THE ULTIMATE CAREER PATH
This is a total hypothetical but from what I have seen:
The ideal career path on this forum looks to be: 4 years at a top target --> 2 years at GS/MS/JPM ---> 2 years at MegaFund ---> 2 years at HBS/GSW
At this point, you are 28. What do you do after this? I understand that most doors are open but let's say you are looking for money. Is it PE?
If you aren't looking just for the money but also don't want to start your business, what can you do that is prestigious but still earn that 200k+?
IDK how feasible the Golden State Warriors would be, even if you're coming from GS then KKR...
Don't forget to add the target high schools. Cranberry or whatever it was called
target middle school internship as a caddie at prestigious country club
Ultimate career path is top-tier prep school --> Harvard --> drop out and start your own company --> billionaire at 23
I assume the only logical next step is to marry Margot Robbie? Right?
Exeter --> HYPSW (not SUNY Ithaca or the like) --> 2 yrs at GS TMT/MS M&A/ PJT RSSG (only top groups) --> 2 yrs at a MF --> 2 yrs at GSB/HBS --> work at the pre-CEO position your father is giving you, training you to inherit the family billion-dollar business when he retires.
The other path to this is Exeter (solely through legacy not merit) --> Wake Forest/Babson/any other school that is a safety for rich students who couldn't get in to better schools --> immediately get some bs job in the father's company where he still thinks his son can learn to be responsible --> CEO of a failing company
If you dont go to Phillips Exeter you can forget being successful. That definitely need to be at the beginning of the path
Andover/Exeter/Deerfield (Target High School) --> Target College --> GS/MS/JPM/EB --> MF PE --> M7 --> Post-MBA PE --> $$$ --> KYS
You can probably do the last first to save some time.
Another common exit I’ve noticed is this:
IB > PE > MBA > startup > unemployment
Or
IB > PE > MBA > unemployment (right now)
Or
IB > PE > Tech startup > unemployment.
Seems like a long drawn out path just to reach somewhere most people start out with
To give a serious answer, you could get on the partner track at a PE firm (big $$), or take some corporate role (often times at a pre-IPO startup for those stock options) with the goal of being a C-suite executive some day. Can also do other buy-side things like HF. But basically the point is that coming out of a top b-school with a top bank and a top MF on your resume basically means you can do whatever you want, so people often do something that actually interests them more than just going for whatever gives the most dollars.
As someone that nearly walked "the path" of top target -> top BB -> MF -> HBS but chose not to go to HBS, I can tell you that business school has become significantly less popular and "the path" now really ends with your MF years. The best connected, and top performing associates that want the direct promote take those very few spots (5%), a significant portion still go to b-school (30-40%), but the majority do not follow the path anymore.
Common alternative paths for the majority are to get a Senior Associate / VP role at a downmarket fund, start your own search fund, and or snag a Director+ level Corp Dev/Strategy/Ops role. By the time you finish your MF years, you'll realize how insanely crowded MFs, UMMs and even some of the very successful MM shops are and either move downmarket or move on from PE. I was ready to make the lifestyle choice given the low odds of success in climbing upwards in PE.
It ended up working out for me as I was handed a nice VP-level Corp Dev role by my former team, added value quickly with multiple tuck-ins and very recently got a battlefield promotion to the C-suite 8 months into the job. A good friend that also followed "the path" has experienced similar success in a Head/Director level Corp Dev role at a fast growing startup and couldn't be happier. Others have moved into Strategic Finance or Operations and are generally happier while still making at least 300k a year working 40-50 hours.
Think about it from the perspective of someone at the end of their MF years. You are 24-27, have 300-500K in the bank and are not married. It's a prime opportunity to enjoy the rest of your 20s with your newfound time, money and energy while still making some serious career leaps. I'd happily be a PortCo CEO collecting high 6/low 7 figures in cash every year with a 7 to 8 figure cash out every 5 years or so working 50-60 hours a week half on the road.
You gotta start earlier than that if you want to make it. As a sperm that’s competing for an exit opp into the womb of your father’s future partner, you need to be able to quickly assess and analyze the potential egg you’re piercing to determine whether this is “the one” or just some one night stand that won’t be able to nurture you to reach your career potential, if she even decides to keep you. Further, competition is fierce with thousands or millions of other sperm vying for limited opportunities.
Ultimately, you need to aim to be born to at least an upper-middle class white American family where both parents are educated and with at least one having the potential to reach partner/MD level in finance/law etc by the time you’re 18 to allow you to have an inherent professional network. If you don’t see the potential in your father nor in the sexual partners he chooses, there’s no shame in retiring early on a piece of toilet paper.
What's the path where you get to afford a place to live somewhere safe and popular?
Imagine going H/Y/P --> GS/MS/JP --> KKR and earning $300k p/a in your late twenties, knowing after taxes, rent and student loans you're never gonna save up enough to buy an apartment anywhere in Manhattan. There's about 5 million of those apartments so somehow you're not in the top 5 million Americans it seems, what happened? Same deal in SF/HK/London etc.
the ultimate career path is starting your own business and making enough money to pay people $200k a year to do all of the work for you. fuck prestige, get money.
Career paths are for loser who can’t think on their own. Herd mentality. You’ll never reach your full potential. Just not going to happen.
The winners carve out their own path by doing their own shit resulting in a non crowded market.
Examples:
Start a company? No. You buy companies and own their distribution channels. You buy digital assets with your audience.
Climb the ladder? No you build relationship with those at the top in a lateral industry. Then you run private deals with them and leverage the assets they have already built.
You can combine examples 1 and 2 together to multiply your influence.
You can be a managing director as young as 25 if you start thinking like one. Instead of sucking their ass, pay attention to what they’re actually doing. Then you replicate their shit. Just know how to build relationship and add value to people outside your space. Run your own show.
Is it easy? Yeah much easier than fighting another hopeless dog just to get a spot at KKR. Your competition is yourself. Unlimited upside potential if you can actually think with you brain.
Climbing the corporate ladder = 1d chess Starting your business = 2d chess Leveraging other people business = 3D chess
Select carefully.
Cool man, guess ill just buy Carlyle. Thanks for the tip.
It seems like this site doesn’t value HF exits as much as the MF or Upper MM PE track. Why wouldn’t it be more attractive to join a solid brand name HF after banking, continue to work without the necessity of attending business school, and hopefully preform well enough to advance up the hierarchy? Maybe I’m just ignorant of the space, but it seems like many MF associates spin out after their 2 years and end up seeking positions at top hedge funds. Is it just too hard to get these opportunities after banking and therefore requires the MF associate role on your resume to get the job? Thinking of places like Elliott Management, SilverPoint, Oaktree, etc.