Quickest way to $6-8M net worth?
Hey everyone – feeling at a sort of crossroads in my career and am hoping to draw on the broad expertise of this group for advice.
I’m 27, graduated in finance (state school), have been working for a Series A startup in Operations for 3 years. I don’t love what I’m doing right now and am wanting to weigh more carefully what I do next.
I’m hoping to get some advice on the quickest potential paths for me to get to a $6-8M net worth (~ $500k today). Obviously the speed to $6M isn’t the sole factor in my career path, but I thought it’d be a helpful discussion for me and potentially others wondering about the economics of different paths.
Here are the clearest options I see in front of me:
- Break into VC at an associate level
- Transition to FP&A / some corporate financial analyst role
- t5 / t10 MBA —> IB, PE, or VC
Appreciate your perspectives!
Sorry not entirely too helpful as to the net worth, but what do you not like about your current role?
There’s no quick way unfortunately. Your role sounds cool and you’re at a good networth for your age, why do you wanna pivot ?
Thanks for the replies guys. Definitely know there's no quick and easy way to 6-8M net worth. Just want to see how other people think about their trajectories, especially those that want to be financially free from a young-ish age.
I'm making ~100k/yr right now – not great for 4 years out of school, and I'm very pigeon holed at my current company. As I look around to other roles I could pivot to, I just don't think this is the path I want to stick with. It doesn't bring me energy and I don't think it will be the most lucrative either. It's just easy. But, I feel like I'm relatively far down this path and not quite sure what the best options are that are realistically open to me... I know I can't just go back for an MBA and expect any door to open back up for me...
If that was your comp, how did you get to 500K NW today?
^^. How are you at 500k with 100k/y comp and 4 years exp?
Start a business
This is probably the right answer honestly. Have you started one? What are you up to?
What have you done in operations? Easier to understand what you can transition to if you explain what you've done. What type of startup? A hyped VC backed one?
You can go to a better startup in the same function and make more cash + equity, transition to VC, move to another role that pays more (sales, product etc) etc.
VC backed yes, backed by Spark Capital... Hyped, wouldn't say so. Definitely not a rocket ship.
aim higher bud, rookie figures
If you have an entrepreneurial mindset and want to grind, start a business. That's how you make real money and work for yourself. I used to work in MF PE and my net worth potential was all deferred and relied on how long I was willing to stay at the fund and be a good soldier. Went to a LMM fund and realized the PE guys were just making other people rich, and business owners come from every background you can think of. Started my own thing and never going back.
Hey, appreciate the comment! Can I ask what you started? I am absolutely more entrepreneurial, which I think is part of the reason I feel so lackluster about my current role & options I see in front of me. Trouble is I'm also very risk averse, so those two things battle in my brain constantly.
You're not entrepreneurial if you're risk-averse. That's actually kinda the whole point. Entrepreneurs inherently like taking more risk.
My title is outdated but I left IB followed by a year of PE to start an agriculture focused software company that pivoted towards manufacturing. We're a small biz still but I am worth real money now. I work as much or more than I did in IB/PE but it's for myself and I feed/employ other people.
Unless you are sitting on a trust fund, working for the next NVIDIA with equity, or being insanely frugal, almost no one in FP&A / corp fin is going to get to that level of NW. Think it will be similar to where you are now with the comp really flattening out at some point.
T15 MBA -> IB is a pretty tried and true path to consistently pulling in mid six figures a year, and you'll have some exits from there (LMM PE is doable, or things like corp dev). Can't get to PE directly post-MBA without doing it pre-MBA.
Appreciate that perspective! So IB directly post-MBA is more doable? And then IB -> PE if I wanted to end up in PE?
Yep, IB and consulting are two of the biggest MBA exits. If you can get into an M7 or top 15 school and interview decently well, it should be doable.
