Getting into consulting from BizDev+Strategy role at a hot pre-IPO silicon valley startup?

Hi there,

Modifying a post on the 'get a job' section of the site, I'd like to get some information on the best way to get into consulting after working for ~2 years in a BD+Strategy role.

I've been doing a little bit of soul searching the past few months about how I'd like my long-term career to play out and I could really use some advice on how to shift paths and get onto a more traditional finance / consulting path. It's going to be an uphill battle and I wanted to get some more work experience before trying for an MBA . I'll try to keep things brief here and follow-up with additional info as required.

*** 2009 grad with a BA in a liberal arts major from a Top 25 school according to the USNWR 2011 rankings (just using this as a factual point of reference)

*** 3.7X cumulative GPA, 3.99 GPA in major

*** 8-ish years of part-time / quasi-full time work at a family business throughout HS and college. Had a lot of responsibility at a very early age (but to some extent one of those "had to help out at the family biz to help parents pay the mortgage" kind of scenarios)

*** undergrad junior+senior year internship (one year's worth) in BD at a "hot" pre-IPO consumer internet startup, one of the most well-known companies in Silicon Valley

*** current position is in same role, total time at company just under two years. I've been doing well, performing beyond expectations, big unscheduled raise, etc. I have options in the company but nothing groundbreaking or life-changing. Also a 4 year vesting period.

Without going into too much detail, while I've been doing well, the role is turning very much into a sales-y role and less so strategic analysis or guidance for the company. I love the job, have awesome executive exposure and project ownership at a fairly early stage in my career and have started to build a formidable professional network of people many years my senior. That said, I feel like I could be learning a lot more about "business" (finance, strategy, accounting, hard skills) much like a 1st year analyst in a consulting firm or bank would be learning. Given my lack of formal/academic training in skills which I feel will serve me well in the longer-term trajectory of my career, I've been evaluating some of the ways I can get onto a different track.

I'll be completely honest in saying that the current company I work for carries a very strong brand name and I think will open many doors for me in the future if coupled with some relevant educational experience. My company has dozens of ex-MBB grads and I have formed some solid relationships with those people. I'm just worried that if I start actively expressing interest in leaving the company they'll start telling my bosses and I'll get f-ed.

Appreciate the feedback in advance and if there's anything I can clarify, please let me know.

 

Why are you wanting to get out now? Why not wait for the IPO and get your shares. You can either dump them or hold them.

Follow the shit your fellow monkeys say @shitWSOsays Life is hard, it's even harder when you're stupid - John Wayne
 

blastoise: you may have misinterpreted .. I'm actually downplaying the substance/relevance of those years of work experience because it's "for my parents" at the end of the day

that said ... they own a few retail franchise locations. For a 18-21 year old, it was pretty hard work to open the stores everyday at 8AM before class and close them after classes. I'd also go in between classes in college everyday for a couple of years and had a material impact on my college life (couldn't stay out late to party, grades suffered sometimes, less time for student orgs). My campus was 10 mins from home (I lived at home during most of college) and from our stores. For a ~13 month period I took a reduced course-load and was directly responsible for managing one of our locations with a ~$500K yearly gross sales. My dad got sick for that year and I had to manage the family biz, and thats why I took a fifth year in undergrad. In any event, I would not bring this up as directly relevant work experience to consulting. More of a "life experience" kind of thing.

Heister: If I were to start the process of networking and interviewing next week, by the time I interviewed/secured an offer, we would have IPO'ed

 
e30e39:
Heister: If I were to start the process of networking and interviewing next week, by the time I interviewed/secured an offer, we would have IPO'ed

Ok, I read your 1st post as you had the opening right now and it was a decision you had to make in the next few weeks or so.

Follow the shit your fellow monkeys say @shitWSOsays Life is hard, it's even harder when you're stupid - John Wayne
 
oldmansacks:
why consulting? i would take start-up opps over consulting/banking any day esp since you already have experience there.

That's a great point, however, there are some additional factors that are affecting my "need" to get out of the position and lateral into consulting or another job before an MBA:

  • my role is turning very much into a sales role without sales comp, not worth the hours, financially

  • I'm not learning new skills in the formative years of my career

  • I'm not being exposed to different markets, biz models, biz strategies, etc.

  • I'm working on similar things (albeit with much more responsibility) that I was working on during my undergrad days

  • I'm going to hit a ceiling in terms of comp and responsibility in my role/group very quickly (everyone in my group is ex -Bain, ex-banking, coupled with an MBA)

  • I do not want to do bizdev for my career (at least I don't want to pigeon hole myself yet)

  • I would love the luxury of being able to choose between mgmt/strategy/IT consulting, banking, marketing, biz ops/analytics and other types of "business" roles after an MBA. I need more legit work experience to get to that MBA.

  • I've already been there two years and I just want a change of pace

  • I have some extenuating immigration circumstances which is placing a strong strain on my ability to stay successful in my role without either (1) enrolling in school now (2) finding another job and getting an mba in a couple of years

 
karypto:
Stay put, banking would rape you and consulting would tickle you a little before bashing you in the head.

Agree on the rapeage in banking ... fairly certain I won't pursue banking

I can see consulting being a different culture. That said, in my current role I'm putting in some ridiculously long hours in typical analyst fashion

 
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