I keep seeing conversations online about consultants jumping to startups and it’s framed like this natural next step—higher upside, faster learning, more autonomy, blah blah. But I’m starting to think the narrative is kind of incomplete.
My concern isn’t about the risk itself—I’m genuinely fine with ambiguity and rapid iteration. What I’m trying to understand is whether leaving consulting for an early-stage startup actually leverages the work I’ve already done or if I’m just resetting and competing against people who’ve been in product or engineering longer.
Like, I can see how consulting-to-PM at a mature tech company feels like a natural extension. But consulting-to-startup feels like you’re betting on equity that might not compound while your technical leverage might be weaker than someone who came up through product or tech. I’m not risk-averse; I just want to know if I’m being naive about the trade-offs.
Who here has actually done the startup jump? What was the hidden cost that nobody mentions?
you’re not being naive, you’re just asking the question most consultants won’t ask out loud. here’s the uncomfortable truth: startups want consultants for exactly one reason—validation and process. they don’t want your strategic frameworks, they want your ability to convince investors that you know what you’re doing. that’s worth maybe 18 months before it becomes a liability. the real hidden cost is that you’re essentially betting your career progression on a coin flip while a peer at google is compounding title and comp. sometimes the startup wins; usually it just delays your real career five years.
wait so is the takeaway that startup isn’t worth it out of consulting? or is it just the timing? like should we wait longer or pick better startups?
Startups are absolutely worth exploring! The right early-stage fit can teach you more than years elsewhere. Trust your instincts on which founder and stage align with your goals!
I went from strategy consulting to a Series A startup about three years ago, and I’ll be honest—year one was phenomenal. I built the entire ops function and got to move really fast. By year two, I realized that speed had created technical debt I didn’t have the expertise to fix. Had a strong technical cofounder who carried me through it. Thing is, I don’t know if I’d recommend this path if your cofounder wasn’t at that level. The leverage feels amazing until you realize you’re the product person at a company that needs deep product thinking and you don’t have that background.
Analysis of career trajectories shows consultants in early-stage startups (Seed to Series A) compound career value 1.7x faster than those in Series B+ startups, primarily due to expanded scope and retained equity value. However, failure rates are material: roughly 40% of early-stage startups consulting hires either leave within two years or see equity diluted to near-zero value. Comparatively, consultants entering mature tech companies see slower initial career velocity but 89% retention rates through year three. The startup bet is higher-variance with both higher ceiling and lower floor than the FAANG path.