You won't get BX or KKR PE as an MBA ASO, but there is still plenty of money to be made in the exits available to ASOs
you'd be surprised at how much some of these strategic / corporate finance guys are worth at big tech companies (M7). Not 6-8mm, but low 7 figures definitely
Based on your background and experience, your best bet is for your equity in your current company to be worth $6M+ someday. That would likely mean it's a >$10B valuation since I'm sure you didn't get much equity.
Either start a business and try to raise VC funds or throw all your money into a memecoin and pray that it rallies to the moon.
Memecoin it is. Jk appreciate the perspective
Definitely not VC for quickest way, think about it, these companies take like 10y+ to IPO and the IPO markets are dogshit
With some exception for extremely best in class performers at their job, you’re exclusively looking at operating as a principal through some combination of entrepreneurial endeavors + investing.
You don’t have to be a founder, but you need skin in the game.
Is this basically a combination of equity appreciation as an operator and some active / lucky hits as an angel?
Yeah essentially
The only way for you is to hit the lottery or start a business. You won't hit the lottery, so start a business lol. If you're able to bunker down and build a profitable business in a niche, and make sure there are no existential threats to your company (debt, macro, regulations, etc.), over time it derisks itself. People on here are extremely risk averse and will for some reason say there's a low chance of it working, but from a 2x founder, let me tell you that it's overblown. For the vast majority of people there's a low chance, but if you're on this forum in the first place, you're ahead of 90%.
Start. that. business. Just do it.
Appreciate the response! Good on you for starting two companies already! Can I ask how they went/are going and what they were? Any space you'd recommend/steer clear from? Happy to hear all input from someone who has done more than me in entrepreneurship. Feel free to PM me as well. Thanks
No, because it has nothing to do with the idea or sector or business model. It has to do with you and your ability to take risk. It honestly doesn't really matter what business you start, just have to execute well. Most people in finance roles never had to learn how to operate a business and look down on sales & marketing even though those roles directly contribute to revenue more than anything else. Finance is a support function, and finance bros are the little bitch boys of business owners, dealing with the minutia that this forum for some reason finds "intellectually stimulating". Get out of that mindset, and you'll realize the high-agency marketing god 100x 98% of finance guys in earnings potential. Learn to sell, learn to market, get good at social media growth, and hiring.
This is an absolutely absurd take.
The whole reason why IB and consulting are the major exits out of business school is that they are reasonably high probability, reasonably fast ways to hit these kinds of numbers. Not the fastest, and upside is limited compared to being a founder, but being an MBB consultant will absolutely 100% get you to 8 figures NW if you make partner and stick it out for a while. That's why, despite the fact that the actual job is hard and can be a grind, there's no shortage of willing candidates.
$8M net worth is not that much money. Making $8M fast is hard, achieving an $8M net worth over a lifetime is reasonably straightforward for a high earning professional with a but of luck, doing it by the time you're 50 is entirely doable if you go into professional services and do well (which is a combination of grit/skill/luck).
As someone who founded and runs a business, let me assure you that wanting to make money is a terrible reason to found a business. Monetizing a business is really really hard.
He asked for the quickest way... so what I said is absolutely the truth. I never said it was easy, and it's definitely not for everyone, but homeboy is a 27 yo state school grad working in ops.
Boomer ass take that doesn't answer the question at all. Getting to $8M in 23 years when he's 50 is absolutely not the answer to "quickest way to x net worth". You need to take more risk if you want it quickly. I'll be there by 35 at this rate, working for myself with zero debt.
There is no quick path. I think going into VC would still be a decently long slog as it takes time to earn, vest, and realize carried interest. I work in secondaries and we often see 2000s vintage funds with a couple assets still hanging on. Just the state of the market. You could probably get to $1-2M with frugality, luck, and strong performance over a career in VC. There will be outliers on the upside and downside of this. Don’t assume you can just write an angel check to the next Facebook out of your Roth haha.
