Should I leave IB?
6 months into my current EB as a first-year analyst. Struggling a lot with bad thoughts and the lack of control over my life. Recently, an opportunity has come up to work full-time in a part-time online gig I had in college. Without spilling too much into the details, it's something in the creator economy that is entirely unrelated to business that I did for fun, was quite good at, and made a decent amount of money. I actually used it to pay off my student debt at an Ivy League entirely before graduating. The people I worked with part-time then has since taken that gig up full-time and want me to join their company, with equity.
The option they gave me at this "start-up" is: $250k + performance bonus + equity. I estimate the actual all-in is probably $400k. I can do this job from anywhere I want in the world. Hours are very flexible. And most importantly, I am very, very good at this job. I would say I am actually probably the best in this particular niche in the entire world.
However, despite all the overwhelming pros, I am struggling to take it. As a part of the creator economy, there is a very good chance that in a few years, no one will care about this niche I am in altogether and I will need to find a new job again. Then, with just 6 months of banking on my resume and no relevant experience for the past few years, who will even hire me? It seems like such a big risk that I actually don't know what to do.
On the other hand, there is also a huge chance that in a few years, this niche will get even bigger and I will make far more money than I can a few years into IB/PE.
What would you do if you are in my position?
So vague - are you a TikToker joining a “house”? A competitive gamer joining a certain team? A YouTuber who makes a certain type of video?
I think a lot of people aren’t fully understanding your post. Twitch streamers, YouTubers, etc. are basically “brands” that come and go with the exception of a few extremely strong names.
These guys will make a ton of money for a short period of time but eventually their brand becomes dated. Or their fan base was entirely centered around one particular game that dies. Or their music genre dies out (see 90s boy bands, grunge). There are lots of examples.
It comes down to:
1) can you make enough money in this niche (while it’s still around) so that you never have to worry about money again?
2) Once the brand / niche dies out, what transferable skills will you have gained? What will you do afterwards if 1) isn’t achieved and you still need money?