Next Career Move - Need Advice Please

Hi monkeys, I'm facing a crisis (more in perspective, rather than in terms of a RE career).

Background:

I graduated with a Masters in Finance from a semi-target, have internships in M&A and VC and am hitting 2 years as an Investment Analyst at a niche real estate owner operator whose current mandate is to develop (no longer acquire).

The firm is running low on capital and needs equity injection to fund new projects, but its assets are best in class in its region.

As I'm spending more time here, I feel my goals are not moving any closer and I'm unsure where to go.

Problems:

1. I feel that I may be pigeonholed on two facets:
   1. The asset class is very niche, and I am unsure of how transferrable it will be to other RE asset classes (However, part of me thinks that the fundamentals of modelling are the same; rent is rent)
   2. The scope of my work focuses on land acquisitions, modelling, dealing with appraisers/partners, help with DD
      1. I do not go to construction sites, I don’t talk with engineering, construction (beyond model inputs), local government, which I believe is some of the more interesting aspects to development
2. Related to being pigeonholed, I feel that my learning has plateaued
3. Limited upward mobility, was quoted a promotion last year by manager + director, that has not happened. I believe this is related to the firm being less well capitalized than it used to be.

In general I have 3 options:

• Option 1: Stay with current company and try to expand scope of responsibility (moving to another team)
• Option 2: Go into a bigger dev shop/REPE/REIT/etc.
• Option 3: Explore other avenues in pursuit of future goal

My end goal is to go out on my own, whether that be in RE or something else.

I admit I’m a wantrapreneur and that I do not have a full skillset and I do not have access to massive amounts of start-up capital which is necessary to start a dev shop here (HCOL).

Reason to stay is good WLB, I like the team, the company, the culture. I believe my team is one of the best in the industry and our assets are best in class.

Reason to move on are the problems mentioned above. A better platform can give me more leverage and career capital to start something.

Here are a couple avenues I haven’t considered, but might be worth considering:

• REGAL banking
• Other IB groups
• Venture Capital
• Traditional PE
• Consulting

While these options give more options, it might make the next career decisions even harder.

As such, I'm facing a situation where I don't know the path forward. Any advice is appreciated.