Exits After Corporate Strategy (Tech)

Hi there,

You’re in a solid spot—corp strat at a $1B ARR tech company plus investing internships is strong, even if it feels limiting. At ~1.5 years, you’re between entry-level and the 3–4 years of experience that open up MBA or buy-side recruiting, so positioning is key.

End goals fit with these bridges:

• PE (deals/ops): Direct deals are tough now—usually requires banking/consulting first or an MBA. PE ops is more accessible later via consulting/tech strategy
• Big Tech (strat, bizops, corp dev, PM): Very attainable by lateraling to a stronger brand or deal-focused role
• Entrepreneurship: Always possible, but most build skills, networks, and capital via consulting, tech, or MBA first

Logical next steps:

• Consulting (MBB, Tier 2, boutiques): Cleanest pivot, builds PE/MBA optionality
• Investment Banking: Harder without networking, but some firms take corp dev/strat laterals
• Lateral within Tech: Move into corp dev/bizops at a bigger platform—great optionality
• MBA in 2–3 years: Use consulting or a brand-name lateral to strengthen profile first

What to do now:

• Network actively: Alumni, ex-consultants, peers who moved into IB/consulting. Applications alone won’t work
• Sharpen skills: Valuation, modeling, case prep
• Reframe your story: Position corp strat as “internal consulting” for the C-suite with exposure to growth, M&A, ops

Suggested sequence:

• 6–12 months: Network + target consulting or corp dev. IB as a stretch
• 2–3 years: MBA or lateral to a stronger tech brand
• Long term: MBA → PE/VC, or entrepreneurship from a stronger launchpad

Best,
Evelina

Hi,

I agree with Emily that your goals are quite different. The first step is to clarify which one matters most to you and then align your plan accordingly.

If keeping your options open is a priority, moving into consulting can be a strong choice. It maintains a broad set of exit opportunities, including PE. However, if PE is the clear end goal, investment banking remains the more established route.

Best,
Lukas

Hi there, 

You've listed down 3 end goals that are very different and would mean you'd likely need to take very different paths. Therefore I think it is important for you to figure out which one you want to prioritize. 

If you cannot do it yet and would need a couple more years to figure out, then consulting can be a good place for you to learn many useful skills while you figure it out. But remember you don't need a consulting job to go for option 2 & 3, you could totally go for them directly now. 

Best,

Emily

Hi :)

You’re not pigeonholed... 1.5 years in corporate strategy is still an early-stage career, and you have flexibility. If PE or finance is the goal, the most logical bridge is consulting or IB, since both build the deal/ops toolkit and keep MBA options strong. Given your tech and strat background, MBB or Tier-2 consulting is a realistic target if you prep well. That would also position you nicely for Big Tech strategy or corp dev roles later.

If you’d prefer to stay in tech, pivoting internally or into another tech firm’s bizops/corp dev/PM track is also viable, especially with your $1B ARR context. Networking will be critical, without it, finance doors are hard to reopen.

So the smart sequence could be: strengthen your profile with either consulting or a strong strategy/corp dev role in tech, use that for optionality, and then pursue MBA + PE/entrepreneurship if that’s still your path.

best,
Alessa :)

You want to have a wide range of goals. You need clarity on the destination to define the right path.