Seeking Advice - Least Developed Country to Wall Street

Hi all,

I graduated from a Non-Target in the US in 2018 and have since returned to my home country, which falls under UN's Least Developed Countries (LDC) list and isn't on the frontier markets radar yet. I'm looking to pursue an MBA in the next few years at a Top B-School with the goal of getting into IB and need your advice on how to improve my profile and increase my chances.

Background: Went to a non-target and interned in corporate and investment banking at a non-BB in NY during my junior summer and then worked at a small residential real estate developer. I decided to move back to my home country after 6 months for personal reasons.

Back in my home country, the financial markets are primitive and there aren't any opportunities within investment banking/corporate finance. Traditional investment banks don't have any advisory practice, so they're not very interesting to me. I was also surprised at how little corporate finance knowledge the people working in finance actually have (including all levels - analysts to CEOs).

So, I decided to start an advisory business with my little bit of investment grade debt, and real estate development experience. Since it's a small country, my family and I have a decent network with businesses and business owners, which I've been managing and further developing into professional relationships. I've managed to generate a pipeline of transactions (mostly companies looking to raise growth equity). Side note: M&A, restructuring, lev. fin. is pretty much non-existent here.

Ask: I'm looking to strengthen my profile to get into a top MBA program so I can either resume my Wall Street career aspirations (most likely) or have a network to connect my part of the world to. I'm turning 25 by the end of this year and would like to start preparing and sharpening my profile immediately. I'm also afraid that basically "starting my own investment bank" may be frowned upon and if I'm better off getting a regular job for 2-3 years. Also, who do I ask to write MBA recommendation letters if I have my own business? Clients?

I'll be more than happy to share my profile, resume and experience with other experienced chimps on here to get some advice.

Thank you all, Prospective Monkey - Flat 6