I’ve been thinking about corporate strategy as a 2-3 year move after consulting, but I’m still unclear on what actually comes after. Like, where do people typically go when they decide it’s time to leave a strategy role?
I know the obvious ones exist—startups as an operator, back to consulting if things don’t work out, maybe product management. But I’m curious about what people don’t talk about as much. PE? Venture? Corporate development at another company? Some kind of hybrid thing?
The reason I’m asking is because I want to understand whether a corporate strategy move actually keeps more doors open than staying longer in consulting, or if it actually narrows my options. Five years out, do people who took the corporate strategy route end up in more interesting places than people who went straight to PE or stayed in consulting?
I’m also wondering if the company matters. Like, does exiting from Google strategy look different than exiting from a Series B startup’s strategy team?
Has anyone actually mapped out what happened after their corporate strategy chapter? I’m less interested in the “here’s what’s theoretically possible” answer and more interested in what actually happened to people you know.
So I know a bunch of people who did strategy stints. One went from Google strategy to a VP role at a Series C, another leveraged her experience to jump into early-stage VC as an operator-focused partner. The really interesting one was a guy who built enough credibility doing strategy work that when he decided to start a company, he had access to capital and networks he wouldn’t have gotten from consulting alone. The exits aren’t as well-trodden as PE recruiting, so people seem to carve their own paths more.
here’s what happens—you get stuck. not always, but A LOT. you spend 2-3 years in strategy, you get comfortable, and then you realize you need to move but you’re not as hot a candidate anymore because corporates train you too well and you lose edge. some people pivot to ops or stay in strategy somewhere else. some go back to consulting. PE’s usually closed by then for most ppl.
wait so strategy might actually close some doors? thats worrying. what should ppl do about that?
The exit optionality from corporate strategy is genuine, but it differs meaningfully from consulting. You gain access to operator networks and product intuition that PE and venture value highly—particularly for platforms or growth investors. However, consulting preserves more vanilla optionality; it’s the safer path. That said, people successfully exit corporate strategy into: early-stage VC, corporate development roles at larger tech companies, operational leadership in scaling startups, and founder routes. The pattern I’ve observed is that people who build strong external networks while in strategy maintain optionality; those who stay insular get corridor-bound. The company matters somewhat, but execution and visibility matter more.