It has been almost 3 years since I last posted and thought it might be worthwhile to update this blog on a gist of what has happened since September 2020. I'll keep this one short since I have to jet off in a couple hours.
tl;dr - Started full time employment since late 2020 and put my nose to the grind again for more than 2.5 years. Left full time employment and back to the beach since late 2Q23.
Nothing like a pandemic to force one back to the drawing block. It became pretty crystal in 3Q20 that the pandemic wasn't like SARS. It was here to stay for the unforseeable future and like it or not, everyone was going to be grounded.
So since we are going to be locked down for some time anyway, I thought perhaps I might as well find a full time role. Was offered a position to return back to banking, and another one with a local startup to be their guy to do finance things.
I was not very smart - my decision was to join the hype train and embrace start-up culture. Well the thought process then was along the lines of after spending time in investment banking, how tough can a start-up get? Maybe its a reduction in pay but surely there's a some kind of intangible experience to be had? *nervous laughter*
To surmise, it was a very very tough 2.5 years but in hindsight, I did learn a whole bunch of new skills. built a team from scratch, raised a lot of money, invested moneys for a corporate and well I got a seat to get on the pirate ship and drive certain key decisions.
Made a decision post a round of fund-raising to get my old life back. So here I am back in the wilderness after a pretty intense 2.5 years. I would say it was more intense than banking.
That said and work aside, the last 3 years have been pretty nice in other ways. Met my partner in life since 2018, moved out to rent together, bought a flat and got married, though no kids (at least that I know of).
Feeling pretty grateful in life right now, and eager to explore the wilderness in my 2nd time out.
Separately am also sharing an article that was shared with me.
Hope you guys who are pursuing FI(RE) might find this as useful and interesting as I found it to be.
tl;dr - summaries the challenges and broadly categorises FIRE folks into three different profiles.
Let me know if there are any questions I can help address.
Hi, What’s the Pay cut % when u moved from Banking to Startup?
ReplyDeleteWhat’s the intangible lessons from the last 2.5 years?
Also what’s next steps in terms of things to do and travel plans?
ReplyDeleteprobably about 30% to 40% cash wise including bonus, but there's equity options so we'll only truly know the step down when the equity options expire or get cashed out.
Deleteno real plans right now to be honest, though maybe ill find something mentally to stimulate me 1H next year while maintaining the desired lifestyle.
probably just focus on playing my different roles in life the best i can.
intangible lessons are many, but i need some time to crystallize those thoughts.
top of my head is that once you take a "sabbatical" like I did before once, the next one is much easier to do.
hello, i enjoyed your blog, and wanted to ask why you did not move into private equity from IBD? i believed that would have been more sustainable in terms of work hours/stress and higher compensation in the long run because of carried interest
ReplyDeleteHi just to check why you did not want to move into private equity from IBD? because i believe PE has higher compensation(carried interest) and more longevity because of lesser work hours?
ReplyDeleteOn-off full-time employment is an option.
ReplyDeleteLife is an experiment. This is viable when one achieve FI and can take risks.
ReplyDeleteWTK