What $900k really represents
I had a few people ask me about my $900k isn’t a lot of comment — a few analysts I spoke with today were like “wow Rohit, honestly if I could make $900k I totally would.”
Well, the good news is that you totally can make a TON of cash in Investment Banking.
The way that this industry is moving (very human capital heavy) — if you’re good and people like you — you can hit VP and totally make $900k (if not sooner)… and I would say that we’re totally about it!
Remember, that we’re not here to push you to the Buyside necessarily or argue that an investing role is better than an advisory role — we’re here to simply help you decide what you want to do in the future and to help you get there.
Now in addition to those analysts, I’ve had a few other conversations in the last couple of days since the GS data came out… a couple of seniors in IB and on the Buyside.
What was interesting to me was a couple of different points:
- Older VP at a Bulge Bracket Bank: “Europeans will never have this figured out, I should just go to an American Bank and call it” — VP makes $750k…
- Reading between the lines: VP has never been happy with banking, it pays the bills, and is complaining about an extra $60-75k after taxes and is ready to switch at the sight of something else shiny… personally if you’re ready to jump ship, especially at senior rankings like that — IMO red flag
- Younger Senior Associate on the Buyside (sounds very tired): “Yeah I would love to help out on the coaching side if it pays, I’m looking to take on a side hustle since my job doesn’t pay enough.”
- SA makes ~$450-550k at said Megafund (with access to carry in the near future) and clearly is exhausted (probably doesn’t have any extra time to coach nor would make a good coach) — IMO red flag
My question is not is $900k enough — I understand $900k is just about 18X the Average American Income of ~$50k… my question is why do these people who make so much money continuously complain about $X not being enough and them wanting more… is there something else at play? Are they just not happy with their day-to-day and using a ton of cash to justify it?
Maybe. Or maybe they’re just really saying that the BS they have to keep up with isn’t worth the cash, they should get more for it…
I’ll be the first one to tell you I make <6 figures and I’m up at 2 AM writing this newsletter after a full day of work because I WANT to, not because anyone is forcing me… Find out what you like folks and find it out quickly!
ANYWAY, sorry for my rant…
Speaking of individuals taking a step back to do what they really want —
I want everyone to welcome our new Growth & Ops Intern, Michael Suh!
Seriously though — this kid is a legend, not only are we stoked that he chose us to help him break into a Banking/Buyside Internship (ever hear of Goldman Sachs or KKR?) but then was so happy with the experience, he actively wanted to come back and help us really scale the business!
Welcome Michael, look forward to you helping us scale operations, get more efficient, and joining me on some calls!