IB Startup Ideas | MEGA THREAD

There are many different exit opportunities that you can pursue after completing your investment banking analyst stint. I mean its one of the biggest selling points of breaking into investment banking.. You can decide to lateral within the sellside, jump to the buyside, take a break in corp.fin, or start your own business after realizing thats where the real money resides. I wanted to focus on START UPS in this thread and share some of the startups that I have witnessed fellow investment banking analysts begin personally and others that I have heard stories of during my almost 4 years on Wall Street.

  • VeeV: Two brothers started an açaí berry liqueur after working at GSachs. This is a good one. So two brothers at GSachs.. Hm.. Connections?!? Yeah, so these literal banker bros deff had an inside man but I guess thats how the world works. They were able to source capital to begin VeeV through the connections that they made at GSachs. At the end of the day, they were probably trying to get laid at 1 Oak in NY but VeeV exemplifies the connections that can be made to pools of capital quickly in an IB career.

  • Chubbies Shorts: Analysts from LazardAdvisory decided that they wanted to ditch the slacks and get into a pair of Chubbies. Founders said that they learned more in 2 years than they ever expected and when they left they were still young enough to take the risk of a start up vs. finding another "job". After investment banking you have enough capital and usually don't have a family to look after unless you got cuffed EARLY making for a perfect start up storm.

  • LogoIntern: Lastly, this banker realized that he was truly over copy-pasting logos into pitch decks.. He was so over it that he decided to create a program to do it for you (I wonder how many logos he copy-pasted) Banking and corporate america places you into an archaic environment that is only beginning to be penetrated by younger generations who are more fluent in software. If you identify a simple problem in the unfortunately software inept industry the opportunity can be huge.

What do you guys think about starting a business after investment banking? Have you heard of stories of your friends starting a business after their career in finance? What are the transferable skills from banking into the start up world? Lets have a conversation about it.

42 Comments
 
Most Helpful

I mean we have real skills as investment bankers. The pros that lead ex-investment banking analysts as perfect start up cofounders are:

  • Save up money fast - money gives you time and resources to explore. I have been in IB for 3 years and have been able to save north of 150k. I cant think of any other industry that offers that opportunity.

  • Learn to work really hard and efficiently, while delivering quality - self explanatory. Essentially, you learn how to grind harder than you did when you were studying for finals..

  • Do the nontechnical version of coding - excel is always laughed at by coders but it is one of the most powerful tools. Exiting IB you ability to manipulate a CSV will not go to waste

  • Learn to deal with people under very high stress - multibillion dollar deals, dealing with passionate CEOs, late nights, and MDs that are looking for perfection. Yeah its stressful and so is starting your own business.

  • Become an excellent multitasker - working on s strategic M&A, capital raise, bankruptcy, and getting coffee for your boss at the same time that doesnt happen anywhere else. Starting a business is multifaceted and your going to need to be an excellent multitasker

 

I feel like the risk tolerances for investment bankers and entrepreneurs are somewhat opposite. On one hand you have a group of people that like to be conservative (finance) and on the other hand you have kids you are radical and enjoy taking high risks. Seem like opposites to me.

 

Have you seen the wolf of wallstreet.. Finance is pretty high risk too man. They have similar risk profiles if you ask me

 

My man, you can't name something a mega thread if you just made it - props though haha

 

Because the entire investment banking industry revolves around the illusion of prestige. GS is prestigious because they are GS, and because they are seen as prestigious they get a fresh crop of analysts every year from Harvard, Wharton, and all the best schools in the country. They can then point to their impressive pedigrees when clients question the cost of their services. Outsourcing to India would save them money in the short run, but no big client would want their model to be outsourced to India, even if the final work product was identical.

 

Wow, never knew Morning Brew was finance related. I am an avid follower. Interesting to know.

 

Ok the person in question has probably never been an investment banker, but he basically has an only fans of himself fucking chicks. 200k or something subscribers on PH im not even joking

 

Et consequuntur iure expedita labore dolor. Natus et sed reiciendis eos. Est dicta corrupti eius. Quia magnam rerum ipsum quis in quos. Deserunt praesentium et error cupiditate dignissimos.

Nostrum officiis voluptas optio numquam consequuntur enim ut. Optio esse et qui libero. Ipsum laborum tempore eaque quia veniam. Architecto expedita quidem facere nobis autem aliquid quia.

 

Vero sunt quidem blanditiis earum dolore omnis at. Fugit sint minus sed aut facere quidem optio. Id aut expedita impedit occaecati molestias voluptates. Est officiis voluptatem eaque. Et voluptate est et natus omnis.

Aperiam recusandae veritatis eligendi omnis quibusdam nulla praesentium. Consequatur enim impedit veniam et. Ipsam pariatur magni nemo tenetur qui voluptatem est aliquam.

Inventore et odio quasi ratione porro. Ipsa autem a delectus quis et doloribus nisi repellat. Ut ad minus quidem nihil sit numquam ab.

Voluptatem odio facere quasi recusandae rerum omnis. Esse repellat placeat amet odit dolor molestiae ullam numquam. Quo fuga vitae debitis nobis quia amet et. Tenetur impedit officiis velit consequuntur. Molestiae aut et aliquam dolorum explicabo molestiae reiciendis. Accusamus voluptatum alias nostrum tempora quasi rerum ut.

Career Advancement Opportunities

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Guggenheim Partners 02 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 99.0%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (17) $409
  • Associates (57) $264
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (29) $183
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (77) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”