Career crossroads decision time…

Posted on December 25th, 2007 in Career Development by Warren

hey guys, as you all know, i just graduated this past month.  I have been shopping my services around and have some options. Now, I need some career advice and where I should focus given my goals.

First of all here are a few of my goals:

Top 10 MBA in 2-3 years
Entrepreneur (at some point)
Venture Capitalist (at some point)

Summary of whats been goin on:

I have been interviewing with a medical device that culminated in an all day interview-a-thon last monday in San Jose.  This company is a top 10 device company and the market leader in their segment.

Today, they extended me an offer for a Quality Assurance Representative (QAR) position. This is a brand new position they just created that acts as the liason between the regulatory affairs division and the operations division ,primarily quality/manufacturing, of the company. Those of you familiar with the medical device/biotech industry know that is it highly regulated by the FDA and ISO (europe) and the Regulatory Affairs department is responsible for making sure all the manufacturing standards are documented/standardized and compliant with FDA regulation and policies, among other things.  The role of the QAR is to bridge the gap between the regulatory department and the production floor and to make sure everything is compliant and such…  This is a brand new position they put together and wanted someone with a well rounded background of technical (to understand processes), interpersonal (for communicating compliance, etc.) and savvy to fill that gap.

Other observations about the company:
Many of the managers are very young.  They seem to promote on performance and not seniority.
It’s a ~4B company growing revenues at 20% for something like 6 years in a row.
The division I interviewed is pretty autonomous and has flexibility of a small company.
They seem to encourage moving to different positions within the company, i.e. engineer to business planner, quality to sales, operations to marketing, etc. I spoke to several people there that have done just that..

My thoughts:I want to go to a top 10 MBA. I want to be an entrepreneur/investor in the long term. I know that any experience is relevant to me at this point. Coporate experience is something I definately want and need.  But is this the right experience that will get me to those goals?  I know the QAR position isn’t exactly the most relevant, but it would get me into the door of a market leader that is still growing..  I know that once i go there, it is going to be a 3-4 year investment of time (1-2 in the QAR then move onto sales/markering for another 1-2).

Even at that point, would that be enough to go to a top MBA? 

Alternative1:
Right now in SD, I’ve got an offer from the non-profit i’ve been interning at for the past year.  They are looking to hire me almost full time and have given me an offer as well to be a Program Manager of some type. My main responsibility will be managing our portfolio of technologies and working with the entrepreneurs in residence to make sure everything is on track with deadlines and such.  It would be an extension of what I’ve been doing for the past year.  However, the pay wouldn’t come close to going into industry. However, this would be a pretty visible position and is something that would give me big responsibilities right off the bat.
If i were to stay here, I have also negotiated with my boss that she allow me to continue working the Tech Coast Angels in san diego. they are the biggest group of angel investors in the US who once a month meet with 4-5 companies looking to raise capital.  I would be working with these investors to provide research and due diligence.  At the same time, I’d be be networking with these guys and the entreprenuers I meet opening myself to more opportunities.
Another thing that popped up from the Tech Coast Angels job are gigs as an independent consultant. Since I’ve been hanging around these old angels, they have hired me for some of their side projects to help them work on business plans, market research ….. I see this as a good opportunity for me to potentially get in a startup with some entrepreneurs that have a successful track record…
The luxury of being in SD is that I have already formed a pretty solid network and would have access to many things other people my age don’t.  However, the pay wouldn’t be as good but it would be a very “entrepreneurial” and flexible lifestyle.
Would this be a better path?

Alternative2:
Go corporate in another industry.  I’ve started thinking about management consulting.  What I’ve been doing should be somewhat relevant?  Doing research to devise business development strategies and what not?

Maybe i should try to spend 2-3 years at a top management consulting firm to get that corp exp and a faster track to a top MBA?

Alternative3:
Do sales for in the biotech/pharma industry. I have some sales interviews lined up.  Sales is a good place to get some bsuiness savvy and sales skills relevant to all the entrepreneurial endeavors that may be coming in the future.
Any thoughts, opinions would be very helpful.

Happy Holidays! 

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One Response to 'Career crossroads decision time…'

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  1. Darby said,

    on December 25th, 2007 at 8:23 pm

    Alt2 (management consulting) > Alt1 (TCA) > Alt3 (Sales) > QAR

    I wouldn’t worry about money. You’ll be making enough coming out of b-school anyways.

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