiting a year is impossible then ignore me, but feels like the “lowest risk / highest reward” option here is to get some IB experience, build a financial safety net, then go balls to the wall on startup.
I would do IB. Upwards of 90% of seed-funded startups fail, and it's a bit tough to claw out of that if you don't have any experience prior to that to fall back on. I know you say your customers aren't impacted by a downturn, but everyone is. Even the top .01% don't necessarily feel the impacts day to day, but they and the businesses that serve them still take a hit. The early stage funding environment is massively impacted by a downturn.
Having IB on your resume gives you a lot of legitimacy and options... you can go back to finance if the startup fails, and if it's successful that branding will help you with funding.
If there's any ability to do "both" and put the startup on pause for a bit, I would do that. Even one year in IB is helpful for your resume.
Eius consequatur et nam fugiat doloribus harum unde. Ducimus aut blanditiis eum et ipsam. Consectetur et at labore sequi voluptatem rem.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...