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[Slightly sarcastic, but my opinion based on working in banking for a 3 month internship and then bailing to tech after graduating from college.] At the lower

[Slightly sarcastic, but my opinion based on working in banking for a 3 month internship and then bailing to tech after graduating from college.] At the lower levels, investment banking doesn't take much brainpower. Analysts spend 95% of the day: making PowerPoint slides, doing research online, or un-doing the changes they made the day before because the VP on the team didn't like the changes the Associate wanted. The most interesting part of the job (financial modeling) can be learned in a couple of weeks. And then the Managing Director will just tell you what they want the model to spit out and you fudge the numbers to make it happen. There aren't really 10x investment banking analysts like there are 10x engineers. In investment banking, once you know the basics of finance and get your foot in the door, the hiring becomes very behavioral. I've found that people want to hire other people they'd like to hang out with.

dchhugani 8y ago
This is very insightful and perceptive, especially for just doing a 3 month internship. I agree with pretty much all of it. However - you'll find most people hate IB for the same reasons, but also know their only way to more interesting roles like private equity, hedge funds, and more is to do investment banking first. Engineering is no doubt more challenging in many respects; IB after a certain point becomes more about endurance, politics, and being good at repetition. But it's still a high-paying job, a gateway to other more interesting careers, and at least for me, a good way to develop a crazy disciplined work ethic. I'm sure you can get many of those other ways too - just thought this was worth mentioning.
- gringoDan 8y ago
  Completely agree with your analysis. Wish you the best of luck with the company, it seems like it could definitely add value in the space. Sidenote - might be able to help you with some introductions on the technical co-founder front. I'm NYC-based as well, contact info in my profile.
  - dchhugani 8y ago
    Thanks gringoDan! Reaching out to you now - really appreciate the help + kind words.

dchhugani 8y ago

This is very insightful and perceptive, especially for just doing a 3 month internship. I agree with pretty much all of it. However - you'll find most people hate IB for the same reasons, but also know their only way to more interesting roles like private equity, hedge funds, and more is to do investment banking first. Engineering is no doubt more challenging in many respects; IB after a certain point becomes more about endurance, politics, and being good at repetition. But it's still a high-paying job, a gateway to other more interesting careers, and at least for me, a good way to develop a crazy disciplined work ethic. I'm sure you can get many of those other ways too - just thought this was worth mentioning.

gringoDan 8y ago
Completely agree with your analysis. Wish you the best of luck with the company, it seems like it could definitely add value in the space. Sidenote - might be able to help you with some introductions on the technical co-founder front. I'm NYC-based as well, contact info in my profile.
- dchhugani 8y ago
  Thanks gringoDan! Reaching out to you now - really appreciate the help + kind words.