The other avenue would be starting your own company and it has the widest range of outcomes. Could make you a billionaire or in a reasonable case maybe you take $500K to a million of secondary along the way to a modest exit. It’s hard to build a successful business and even harder to retain equity, be capital efficient as you grow. It depends on your risk tolerance and whether you enjoy operational and strategic work versus sourcing, analysis, allocation, portfolio management type work. I think having an operator background is an advantage for staying in the general VC space so it’s your best bet.
Another niche thing - I don’t know how strong your network is, like if you know any founders, but there is a pocket of guys in Silicon Valley spinning up a lot of 0/0 or 5/0 SPVs to monetize proprietary deals they have access or an allocation to (primary or secondary). You can make a lot of money that way. We work with a guy who is basically a one man show and brokers a couple huge VC secondary transactions a year. All proprietary, he knows the founders and sellers, all around great to work with. He makes a mid single digit fee on presumably $50M+ of volume. He seems happy.
Thanks for the candid response! I have done some work for a guy syndicating a lot of volume in early - late stage companies. Guy has a huge network and he rakes it in honestly.
When you say 0/0 or 5/0 is that referring to management fee / carry? Just wondering how running a 0/0 makes any money - or is that just to get started with your first couple deals?
Yeah 0/0 being 0% fee and 0% carry. As opposed to typical 2/20 for PE and 1/15 or 1/10 for some funds of funds. Most times there will be a one-time fee and they’ll make their money on that plus any of their own participation. Could be, for example, 3% up front with no ongoing management fees or carry. On a $10M deal, though, that’s $300K. You can only charge legit fees if you sourced something proprietary and desirable. Otherwise good luck straddling the world of broker / investor without a team.
You’ll also see 0/0 when somebody is going to invest some of their own capital but needs co-investors to fill out the syndicate and get the deal done. In this situation the manager is just making money on whatever he contributed himself.
And you’re right this structure is similar to fundless sponsorship which is a common way to get started as a manager. Finding the deal first and fundraising second to get it done. My boss went deal by deal for our first funds. Not uncommon way for GPs (general partners) to get started. There are also GP stakes strategies and GP seeding firms that will back emerging managers.
0/0 or 5/0? Can you share more on that?
An OF account + a good Gluck Gluck 9000
why not target $6-7MM net worth instead?
Whats your time frame to hit $6-8m? Honestly, it is still doable within a “low risk boring” IB career if you are frugal, to get there by about 40-42. Of course depends on lot on what markets are doing also
I think about this a lot but you should just round up or down.
5 makes you one of the poorest rich dudes in America and 10 is where things get interesting.
A lot of value has already been shared but another piece - depending on your skillset is taking big bets in PA. I work with a handful of guys who are brilliant public equity guys and basically run a book like a venture portfolio producing eye popping returns.
Marry rich - by far the fastest
I'm coming out of lurking WSO to give you a data point / perspective of someone who is at the bottom of your range. Before you read any further understand one important disclaimer: Your Mileage May Vary. There is an equal amount of very good luck, and significant risk taking involved for me, and I'm not suggesting this is a possible path for you, but it might be.
I'll spare you the gory details of my background and give you high-level info:
~3 yrs IBD, no-name "boutique". ~$65k - ~$105k all-in comp growing each year.~3 yrs MM PE. Left to "CorpDev" instead of taking VP promote and carried interest carrot. ~$250k - ~$350k all-in comp growing each year.>3 yrs in a CorpDev role that spans everything from FP&A to strategy to operations and accounting. $150k - $250k cash comp growing each year; >$1.0M equity comp in each of last 2 years. Expecting another liquidity event soon.
That last sentence in my third bullet sums up my pathway in a nutshell. Liquidity event.
I could wax poetic about how in PE I lived the life of a hermit and banked >60% of my take-home pay each year, or how I started in IBD living at my parents house to save money, or how I've had a few good investing wins in my PA. These collectively might have gotten me to $1.5m instead of being around $6.0m today. That's not how I got here.
