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☆ I quit my $400,000 Morgan Stanley job to become a startup founder. Loneliness was the biggest challenge, but I don't regret it.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Ellen Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

I decided to leave investment banking because I'd lost the meaning and purpose of my work, and I wanted to find it. Becoming a managing director wasn't a specific goal when I started in investment banking. I realized money is just part of the puzzle. The biggest expense isn't the business investment but the opportunity cost and covering my living expenses while extending my financial runway. I don’t have fixed commitments, like a mortgage or children, which gave me the flexibility to leave my banking career.

Persons: —, Valeri Gervaziev, Morgan Stanley, I'd, wasn't, could’ve, HENRY, I’ve, I've, Lauryn Haas Organizations: Service, Barclays, Business, lhaas@businessinsider.com Locations: London, Bulgaria

☆ I got a tech job and quadrupled my salary to $400,000 after leaving law. You don't need a traditional tech background to succeed in the industry.
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Ellen Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

She started her career as a lawyer and pivoted to real estate and recruiting before data privacy. AdvertisementThis as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jonea Gordon, a 35-year-old year data privacy program manager based in Philadelphia. Transitioning from law to data privacy and income growth from $90,000 to over $400,000 in five years marks my journey in this field. But this move was strategic because I discovered the lucrative potential of data privacy in tech, which far exceeded my initial expectations. Advice for othersMy advice for those new to tech, particularly in data privacy, is to start in consulting.

Persons: Jonea Gordon, —, I'd, could've, Ernst, Young —, I've Organizations: Cruise, Service, Meta, Google, Twitter, Boston Consulting Group, Big, Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG Locations: Philadelphia

☆ My brother and I make 7 figures in revenue from our AI newsletter. Here's how ChatGPT helped us grow and bring in more money.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Ellen Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Zain Kahn and his brother, Awais, are the cofounders of the AI newsletter Superhuman. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Zain Kahn, the 29-year-old cofounder of an AI newsletter based in Pakistan. As cofounders of the AI newsletter Superhuman, my brother, Awais, and I lead a team of eight, which consists of six full-time and two part-time employees. I first tested the newsletter content in Twitter-thread format, where I have a following of more than 400,000, and it went from there. When I launched a course last December, I saw more conversions from my 5,000 newsletter subscribers than I did from my 500,000 online followers.

Persons: Zain Kahn, Awais, I've, We've, we've, I'm Organizations: Flair, Twitter, LinkedIn Locations: Pakistan, Canada, Dubai

☆ I ditched software engineering to become an influencer. Here's how I scaled up to 6 figures — and why my computer-science degree is now my backup plan.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Ellen Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

She started posting her outfits as a pandemic hobby and grew her following to more than 4 million. Now I'm a full-time content creator with more than 4 million followers across YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok who earns a mid-six-figure income. My pandemic hobby turned into my full-time job thanks to the right timing. Like many people, I started posting videos of my outfits just for fun during lockdowns because I'd always been into fashion. But I take extra care to ensure that I always put my own creative spin or flair on content I'm inspired by.

☆ I run 25 blogs that bring in $130,000 a month in revenue. Here’s how my husband and I set up our company.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Ellen Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

She started in 2000 and for years made $3,000 a month — now she makes $130,000 in revenue monthly. Insider has verified her business revenue with documentation. The considerations for choosing domain names have changed so much over the last 20 years, but I went after four-letter domains in the beginning. It was a different time back in the early 2000s — many decent domain names were still available, so I didn't have to spend a lot of money to get them. While top-tier domain names can be harder to come by now, there are still plenty of good-enough options available.

☆ How a hospitality startup founder hooked Google's VC firm to lead its $5.8 seed round with a 4-minute pitch
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Ellen Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Jason Shames founded Skipper in 2020 and raised $5.8 million in seed funding this August. Before raising an official seed round for the company, Shames received investments from family, friends, and Pear, an early-stage venture fund based in California. After the presentation, Shames told Insider, 70 lead firms reached out — including an investor at Gradient Ventures, Google's venture fund focused on early-stage companies primarily in the AI space. Wen-Wen LamIn August, Skipper announced a $5.8 million seed round led by GV. Shames knew Lam from his days running the travel company Jetaport.

☆ See the 14-slide pitch deck a former Citi banker used to raise $26 million for his Web3 startup
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Ellen Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The idea came after Ceesay helped the basketball player securitize his NBA contract using ethereum. Solo Ceesay, a 27-year-old ex-Citi investment banker, has paired up with the NBA player Spencer Dinwiddie to launch a new Web3 company. Ceesay and Dinwiddie first saw a business opportunity in Web3 after Ceesay used his investment-banking expertise to help Dinwiddie securitize a $34.4 million NBA contract using ethereum. On Calaxy, creators set all the rules and price out what their content is worth in "tokens" that their fans can buy. Ceesay walked Insider through the pitch deck that secured Calaxy $26 million in funding:

☆ I left investment banking for a $185,000-a-year job in private equity. The hours are slightly better, but it's still a finance job — no one cares about mental health.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Ellen Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

So I looked at my exit options and found that going into private equity is a common progression for junior investment bankers. I was making slightly more in investment banking, but now I make £160,000 a year, or around $185,000, from my salary and bonus. There are a lot of investment-banking analysts in every cohort, but the openings in private equity are limited. In my private equity job, I generally start at 9:30 a.m., but I'm able to head home around 10 p.m., which is a big improvement. Do you work in investment banking or private equity and want to share your story?

☆ I went from doctor to venture capitalist in less than 3 years — here's how I broke into the industry without studying finance
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-22 | by ( Ellen Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Here's her advice for making a career change into venture capital, as told to Ellen Nguyen. I started my career as a doctor at the NHS, then moved into consulting at McKinsey, and now I'm an early-stage investor at Octopus Ventures. I know many people think you have to have a financial background to get into venture capital, but it's not true. Here's my best advice for anyone wanting to break into venture capital. She also shares open opportunities in venture capital, and she's very transparent, which I find very helpful.

☆ My startup makes $100 million in annual recurring revenue. Here are 4 things we did to scale it from $1 million ARR in less than 6 years.
▼ + stars: | 2022-07-26 | by ( Ellen Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The private company hit $100 million in annual recurring revenue, reaching "centaur" status. We became a unicorn in 2021 and went from $1 million to $100 million in annual recurring revenue within six years, even faster than Shopify. Going from $0 to $100 million in annual recurring revenue put Aircall in the "centaur" status club this July. Annual recurring revenue is a metric for subscription-based companies that measures how much money the company's subscription contracts generate yearly. Centaur status is a rare title reserved for private software-as-a-service companies that achieve more than $100 million in annual recurring revenue.

☆ See the pitch deck a startup used to raise $2.1 million and win over Serena Ventures
▼ + stars: | 2022-06-06 | by ( Ellen Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Chan raised $2.1 million from the likes of Serena Ventures and Ancestry.com's CEO Deborah Lui. Kathleen Chan raised $2.1 million for her fashion supply-chain-software company, Calico, during the pandemic. Before Calico, Chan had built two brands: one for direct-to-consumer jewelry and one for corporate apparel. Using Calico, businesses can quote, bring their suppliers on board, and place prototyping and production orders. Chan walked Insider through the pitch deck she used to close the $2.1 million seed round.

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