Data Scientist (ML) at startup from Strategy Consultant. Should I take the offer?

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Ive been in strategy consulting for 4 years. Worked my ass off at the beginning and built up a strong reputation/niche as being the only person in my practice who is both highly technical and able to link DS to business strategy/value. I now manage blended teams of DS and Strategy but still get my hands dirty building models when needed. I work pretty close to 40 hours most weeks now. Most of my continued learning (textbooks, research papers, personal projects) is on evenings/weekends... no good technical mentors at firm... people more senior than me are generally fluffy/salesy. Im sure I have developed plenty of bad habits technically because Ive been 'on my own'.

Recently had an offer fall in my lap for a pure ML role at a startup. Team seems smart, theyre very profitable, and growing rapidly (20% monthly). Rapid growth also means they work 60 hour weeks typically, with production emergencies etc frequently meaning weekend work. I havent done a formal job search and dont have a great sense of my market value, wondering if I should jump to this or try to find something with more WLB but still good learning experience.

The startup would be a 30% salary bump minimum (havent negotiated yet) + equity. My current job I could pretty safely keep doing what Im doing for years and progress through to at least SM with steady comp increases (>10%/year), but would have to keep tolerating a fair share of fluff for every hour I get to do something cool.

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Thank you again OP!

The work you do at this startup will be much more engaging and interesting and I’d say there a very good chance your skills in this domain will be much more valued and recognized

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I mean can you do the role? Technically I mean

Yes. There was a live model building and technical part of the interview and I was the only person who passed it out of 12 candidates.

Im sure I have bad habits / code style due to being largely self-taught and not having technical mentorship/review above me at my firm, but it's been good enough to keep clients happy at work, and I try to read as much as I can from projects/notebooks online to see how other people wouldve tackled the same problem differently.

I would recommend you go to start up (equity worth quite a bit compared to consulting bonus). Machine learning is also a high growth area now. In addition, if you stay in where you are longer, your skill will deteriorate. Take risk when you are still young. Later on when you have family, it will be harder to make the switch.

I would take the ML role if in your position

From what you’re saying, looks like the startup ML role will be more valuable, especially if you don’t enjoy the consulting fluff. Which firm do you work for? Most consulting firms have or are building their DS/ML capabilities however it might mean you need to move. A lot of cool work happening in the NYC area.

Yes. You can always go back or move else where. Not much to lose

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