Tech / Startup Background looking to break into a career in Finance, advice needed

Hey all,

As the title suggests I’m looking to move fields from Tech / Startups to Finance and could use some advice. I am trying to sort out what positions / sectors of Finance my current background could best be leveraged in so that I do not have to just start out at an entry level position like any other fresh graduate. A little background on myself below:

• Upper 20’s
• Computer science background, (Python, Javascript, PHP, Java, VB, SQL, Reporting)
• Worked for Mid sized companies (100 - 200 people), as well as Startups (3 - 15 people)
• Founded and successfully exited my own Startup that I worked on from 2014-2017 (FinTech Company)
• Created and maintained profitable trading bots (Crypto only) which took advantage of early Crypto market inefficiencies (These ran until those inefficiencies dried up)

In addition to the background above, some notes on desired career path / future opportunities within Finance.

• Not looking to be a “Code Monkey”, I have been coding for a while now, and would like to move away from JIRA tickets and daily code standups. I still would love to leverage my coding skills in a work environment though, especially if that gives me a leg up on others. (Input into positions / job titles that could leverage this would be greatly appreciated)
• High earning potential is pretty important to me. A caveat here though, this does not need to be high earning right out of the gate, but being put into a position where I can learn skills that will help me down the road and separate me from the rest of the pack is definitely desired.
• Moving to a major city (NYC / SF / Toronto etc) during the summer as I believe this would be the best career choice. I currently have a downtime of the next 5 months and looking to prep myself as best I can before interviewing anywhere.

Now for some specific questions (Feel free to add anything else, these are only what I have been able to come up with so far)

• How important is the ability to code (and not just the ability but the way of thinking you have being a developer) in the Finance world? Does this give me a large advantage over most people? Or is it just more of a “nice to have”? What type of positions could leverage this more (Without having to always be coding 24/7)
• How important is doing a CFA Level 1? This is something that I am very interested in doing. I have 5 months of downtime before the June test date and if having this would give me an advantage during the interview / hiring process I would definitely look to grab it.
• What type of positions exist within the Finance world that leverage tech skills? Or do any positions exist that act as a sort of liaison between the the more heavy “Quant” people (Math / Stats PHDs) and Analysts / Fund Managers? (Drawing conclusion to how Project / Engineering managers within Tech / Startups world help Business people understand how their Tech departments operate)
• What would the best way to go about getting hired / doing well in Finance interviews? In the coding world we are always giving coding exams which help showcase your base level of skills, what type of baseline skills do Finance interviewers look for?

As mentioned earlier, I currently have about 5 months of downtime that I am looking to use to self study, (CFA if this would be helpful) and just in general get exposed to the world of Finance before I go actually starting to attempt to interview places. Mostly just looking to start learning how this world operates, and what options exist out there for someone with my background to fit in and excel right out the gate.

Happy to further expand on my experience, or answer any questions you have to help understand my situation better, thank you for the help!

**TLDR: Computer science / Tech / Startup background looking to focus on following on Finance focused career path moving forward and looking for advice. **