Tech Startups, Entrepreneurship, and Investment Banking

The adage that “the grass is always greener on the other side” certainly applies to jaded investment bankers or finance professionals who want to experience the world of tech startups and/or entrepreneurship.  

If you haven’t made up your mind yet, this article comparing Consulting vs Trading vs Entrepreneurship may help. 

We also discuss the question Should You Quit Recruiting or Working Full-Time and Start Your Own Company Instead?

OK, if you’re still reading this, then you may be curious to know how others have made the leap. Here are some of the ways that banking and finance professionals have used to enter the world of tech and startups.

• A Bitcoin Startup: The Best Exit Opportunity for Bankers Interested in Tech?
• Artificial Intelligence-Based Fintech Companies: The Best Startup Exit for Bankers?
• From $100K to $0 in 60 Seconds: How to Go from Investment Banking to Tech Startup
• From Finance to Product Management: How to Escape the Dungeon and Move into the Technology Industry
• From Finance to Tech: How to Start a Company, Sell It, and Start an Even Better Company
• From Investment Banking to ICO Advisory Jobs: The Exit Opportunity of the Future?
• Investment Banking to Sales at a Tech Start-Up: Do Deals and Make Bank Without Ever Staring at Excel Again?
• How to Break into Investment Banking as a Former Entrepreneur

Another article you might be interested in is Investing in Enterprise AI Startups: Why I’m Skeptical and Staying Away.

If your goal is to work at a startup or advise startups, it helps to be familiar with venture capital, how VC deals work, and how to set up capitalization tables (cap tables) and granular financial models.

So, our Venture Capital & Growth Equity Modeling course is a perfect match since it covers these exact topics.

Beyond that, in any type of corporate finance, investor relations, or fundraising role at a startup, it’s helpful to understand the foundational skills in financial modeling, such as 3-statement models and DCF analyses, and you still need to know Excel and PowerPoint quite well.

Based on that, we recommend the following courses to enhance your knowledge, prepare for startup, VC, and “growth” roles, and get up to speed when you start working:

• Venture Capital & Growth Equity Modeling – Explained above
• Excel & VBA – Perfect for learning the key shortcuts, commands, and formulas required in spreadsheets
• PowerPoint Pro – You’ll learn how to build slide decks, fix and update slides, and use shortcuts and macros efficiently
• BIWS Premium – This course combines the Excel and PowerPoint training and adds financial modeling as well