How to escape the matrix
Anyone thinking that even if you “make it”, it doesn’t really feel like you’re making it ?
Being promoted to IB, PE, whatever, you’re still not making “that much”, and it comes at the expense of your time, freedom, etc.
Anyone here thought of creating some side business (dropshipping, writing on medium, dark kitchen on deliveroo where I employ the cooks, fundraising consulting or whatever) and dropping the corporate lifestyle ?
Because even if I make x2-3 every 5 years on my stock investments or even crypto, which is already quite a lot, I’m not gonna be rich anytime soon so going to need to work all my life.
FYI you’ll understand I would love this digital nomad lifestyle but not sure what skills I have to make it happen with reasonable safety
I guess an alternative question is how can I leverage - I have money, I don’t have much time, how can I multiply ?
But you are in IB/PE at least for now, no? Why not stick it out and see if you can get the money that the big dogs make before doing something like this? There will always be something new in e-commerce and digital media; that can come later.
I think you’re being afraid prematurely. IB/PE are a long-term, low-risk path to making a lot of money, which if wisely invested, makes you disgustingly, eye-wateringly rich. It also sets you up with a network of highly-motivated and entrepreneurial people with whom you could start a successful business because they “complete your hand” and hold the cards and skills that you don’t.
Why not stay in IB or PE and keep your eyes peeled for good co-founders and COOs for your next business, collecting big checks the whole way, rather than making a rash decision to throw away a good thing now?
EDIT: You say you don’t have much time to get rich. Why? Do you have Stage 4 cancer? Why care about money at that point when your real worry should be “when is the morphine coming?” I don’t know your situation, but this is probably more a matter of impatience and temperament than it is not having time to build wealth.
Thanks for your reply.
So first of all, why not stay in IB/PE? I’m in IB currently which I find 1) quite repetitive and not massively intellectually stimulating and 2) the hours are just ridiculous. Think about it - the hours are ridiculous. Now, that could clearly improve if I moved to a more fun and less hours intensive tech buyside gig, but not drastically - I would still expect to finish at least at 9-10pm everyday if I’m lucky.
second of all - you’re not making THAT much money. I’m in Europe and making $130k base as Asso - let’s say $250-260k all in. Out of these, I’m receiving at most $130-150k after taxes, pensions and healthcare insurance (I probably net 55-60% of gross salary?). It’s not a lot. Even if I save 50%, I’m left with ~65k per year.. Sure it’s good, but you’re basically sacrificing a good part of your life for this - I barely ever have dinner with friends during the week time, can’t sleep as much as I would like to, can’t exercise as much as I’d like to, I mean it’s not ideal long term. Also, I don’t see the point of grinding it out to the bone until I’m 50, at which point I’ll have a significantly worse health and less ability to enjoy (more health issues, less energy, etc)
Regarding the “big bucks, I don’t think you’re making that much before you’re basically 40-50, and I have definitely no intention of working 80hrs+ weeks until I’m 50 based on the above. Also, my issue with corporate jobs is that you’re tied to one geographical zone since in a lot of cases as you grow senior your value is tied to your network and regional knowledge. - ie I couldn’t move out to Madrid or Paris or Tenerife or Bali or NYC for 6 months if I wanted to.
So I guess my issues are twofold 1) I want to make more while working (significantly) less 2) I want to have more freedom with my time
I know a lot of people are going to say I’m asking too much. I know I can already save per year what some of my family members make in 20 years. But some people did what I’m describing here so why not me?
Hey, IB analyst having similar thoughts to you - especially re: being tied to one geographic zone. Also based in Europe. If you've had any ideas since this post or figured anything out, PM me, feeling a bit stuck here just like you (thats how i found this post).
Hey- IB analyst who started earlier this year. This is exactly how I feel. Would love to talk to you about it sometime and see how your thoughts have evolved since this post
By the way I don’t want to be filthy rich necessarily, just live comfortably while enjoying more time and freedom
I’ve considered doing that before, even just as a side hustle and seeing how much I can make. I just found it’s not that easy and people that usually make decent money invest a lot of time into it, at least in the beginning.
What did you try? Dropshipping ?
I don’t mind dropping 5-10k for proof of concept and then put 20, 30, 40k and scale
but yeah my issue is more I don’t have 40h a week to spend on this
Yes dropshipping. Same about the money, but the issue is finding the time for marketing
I haven't thought about a side business since going into IB but I did do a few in college. The big issue that is often under estimated is the time commitment. Unless you somehow discover a profitable monopoly, the moment you enter a business you are competing against every person that has a similar business. Only way to get ahead is by being smarter AND more dedicated, which is time consuming. So you might end up doing comparable hours to IB just to get ahead, while making significantly less.
My 2c, you're an associate in IB so you have a strong commercial understanding of business, solid background in accounting and know how to work over long focussed periods of time. All of the 3 are applicable to online endeavours. If you're serious and have a nest egg where you can draw 6 months worth of expenses from, give it a shot and don't look back - the corporate world will ALWAYS be there.
For context, a friend and I went on a trip to Asia back in 2019 and ended up meeting a chill dude at a beach club, a couple years younger than us at the time. He scaled a dropshipping business back in 2018 when it was actually feasible and now runs a D2C business turning $1m+ p/m. My point being, had we never randomly got talking to this dude I'd have never known the opportunities out there and the range of ways to generate decent income online - not necessarily IB money when you start, but enough to live a good life. Personally, I've taken a more chill corp job and trying to scale something on the side, super difficult but learning every day.
Think about being in your 30s/40s with a family, looking back and regretting what you didnt do in your 20s... Life's too short man, good luck.
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