I'm one year into a career at a boutique strat consultancy, enjoying it but desperate to go full time on a business I've been trying to run on the side.I'm confident i can get funded (VC).The lack of salary isn't the worry, what worries me is the the prospects if the start up fails (50:50 chance?). One year will be worth very little.I'm just running the scenarios, but should I fail - how do top MBA schools and top firms look on 2/3 years (ultimately unsuccessful) enterprise? It's an interesting tech business with big capital projects, not selling custom t-shirts from my bed room.

Are you serious? 1. A b-school will LOVE this experience. 2. Surely your only real concern should be about any potential risk to your own personal finances or 'job' insecurity etc?

1. Glad to hear that, I do fear the MBBB, Goldman and Blue Chip boys dominate B schools.2. I don't really fear wrecking my finances. No real obligations (mortgage, family etc) and no substantial savings. I do fear wrecking my job prospects. 1 year is not enough for me to call myself a strat consultant and entrepreneurs are pretty tricky to employ. That’s why I think a top B School would be a good next step if it goes badly, it would make me more employable.

I said fear far too much, but you get the picture.

Don't worry about the corporate drones dominating B schools. You'll have some real 'school of hard knocks' experience under your belt, which will set you apart from the Excel jockeys that claim to be Bill Gates' personal advisor.Regarding your finances and job prospects, I'm guessing you're under 30 or so? You have nothing to fear - people change jobs and direction all the time. You're too young to have been pigeonholed. An besides, everybody loves a good war story about a business venture, whether it worked out or not.

Marx I would agree with what has been said here, but would add the obvious: if you have a commercially sound business idea, are committed enough to leave your job to make it happen, why are you already planning to fail? BS will lap up your real world experience (and running your own business will give you exposure it would take you years to accumulate even in a consulting firm), and top firms will take note of your confidence and acumen in getting it running in the first place. It will certainly make you stand out should you decide to return to MC, but if you have already been running it successfully on the side - call it your pilot - you have every reason to be positive and confident.We get one life Marx and it's not a rehearsal...