Hi. My name is Tom and I'm about to graduate college

[tommyturn]

Hi!

My name is Tom, I'm 21 years old, and am a senior at one of the top business schools in the United States. And currently, I am torn between starting out my career in banking or at a start-up (though I know in the future I want to have my own business).

My journey began my junior year of high school when my friend introduced me to "The Game" by Neil Strauss (an incredibly valuable little book in high school)...little did I know this would later lead to a hunger for personal development, which inevitably led to me stumbling upon Tim Ferriss's "4HrWorkWeek" during my sophomore year of college. Coming into college, I was on track for a career in banking, but somewhere along the road I got bit by the start-up bug. It got more interesting over the summer as I interned in NY when my friend recommended me TMF ...

Now, with only Thanksgiving break between the last semester of college, I'm trying to figure out how to proceed. There is the immense peer pressure of seeing all my friends get into top banks or consulting firms, and an urge to do the same; yet there's also a hunger/yearning to just do something completely different.

Not someday, but my aim is to have several passive-income businesses, as well as one that I dedicate most of my time to, by the time I'm in my mid/late 20's. I have several role models who've I've networked with, and I want to benchmark their lifestyle. The plan is to either start working on it right out of college or have 2-3 years of working experience/income under my belt and then tackle this. I've already started a blog, networked with a few people in the field, and have made it a goal to read 1 book in the related field per week and summarize my learnings. I believe this forum is incredibly valuable because it provides a channel of learning from others who are on the same journey, thank you MJ.

In the end, I want to make a dent in the universe.


Cheers,

Tom

 

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[Crimson]

Two years ahead of you...

Hey Tom,

I've been a long time lurker on this forum and I decided to join since your story resonates almost exactly with mine. Albeit I'm two years ahead of you.

I did I-banking for two years and left to pursue my startup. This was always the plan for me.

Looking back, I can't say I regret my experience in banking. The only thing is that you lose out on two of the best years of your life. The banking experience also isn't applicable to startups, if you read wallstreetoasis, you'll see that most of them are very risk-averse and look to make millions by giving up their lives between 20-30. The reason I was able to learn so much while I was there was more because I checked out six months till quitting time and spent my entire time looking through all the mixergy.com archives.

There are bonuses to the banking experience though. I'm currently in Shanghai working on my export startup funded entirely with my banking bonuses. I found my partner through my analyst class. The investment banking experience has been a great credibility boost, but its not necessary I've found.

You can PM me for more info.

Best.

 

[The-J]

Hey Tom,

I've been a long time lurker on this forum and I decided to join since your story resonates almost exactly with mine. Albeit I'm two years ahead of you.

I did I-banking for two years and left to pursue my startup. This was always the plan for me.

Looking back, I can't say I regret my experience in banking. The only thing is that you lose out on two of the best years of your life. The banking experience also isn't applicable to startups, if you read wallstreetoasis, you'll see that most of them are very risk-averse and look to make millions by giving up their lives between 20-30. The reason I was able to learn so much while I was there was more because I checked out six months till quitting time and spent my entire time looking through all the mixergy.com archives.

There are bonuses to the banking experience though. I'm currently in Shanghai working on my export startup funded entirely with my banking bonuses. I found my partner through my analyst class. The investment banking experience has been a great credibility boost, but its not necessary I've found.

You can PM me for more info.

Best.

I find this so funny! You guys have almost the same story as me, except you guys are ahead of me. I'm on an i-banking track at one of the best business schools in the US, even though I don't want to do it. I'm working on my start-up at the moment and I am grateful for the opportunities my school gives me.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Thanks for the intro Tom and welcome to the forum.

 

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[tommyturn]

Thank you!

If anyone else is in a similar situation or has gone through it, I'm sure a lot of other college students would love to hear your experiences/insights!

 

[naushad1289]

I wonder who recommended you to read TMF :smxB:

 

[SuccessInMind]

I'm in college right now, graduating in December. I think one thing to keep in mind is that the peer pressure you are experience is completely normal. A lot of my friends graduated with Accounting and Finance degrees and the big thing for them is to work/intern for a Big Four accounting firm. I feel the peer pressure because some of them are already making pretty good money and they seem to be living the good life. It makes me question myself whether I want to continue pursuing my start-up business or just go join the club and intern at big companies like my friends.

However, one thing I try to keep in mind is that my dreams are bigger than theirs. Their dream is to be a controller or finance director in 10-15 years at some big company and earn 150K-250K a year while working 60+ hours a week sucking up to their bosses every day. My dream is to earn a much bigger income by running my own businesses and working however much I CHOOSE to rather than having someone tell me to.

I assume your dreams are similar. So going back to whether you should "do the same as your friends" or do "something completely different" the answer IMO is do whatever you want as long as it is aligned with your goals. If you choose to do banking/consulting after you graduate, don't do it because you want to keep up with your friends or any other superficial reason, do it because it's just a part of your big plan towards the fastlane.

 

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[458]

Pay checks are like crack and can get addicting. If you wouldnt try crack once, maybe you shouldn't try a job once, especially in a feild you have no intention of starting a business in. Time is short and you only have so much energy until you get old and tired.

 

[Frankie]

The Game, Changed my life bro ha. I remember in highschool being peer pressured into going to college took the path most would call stupid, The way I saw it if i could put the time it takes for someone to get a degree and focus on that which will make me the most money ill be ahead of the curve. Currently I make 150+ a year as a Contract Pipeline welder if you would of told me this 4 years ago I would say your crazy. I took the road less traveld and bested most of those who spent money to learn a job that will pay 40,000 a year. It seems like you have a plan Tommyturn, and if it where me in your shoes id say screw the big firms keep you expenses low and make your own startup when you have the funds.