Hypothetical: Starting an investment bank

Say you have a consulting business with 1000's of clients whose board comes to you for advice on running their firm. If you want to leverage these clients and start a investment bank, how hard would it be?

These clients already come to you for advice on takeovers and IPO's.

How much capital would you need?

What are some of the things to think about?

6,077 WSO Academy Investment Banking Session Reviews: 4.82/5

Class of '28 Nov 2026 Cohort

5.00/5

Investment Banking Career Roadmap (optional)

“ulian gave me a clear, realistic plan for breaking into IB from a non-target school. He broke my prep into 50% technicals, 40% behaviorals and 10% networking, and explained why I should be interview-ready before doing heavy coffee chats instead of networking first. That changed how I'm spending my time. He pointed me to the WSO courses and the 400-question guide with short daily drills, and I've already started working through them. He also helped me see my coaching business as a real differentiator instead of something unrelated to finance, and told me to build 7 strong "why hire me" stories, which led me to book a 7 Stories session with him. His advice on my sophomore summer was practical: any finance-adjacent role with transaction exposure is a win. He was encouraging and easy to talk to, and he explained the recruiting timeline clearly. The one thing that would make it even better is a short written checklist of next steps at the end of the session, so I can track progress before our next meeting.”

Class of '29 Oct 2026 Cohort

5.00/5

Investment Banking Other

“John was amazing, he was great at explaining things and had a very positive vibe. He had talked about his life at evermore and how he had switched from Evercore to Carlyle. He then told me how to network more effectively and how to be a better candidate as a whole. He had said that when you are having a coffee chat not to talk as much about their day to day because that is all they are talking about usually. He said to try and connect about their interests and their hobbies because that is something that they would like to talk about.”

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+154	Why do JEF bankers always think they’re EB?	53	1d
+72	"Corporate & Investment Banking" Analyst - Why?	41	1h
+68	Is my MD a grifter? 16 years, 8 firms	28	2d
+49	MS / GS IBD ACs London interview processes run by nationality?	44	19h
+46	Moat of modelling in PE/Finance completely vanished;	17	14h
+45	Think I'm fucking up my analyst years	15	9h
+42	Bloomberg - New UBS Investment Bankers See Smaller Pay Gain on Promotion	10	6h
+41	Article: UBS Wall Street Rebuild Is a Study in Management Failure	7	6d
+34	Want to join investment banking; is it too late/is my background unacceptable?	29	13h
+27	Big 4 M&A vs. Lincoln Portfolio Valuations	6	1d

1	redever	99.2
2	kanon	99.0
3	Secyh62	99.0
4	BankonBanking	99.0
5	DrApeman	98.9
6	GameTheory	98.9
7	CompBanker	98.9
8	Betsy Massar	98.9
9	dosk17	98.9
10	bolo up	98.8

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Hypothetical: Starting an investment bank

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Elite Career Bootcamp. Top Job Offer Guaranteed.

Elite Career Bootcamp. Top Job Offer Guaranteed.

Hypothetical: Starting an investment bank

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