Transitioning from software engineering to ?

Hi All,

I wanted to post this question since I'm not sure about the next step in my career. I've recently accepted a role at Google as a software engineering for the highest level below senior and I started to think about what would make sense as a next step for me. To be very transparent I don't really like to write code as a full time job. I always picked up coding because I thought it was a cool tool to run a business more efficiently and I started coding because I had a small business in high school and was looking for ways to make it more efficient. When I entered college I picked computer engineering since it seemed familiar and useful at the time and I studied how to code with the ultimate intention of using it to start a business of my own. I never really expected to enter big tech or work as a software engineer for the rest of my life.

When I left college I started working at an early stage startup as a software engineer that ultimately went under 4 months after I started. From that failure I tried and failed to start my own business ultimately due to COVID making it almost impossible. I was sorta in a hole and knew the business wasn't going to make it so I studied up on coding and then landed a job at Amazon in the middle of the pandemic. I was never 100% happy doing this and the work conditions at Amazon weren't the best.

I studied up and landed Google after about 2 years at Amazon and I think I reached a point where I'm at a good enough level in my career where I could stagnate and be satisfied for the rest of my career; but now that I'm coming up on my start date and I'm still young I'm already thinking about what do I do next. This isn't really my passion and isn't what I want to do forever. In the end of the day this is just a job for me and I write code to do the stuff that I want in my spare time.

I was thinking of possible exit paths after this and a few spring in mind. I definitely want to do something around business strategy or something in finance and if I end up in finance I would want to either to IB, PE, or Management consulting at a top firm. Otherwise I would want to stay in engineering and try to land in a top quant fund. Reflecting on my experiences at startup I think when I was trying to launch a business I would want to focus on strategy or some decision making aspect. However since my background is mostly software engineering, I don't think there would be an easy way to pivot without doing an MBA.

I think my biggest gripes with software engineering so far has been the people. I think alot of teams that I have been on have been boring and uninspiring.

I think a few paths I could take would be

1. Work at Google for 2 years, then try to go to a M7 business school and pivot to IB, PE, or Management consulting
2. Work at Google for 2 years, then try to land a role at a top financial firm as a developer (HRT, Two Sigma, Millennium Management)
3. Work at Google for 2 years, then try to join a hot startup
4. Work at Google for 2 years and try to transition to Product Management
5. Work at Google indefinitely and try to start my own company

Do you guys have any advice for breaking into the field or pivoting?