Am I an idiot?
Currently in ER, and I have a goal of bumping into investment banking. I plan on working two years of IB then going and completing a PhD in molecular bio. After the phd, I wanna bump into biotech hedge funds or even start a biotech company. Am I just absolutely stupid to do this? Should I just stay in ER and/or IB and call it good? I am worried by doing this I am risking my career and may be pigeon holed out the industry. Would love advice from you all.
Cheers!
It looks like you have a clear goal and a have laid out a path to get there. Doesn't sound stupid at all. In life you should do what you wanna do, but don't be so set in your path that you're afraid to follow new opportunities as they arise
I like this comment a lot but I also agree with many other comments. It doesn't make sense to rise up career wise and then waste time doing a PhD. It's either now or never pretty much IMO.
I think the opportunity cost is too high to do a PhD, especially when you are in FO...
I wanted to do a PhD in economics, but it's much more challenging and would earn me like 20% of the money for 5-7 years... Decided retiring in my 30's would be better than earning a PhD.
My group works with a lot of biopharma. Space is so cool, definitely understand the appeal of starting your own company.
Most of the smaller biotechs have scientist/medical doctor CEOs - but not all. Coming from a business background makes you appealing in your own way (I.e. knowing inside out how to run a business efficiently). Plenty of CEOs/CFOs are former bankers.
In terms of a hedge fund and from my own observation, I really don’t think a PhD is required generally. As an investor you need a very good understanding on how the drug works, but that’s a lot easier than discovering it yourself (no drug discovery -> less need for PhD)
I agree with this also. You don’t need a PHD to start a biotech company.
Don't do a PhD unless you want to be an academic. Opportunity cost too high.
Maybe do a certificate from some top school in the field instead or knock out a masters part-time while you work.
Agree with everyone else, PhD is too much time and money.
If I were you I'd do a part-time science masters now while you have some time (vs IB where you won't), and then see if there's any appetite for a HF to take you directly out of ER. If you work in biotech ER right now you should have a solid understanding of the science and drugs, that background should be attractive enough for a HF.
Also give yourself a bit more credit, all of these paths are extremely impressive and you will have solid opportunities from any of them
I would second this.
Twenty years from now you’ll be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones that you did. Trust your instinct. You probably have a plan that’s better than what we can tell you.
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