Advice for a 20 year old trust fund student?
Hey everyone, I’m a senior at a target school and I could use some outside perspective. I feel like I’m at a point where my decisions over the next few months matter a lot, and I’m confused about what the right move is.
A bit of background. My family has business in Asia and we are well off. 15-20 million range to give context, most of which I will inherit. Enough that I am fortunate, but not enough that I can afford to mess around and rely on it forever. I want a real career, not just float on the family business.
My experience so far has been pretty scattered. I’ve done some work at startups and I’ve done a short stint in venture capital, as well as some other side ventures. I’m currently trying to build a pipeline for my own small venture scout effort and talking to funds about scouting roles.
What I want is a long term path where I can blend finance, investing, and entrepreneurship. I have been considering starting a niche business of my own in the long run, maybe something that uses my international background, but I also feel the pressure to build a more traditional career first so I have skills and credibility.
The problem is I don’t know what path I should aim for right now. I am not going into IB because the timeline and interest are not really there for me. I'm interested in VC but it is incredibly hard to break in full time, especially coming straight out of undergrad. I don’t want to fake my way into something. I want a role where I can actually learn, improve, and build a real base.
Another layer to this is that I eventually want to move to China. Part of it is personal and part of it is career related since I see opportunities there. However, I speak Mandarin natively, but I can’t read or write well at all, which I'm concerned about. I worry that I won’t be functional enough to build a career there, and my family connections won’t help much in VC or finance.
So I’m kind of stuck. What would you do if you were in my position. Is it smarter to push harder for VC analyst roles. Should I try for startup roles and go the operator route. Should I think about a strategy or corporate development role. Should I take a job I am not excited about just to get a foothold.
I know everyone has different backgrounds, but I feel like people on WSO have been through a lot of these crossroads. Any perspective would help.
Thanks in advance.
VC analyst roles so long as you speak Mandarin should actually not be that hard for you to secure, especially if you're already wealthy and don't mind getting paid dog shit for the early years. Do you have a particular sector in mind?
I'm interested in logistics and supply chain management, which i understand is quite niche. Correct, pay is not important to me. Do you have any advice for if it would be a better idea for me to break into the scene in the US (NY, etc) or China?
Logistics and SCM are not niche. Nearly every large company has logistics and SCM.
Do consulting(or something else hard) and get some structured training, reps and branding. First step might be to get a good inventory on your options. Very few reputable VC spots for undergrads, so consulting might have a better probability for success. Startups might be a good way to avoid some of the more negative aspects of consulting, but you gotta find the right fit.
You have the liberty of being able to focus on your development, instead of "working to live". So find something challenging that will force you to get sharper and expose you to a broader range of useful experiences. Because you can always go back to working in your family business, so you might as bring something new to the table when you do.
My take as someone at a T10 with friends who have successful family businesses.
And I'm guess that you're probably from an overseas chinese-descent family, probably somewhere in SE Asia.
advice? A pink lambo is always worth it
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