I spent the second half of my time in PE looking for an off-ramp. Laterals, hedge funds, MBAs, CorpDev, and IBD roles alike. I failed numerous interviews and pulled-chute at the last minute on a few probable offers before ultimately taking my current role.
I networked my way into a group of executives who had global experience building and selling companies. These folks are all fuck-you rich and doing it for the love of the game by now, with rolodexes like truck tires and resumes summer analysts would cream reading.
Their latest prospects were in an industry I worked most of my life in, or adjacent to, in some form or another. I pitched myself as a grinder who knew the space, the risk involved, and wanted to help them develop their next idea. I negotiated my way into a CorpDev role at a brand new venture, with a hefty equity package (>$2.0m at vesting), and expressed a very strong interest in helping out across their network however I could. I became their "fixer". I plugged my day job and worked evenings and weekends on a number of their "opportunities", including several that went nowhere. I invested aggressively, writing big checks for my NW at the time, whenever they were seeding something. A few paid off handsomely and here I am, hoping to add another payout in the NTM and wondering if I'll ever feel okay jumping ship.
Turns out I'm gonna wax poetic after all: The "hedonistic treadmill", the "golden handcuffs", the "lifestyle creep", whatever you call it, is real. I don't buy crazy shit. I don't wear a Patek or drive a Porsche 930 or own a "summer home" (although I do find myself wanting these things)... But man, I fucking love seeing the number go up in my PA and knowing I could buy one. When I started in IBD, I wanted to be a millionaire by 30. When I surpassed that, I wanted $10m by 40. Barring a blow-up, I'm tracking beyond that... but I don't feel any kind of real fulfillment. My point is this: Don't chase the money and don't let it define your success - it should be a by-product of it. Become an expert at something and surround yourself with other experts. Becoming "rich" should be a by-product of being a fucking killer when it comes to your area of expertise. When I started chasing money to "retire early", it was for freedom. It's become the opposite. $5m is a shitton where I come from, for my family, for my friends. I have structured a portfolio that would pay for my life without requiring me to work. It's more than enough and I'm burnt out. But I want more.
Thus ends another onebagger rant. Been a minute since I posted anything. Hope I didn't dox myself again.
"You can't do anything with five, Greg. Five million is a nightmare. The poorest rich person in America. The world's tallest Dwarf".
The end of your comment started to hit home for me. This turned into a longer response than I planned but I think some people might be feeling a similar dynamic in our industry / on WSO.
I’m still junior in my career and still vesting carry that could get me into 7 figures sometime in the next ten years. But last year I bought my dream watch and this year I bought my dream motorcycle. This coming year is the first year my bonus isn’t earmarked for something other than investing. And I think about my serious girlfriend - I want to settle down and buy a place so we can have kids. The scale of money is starting to feel weird for me. Not only because for my whole career I’ve made more money than either of my parents made in their life, but it also costs twice as much for me to live in New York than their mortgage back home in a very average suburb of a T3 city.
The way it adds up in my mind, the fun shit that I needed to get out of my system didn’t even cost me more than $20K in total. Which kind of surprised me because as a teen I always wanted the car and the watch, etc., but I don’t feel the same pull to get more. That was it, and I’m glad I bought the things but they’re just objects. So at an earlier stage than expected I plan to funnel the rest of my earnings into building a real life - wedding, house, kids etc. But a realization I’m coming to is that my “ultimate number” I’ve always had in mind since starting on the journey into IB, somewhere in the $2-10M range could be a complete miscalculation. If I have my life partner and we love each other, at a certain point I believe that we could make it work raising a family even at drastically lower levels. My parents raised two kids on a soldier’s salary. Like what is the point in chasing some mythical level of comfort when I have to reasonably expect now that once I get there I’d feel compelled to wait just a little longer, build up a safer base to build a family on? I think about this because this life takes coordination to set up, and without taking steps I could easily end up mid 30s unmarried with a fat base of cash with no purpose in life.
