Should I quit or stay?

I would say you need to stay, especially in the current economic climate. The promises that firms will make are not going to come true right now. Almost anyone would kill to have the job that your complaining about. I would be happy that you have a job right now, especially one which carries the prestige of MBB. If you have free time on your hands do to being unassigned, work toward an external goal. Ride out the economic downturn and when things pick up, you'll be one of the few in a great position to pursue other career goals. Don't try to rush your career, take your time with it and enjoy what you have.

Yeah. I say give it a year more, or six months if you really can't stand work. Just make sure you start your own business in a year if that's what you really want to do. Maybe, some other entrepreneurs on this forum who started their own online business while doing consulting/banking can give you some perspective (dosk17, patrick etc.)

The people that have money in this world A) Take risks B) Generally enjoy what they're doing. 1 Might not be a bad option although this had better be a great/unique online business we're talking about. I wish you the best of luck, get in touch if you want opinions re. business.

What sort of online business are you looking at? You seem very interested in emerging markets, so I wonder how an online business ties in to that. It seems like that is something you're not nearly as interested in as you are PE in Africa. Everybody has an online business - no one is doing PE in Africa. There are obvious reasons for that, but I bet if you stick it out at MBB through this market and find an opportunity in a developing market, you'd have a better shot at getting wealthy than starting another online business that your heart is not in. At the very least, I bet you'd be happier.

There is actually a decent amount of PE activity in Africa. Most of it is focused either in Egypt or South Africa. You may also come across some opportunities in Botswana, Nairobi etc. The firms that are operating in those areas are actually managing to generate some nice returns. There's a PE firm called EFG Hermes that operates out of Egypt if you are interested. Very good firm with some of the senior members having held MD positions in Goldman TMT, London. I believe they recruit MBB candidates too. A lot of the PE firms that invest in these areas are usually based out of Dubai or Europe though, but you can still work for regional offices.

Thanks guys.

The consensus seems to be 'stay'.

I guess I should stop whining.

Flat35, Just out of curiousity, what is your schedule like when your not staffed on a project? Do you work on internal firm projects from your home office? How many hours do you put in? If you have spare time, why not start the online business now, perhaps on a small scale, to see if it really is your calling.

@Marine: That's indeed a possibility I considered. I spoke to a fical advisor in recent months and we discussed an offshore structure that would allow me to do this anonymously.

The downside is that not being able to do business under your full name and with full dedication limits the credibility and the growth potential of the venture, respectively. Moreover, the fixed costs (both fiscal and IT development wise) are fixed.

It's a tough call.

@AG: I am not in Africa yet, but have been researching things in my beach time. I agree PE in Africa is a bet, but what's not?

@Indian Banker: Thanks for the names of those posters.

@Drexel: I can't say the sector of the business because I was in it for a short while in college, hence it's on my cv and I don't want my employer to recognize me here. All I can say is that I would provide a transparant overview to the clients of a sector that is, in general, ill understood and has its fair share of crooks. It's not a get rich quick scheme, but I feel there is a need for this service and let's face it, after tax we are not making that much money after all.