By Ryan Wightman, Generalist and Marketing Stream Lead at Jumpstart. Updated September 2026.Most of the bankers I speak to book the call at about 11pm. That tells you what you need to know about why they're calling. Two or three years in, the learning curve has flattened, the hours haven't, and the exit options they were promised turn out to be private equity or more banking.
A startup is the other exit. It's the one nobody in your analyst class talks about because it doesn't come with a headline number. This page is the conversation I'd have with you on a call: which roles you're actually a fit for, what they pay, what you lose, what you gain, and how to do it without landing somewhere that wastes your skills.
The roles bankers land
You are not going to be hired as a "banker at a startup". You'll be hired for the things banking taught you: working fast under pressure, building a model that holds up, writing a clear one-pager for someone senior, and not needing your hand held. At seed to Series B those skills map onto four roles.
- Founder's associate. The founder's right hand. Fundraising materials, investor updates, board decks, financial model, then whatever the company needs next. The most common landing spot for analysts and first-year associates.
- Chief of staff. Same idea, more seniority. You run the operating cadence, own the founder's priority projects, and often the fundraise itself. Usually asks for three to five years' experience.
- Strategy and operations. Pricing, unit economics, expansion into new markets, the build-versus-buy decision. Closest to the analytical work you already do.
- Finance lead. Less common at seed, common at Series A and B. You're the first finance hire, building the reporting and runway model the board relies on. This is where a banking background is a direct advantage rather than a transferable one.
Roles like this we've filled
The money, honestly
The roles I place bankers into pay £35k to £65k, whether the title is founder's associate or chief of staff. The people I work with are on a banking base of up to £65k, so for most of you this is a slight step down rather than a cliff, and for some it's flat. The bonus goes, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise.
What sits on the other side is the reason to do it at all. You have to want to move into startups, accept the slight dip up front, and understand where the money comes from later. Equity, which most of these roles carry and which is worth nothing or a lot, with no middle. Progression, which at a startup is measured in months rather than promotion cycles, because the company doubles and someone has to run the new thing. When a startup takes off, the person who joined as founder's associate at £50k is running a function three years later on a package no analyst track gets close to. And the hours are still long, but they're yours: you're not waiting for comments at 1am on a deck that will be rewritten anyway.
What founders worry about when they see "investment banking"
They worry you'll leave when the money looks thin. They worry you're used to being told what to do. They worry you've never shipped anything, only analysed things other people shipped. And they worry you'll treat a five-person team like a deal team, with a hierarchy that doesn't exist.
The bankers who get hired address all four without being asked. They talk about the deal where they ran the process because the associate was off. They show a side project or something they built outside work. They ask about the customers before they ask about the cap table. And they're clear about why this company rather than any startup.
Thinking about the move? Book a 15-minute call. I'll tell you honestly which roles you're a fit for right now and which need another year.
Book a generalist call →How to make the move
Don't quit first. The market for generalists is strong but it isn't instant, and founders can smell desperation in a video pitch. Start the search while you're still in the seat.
Rewrite your CV around outcomes rather than deals. "Built the operating model the CFO used to raise the Series B" tells a founder something. "Executed M&A transactions totalling £2bn" tells them you were in the room.
Then pick the stage that suits how much structure you want. Pre-seed and seed means a team under ten, the founder is your manager, and you'll own things you have no training for. Series A and B means twenty to fifty people, some process, and a cleaner version of the founder's associate or finance lead role. Bankers usually do well at Series A. The ones who thrive at seed are the ones who were already restless about process.
On Jumpstart, once you're on the platform, founders pitch their roles to you on video. You'll see the founder's face and hear how they talk about the business before you apply. For someone leaving a large institution, that's the fastest way I know to work out whether you can imagine sitting next to that person for two years.
How the process works
Book a 15-minute call with me. If the Generalist stream fits, you're on the platform with a profile and a 60-second video pitch within 24 hours. You apply to tailored roles, and 80% of candidates who hit that window land a role in four to six weeks. Free for candidates. Jumpstart can't support visa sponsorship or candidates in full-time study.