Need career advice

Hi all, I’m not very active on here but I don’t know where else to go for advice as I’m really in a bind and am looking for direction.

I’m an international undergraduate student at a T50 doing a BSBA. I’ve always had interest in PE, CRE, and IB, but I was never “in the loop” and felt like all my friends/acquaintances who had similar interests were always somewhat secretive about application processes, preparing, etc. so I never felt qualified to pursue internship opportunities at these large institutional firms. So… I took what I consider internally the cowardly way out—a family friend is CEO of a boutique real estate private equity firm and gave me an internship opportunity as an analyst. The time I spent there was incredible and I gained invaluable experience there. Being a boutique firm I wore many hats and worked closely with the C suite who surprisingly treated me as an equal and listened to my opinions instead of shunning me for being the intern, bottom of the food chain type of thing (which is an assumption I make of what it’s like being at these large firms with great hierarchies). The CEO is a genius, total visionary, knows very important people and is very well respected by anyone that knows him.

After leaving the internship and going back to school I thought of an idea that has nothing to do with REPE but that ties well with another component of this boutique firm’s operations. This would potentially create a new vertical for the firm and hence new revenue sources that would also be very easily scalable and deployable given their existing relationships. I pitched it to the CEO, who to my surprise took the time out of his day to talk to his ex-intern. Turns out he loves the idea and wants to carry on with it. We are setting up meetings with people that he knows for us to research the existing market but the sentiment is very positive and he expects to start a subsidiary for this new vertical where I would have a significant amount of equity. There are not a lot of C-level execs that manage billions in AUM that will listen to a college student’s thoughts let alone give one equity, so I really appreciate the opportunity and I see longevity in it.

But I also know I want to do private equity in the future and I feel like I’d be doing myself a disservice if I didn’t even pursue any of these opportunities at these massive firms. I have friends who are at Blackstone, Lazard, etc and for the longest time just for being “out of the loop” I never felt I’d be qualified for one of those positions but I have significant experience at a REPE and very respected by the C suite so I feel like I can apply to positions and compete but I also know I wouldn’t want to be long term at one of these firms. The way I see it, those firms are good to spend a couple of years in to understand the deal making process the way the gold standard firms do it, get some experience in practice, add the job to resume, and then leave and do your own thing or something. I have a great entrepreneurial spirit and I don’t think I would be able to use that at a big firm where I’m an analyst or whatever because it’s very hierarchical and they won’t give an analyst any autonomy. They just want you to do your job and get paid well for it. I know many people on here dream of having these jobs but I’m not one to be an employee, I know it’s kind of a hot take, but I like pursuing my own agenda or at least aligning my interests with decision makers at a firm and making something happen. I don’t want to just be told what to do and have a boss to report to. With that said, I would be willing to swallow my pride and bite the bullet and just spend a couple of years at a big firm in the interest of learning the ropes (provided that I can land a job) but then leave and raise my own money and do my own thing.

The whole thing about working at these top firms is just so foreign to me and I don’t know what to think it’s like and I’m looking for advice because I can either stick to my guns and pursue the opportunity I have with this CEO and never look back, or pursue it while looking for a job at a big firm and then if I land something I start working but I maintain my equity position, or I go get an MBA or JD (I would never practice but have been told that having a JD or even better JDMBA changes how you think and gives you everything to cut deals like a G).

Sorry for long text, advice is appreciated. I know it’s all over the place so please ask questions if anything is unclear. Delete if not allowed.