Banking or startups. Which is a better career choice from a Lazard sales trader
This is a great question. Which should you be choosing as a graduate or even as someone who has worked in either of them and is looking for something new trying to switch between them. A lot of people for example will work in banking and then perhaps move to fintechs as its a closer and more similar type of option. But start a business from scratch is in fact one of the most difficult things to do.
I am a former Lazard sales person as well as having sold a SAAS business and so i have a little bit of experience in building something from scratch. A lot and almost none of my former colleagues left finance to try to build something. They may have known that the chances are in fact against them. Building something from scratch and raising venture capital is extremely difficult and almost impossible.
Most people will in fact choose the more secure career which would include staying in finance for the next 30 years. Trying to go and build a business is in fact close to suicide. Its almost insane and few try it. Accelerators like YC are great resources but even most VC's i talk to dont take the leap and most VC's will move from an employee role at one big silicon vally startup to the next. But YC partners often have actually built and sold a business and there is a lot of respect from the entrepreneur community from people who have done just this.
Conclusion
Whatever you decide to do both are hard. You need to think carefully about your personal situation if you do in fact look to build a startup from scratch. Banking is definately a good choice if your coming out of univeristy as i would not recomend most of you to jump into building a business. Its harder than you think.
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Vlad Kozul