A growing part of me is thinking why squander the energy I have now as a young man and delay raising a family? What does a marginal million dollars do for us really. I had every good experience growing up on a fraction of the money I make today, so I think I have just become spoiled blind living in New York and paying New York prices for everything. And it doesn’t help to know more people who make $400K a year than are married. Just something that came to mind. I don’t think there’s an easy answer because there are obvious benefits to being able to provide the best for your family. But it’s become opaque to me exactly where the line has moved that separates a life of fulfillment and security from cloistered opulence.
Genuinely curious what the end goal is if it isn’t about spending it or downshifting / retiring
https://maps.app.goo.gl/cQBv6f3szqUcrRr8A
Not that great risk-reward skew, or EV, but it sure as hell is the quickest way. Anyone disagree?
who cares lowk..
Figured I would also share story; untraditional finance background (no IB internship, private credit career); estimated $11MM net worth at 35. Breakdown includes $3MM cash/liquid investments; $6MM total real estate value among 2 homes and 2 condos with $2MM of total mortgage debt, Net $4MM equity (bought first home at 29) and $4MM equity in a business I invested in. Important to note that 100% of the $3MM liquid has come from savings and cash flow and disciplined investments in retirement. I have actually lost a good amount ($250K+) on liquid investments (net, which is pathetic given the market growth over past 5 years) by NOT taking the same patient, long-term approach I have taken to real estate and investing in companies. Short Term Trading is not really an effective strategy over long-term and would not advise it to anyone anxious to get rich quickly.
The painful daily choices you make, the opportunistic lens through which you seek and evaluate investment opportunities and the few BIG decisions on "big ticket" investments will have a much more sizeable impact on your outcomes vs. small-token high frequency gambles.
Keys: go hard at work; do your job well but also use your job to invest in relationships; stay humble and listen/learn from people who are more experienced / successful than you; the time passes anyway. Live below your means; payoff student loan debt /credit card debt and once those are paid; don't ever touch bonus money - that's "investment money". Get used to living below your means on salary and let the bonus $ become your precious ammunition to accelerate your Net Worth and path toward early retirement. Lastly, don't be scared; "live and learn" is real; your areas of success in investments (based on your personality, strengths/weaknesses/ disposition) may be different than me and others but you won't learn, succeed or fail without taking some shots!
Tempora cupiditate repellendus recusandae nemo voluptatum minima hic. Aspernatur neque debitis laborum et dignissimos nisi. Dolores odio optio nihil reprehenderit. Perferendis in laudantium nesciunt repudiandae et quisquam. Ut eos assumenda dolor maiores a. Ut esse rerum ut minima.
Quas eos laudantium minus veritatis aut qui officia harum. Possimus mollitia unde perspiciatis voluptas ullam sunt sed. Nulla earum est ut rerum.
Quidem sint architecto et cupiditate qui. Provident earum non modi sunt. Suscipit numquam eveniet aliquam quas odit delectus assumenda. Adipisci amet placeat ut facilis est nobis. Quisquam quam animi veniam in blanditiis.
Architecto laborum autem quia suscipit aut id. Omnis maxime iste debitis a sit neque magni.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Rerum non dolores ut. Amet sed omnis ducimus mollitia inventore perferendis. Ea vel sint nobis incidunt dolores voluptatem esse. Et voluptate aliquid at rem dignissimos quia officia. In aut vel occaecati vel et ducimus aut enim. Accusantium voluptatem qui fugiat ea aut expedita.
Quis est excepturi velit. Inventore ea laborum corporis suscipit nulla possimus quis.
Expedita labore suscipit dicta dicta molestiae rerum. Consequuntur repellat dolorem est quo nulla. Sed iure consequatur optio qui non culpa. Iure et placeat esse non a illum omnis non. Natus dolor unde officia odit deleniti quia quidem fugit.