Bridger PenningtonFund Launch & Investment Expert

I Turned Down 6 Fig Job Offer | Bridger Pennington

24 Jan 2024 · 1 min

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In this first‑person narrative, the speaker recounts receiving a six‑figure salary offer from a prestigious finance firm in Silicon Valley, including bonuses that would increase over the first few years. While contemplating the offer, he reflects on his own experience running a fund and other businesses during college. Observing his future boss’s long‑term earnings (estimated $400k‑$600k) despite extreme work hours, he decides to reject the corporate path, betting he could earn more on his own. He leaves, subsequently earning $450k in the first year, doubling that the next year, and continuing to grow his income. He emphasizes that beyond the financial gains, the autonomy and learning from building his own ventures provided greater value, acknowledging that this route may not suit everyone but worked well for him.

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I actually turned down a 6-figure job offer to go work in finance in Silicon Valley, this amazing firm. I remember the guy gave me the job offer. It was a 6-figure salary plus bonuses for my first year. And then like second year, third year, they add more and you make a good amount of money. And at the time, I started a few businesses in college. I actually was running my fund in college. I was sitting there like, huh, yeah, I could go work in the corporate world and I'm going to work 100 hours a week and just give my soul to this company and I'll make 6 figures a year, which is nothing bad at all. But I remember looking at my boss and my boss worked there. He'd worked there for, I think, 8 or 9 years. I estimate he was making $400,000 to $600,000 a year, and he worked his guts out. I don't know if this was arrogance or just naivety, but I sat there and said, huh, give me 8 years. I bet I can make more money than that guy. And so I left, and personally, I made about $450,000 the next year. And the next year I doubled that. The next year it got bigger than that. And that doesn't happen for everybody. And even if I didn't make the money or whatever, I still would have learned more on my own, building my own stuff and building my own fund and building my other stuff rather than working with him and working through a system and a company. And that's not for everybody, but I think that really worked for me well.