Chris Altcheck left Goldman Sachs to found PolicyMic in 2011. He's gone on to raise more than $1.5 million and his team of one dozen is pulling in more than 6 million monthly unique visitors.
PolicyMic is written largely by unpaid contributors who write analytical stories about pressing issues, politics ,and entertainment.
" }, { "@type": "ImageObject", "thumbnailUrl": "https://www.businessinsider.in/photo/21600065/Amy-Jain-and-Daniella-Yacobovsky-began-finance-careers-before-creating-a-jewelry-e-commerce-company-that-decks-out-Rihanna-and-Justin-Bieber-BaubleBar-.jpg", "name": "Amy Jain and Daniella Yacobovsky began finance careers before creating a jewelry e-commerce company that decks out Rihanna and Justin Bieber, BaubleBar.", "contentUrl": "https://www.businessinsider.in/17-people-who-left-finance-careers-for-startups-and-will-make-way-more-because-of-it/joshua-kushner-worked-for-goldman-sachs-before-he-started-thrive-capital-which-invested-in-instagram-and-kickstarter/slidelist/21600053.cms#slideid=21600065", "caption": "Amy Jain and Daniella Yacobovsky began finance careers before creating a jewelry e-commerce company that decks out Rihanna and Justin Bieber, BaubleBar." , "description": "Amy Jain and Daniella Yacobovsky worked for the same investment bank, then later attended Harvard Business School together.
There, they came up with the idea to be an online destination for beautiful, affordable jewelry, the way Sephora is for makeup. But it wasn't an easy decision to give up finance for BaubleBar.
We were at this crossroad, Yacobovsky tells Inc. We could take this very secure road we had planned, or we could become entrepreneurs and turn this project into a real business. We chose to dive into the start-up world.
" }, { "@type": "ImageObject", "thumbnailUrl": "https://www.businessinsider.in/photo/21600066/Marc-Katz-of-CustomInk-left-a-Wall-Street-career-to-start-a-business-his-father-didnt-think-would-be-very-good-.jpg", "name": "Marc Katz of CustomInk left a Wall Street career to start a business his father didn't think would be very good.", "contentUrl": "https://www.businessinsider.in/17-people-who-left-finance-careers-for-startups-and-will-make-way-more-because-of-it/joshua-kushner-worked-for-goldman-sachs-before-he-started-thrive-capital-which-invested-in-instagram-and-kickstarter/slidelist/21600053.cms#slideid=21600066", "caption": "Marc Katz of CustomInk left a Wall Street career to start a business his father didn't think would be very good." , "description": "Before he founded CustomInk, an online apparel retailer that generates more than $70 million in annual sales, Marc Katz was a financial analyst on Wall Street. The profitable business employs more than 250 people from its McLean, Virginia headquarters.
One of Katz's first investors was his father, a 3-time entrepreneur, who didn't think his son had a great idea.
I told him I thought it was a terrible idea, Steve Katz tells Forbes. Selling T-shirts on the Web, I just didn’t see how you distinguish yourself, so it would be a race to the bottom in terms of price...It’s amazing what you can do with a mediocre idea extremely well executed.
" } ] } }
Joshua Kushner graduated from Harvard and worked for Goldman Sachs. After a short stint there he left to pursue a career in venture capital.
His firm, Thrive Capital, has invested in startups such as NastyGal, Kickstarter, Instagram, and Makerbot. He also recently gathered $40 million to start a new health insurance company, Oscar.
Alexa Von Tobel began her career at Morgan Stanley where she rose up the ranks to become a trader. She quit to attend Harvard Business School, then dropped out to found LearnVest.
LearnVest has raised more than $40 million to tackle an important issue: there should be financial planners and advisors available for the middle class, especially with such a high percentage of the population in debt.
Whether LearnVest will succeed or not remains to be seen, but Von Tobel looks well positioned to clean up as a tech founder.
Scott Belsky is now an angel investor in companies like Pinterest with his own, very big startup success. Last year he sold a portfolio site for designers, Behance, to Adobe for $150 million.
Prior to founding Behance, Belsky worked for Goldman Sachs. He told Business Insider about his decision to leave Wall Street for a startup.
"I figured I might just become a middle manager living a great life, but not doing something extraordinary. I came to believe that doing something extraordinary is never achieved through ordinary means. I remember that moment at Goldman where I was thinking I should leave and start something. I shared that with colleagues and they thought I was crazy. I gained confidence from being doubted."
Chris Altcheck left Goldman Sachs to found PolicyMic in 2011. He's gone on to raise more than $1.5 million and his team of one dozen is pulling in more than 6 million monthly unique visitors.
PolicyMic is written largely by unpaid contributors who write analytical stories about pressing issues, politics ,and entertainment.
Amy Jain and Daniella Yacobovsky worked for the same investment bank, then later attended Harvard Business School together.
There, they came up with the idea to be an online destination for beautiful, affordable jewelry, the way Sephora is for makeup. But it wasn't an easy decision to give up finance for BaubleBar.
"We were at this crossroad," Yacobovsky tells Inc. "We could take this very secure road we had planned, or we could become entrepreneurs and turn this project into a real business. We chose to dive into the start-up world."
Before he founded CustomInk, an online apparel retailer that generates more than $70 million in annual sales, Marc Katz was a financial analyst on Wall Street. The profitable business employs more than 250 people from its McLean, Virginia headquarters.
One of Katz's first investors was his father, a 3-time entrepreneur, who didn't think his son had a great idea.
"I told him I thought it was a terrible idea," Steve Katz tells Forbes. "Selling T-shirts on the Web, I just didn’t see how you distinguish yourself, so it would be a race to the bottom in terms of price...It’s amazing what you can do with a mediocre idea extremely well executed."
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