Stay, switch, or leap — pressure-test it first
An offer to weigh, or a fork in the road. We unearth what you actually need from the next move, and map it to the specific role and company in front of you.
What's at stake
The wrong move costs years, not months — and 'the wrong move' is often the right title at the wrong company, or the safe path when you needed the bold one. Most people decide on excitement and a number, without ever mapping what they actually need against what this specific employer actually offers.
How I think about career moves
-
Know your employer before you know your answer.
Most people interrogate the offer and barely interrogate the company — but the same role is a different job at two different employers. Know-your-employer — KYE — is the actual work: understanding what this specific company is really like, where it's heading, and how it treats the seat you'd hold, then mapping your needs onto that.
-
The seat decides your trajectory; the title only describes it.
Scope, the people you'd learn from, and where the role actually leads matter far more than the label or the number. A bigger title in a worse seat is a step backwards you don't feel until two years later.
-
Direction comes from knowing what you actually need.
Optionality, depth, comp, learning, stability — they trade off, and most people never make the trade explicit. Get clear on what you're optimising for, and 'stay, switch, or leap' starts to answer itself.
Why me
I've made these moves myself — banker to operator to CFO to founder — and as a CFO I built the orgs these roles sit in and approved the offers. I read employers from the inside: what a seat is really like, where a path actually leads, and where a shiny title is hiding a dead end.
Rohit Agarwal — ex-investment banker, CFO, founder and angel investor. He's built the offers, raised the rounds, and sat in most of the seats this touches.
More about Rohit →This is for you if
- You have an offer or a move to weigh and want a clear-eyed second read
- You're at a fork — stay in consulting or banking, move to corporate, switch firms, or leap to a startup — and want to choose well
- You care about the seat and the trajectory, not just the title and the number
- You'd value a framework over a pep talk
- You'd rather catch the red flags before you commit than rationalise them after
Honestly, not if
- You've already decided and just want validation — this is an honest read, not a cheerleader
- You want open-ended career counselling or therapy — this is a focused read on a specific decision or fork
- You're after generic advice you could Google — this is mapped to your needs and the actual company, not a template
Questions worth bringing
- Do I stay in banking, or is it finally time to move?
- I'm a consultant — go corporate, switch firms, or leap to a startup?
- This corporate offer pays less but the scope is bigger — which should win?
- I have two offers — how do I actually compare them?
- Is this a real step up, or a lateral dressed as a promotion?
- What's this company actually like beneath the pitch — and is it right for me?
How it works
- 01
Apply & share the decision
Tell me the decision — an offer, or the fork you're at — and where you are with it. I reply within 24 hours, and only take it on if I think I can genuinely help.
- 02
The session
A focused 60 minutes mapping what you actually need, reading the role, the company, and the red flags — and exactly what to do about each.
- 03
Your decision framework
A written go/no-go framework specific to your situation, so the decision holds up after the excitement fades.
What you walk away with
- A clear-eyed read on what you actually need from the next move
- An honest read on the role, the company, and where the path really leads
- The red flags worth testing before you commit
- A written go/no-go framework you can return to
Pricing
From $500
Quoted after your application. Pairs naturally with Salary Negotiation if you decide to proceed.
Apply for a session
Tell me what you're facing. I read every enquiry personally, reply within 24 hours, and only take it on if I think I can genuinely help.
Related questions
I don't have an offer yet — I'm just deciding a direction. Is that a fit?
Often the most valuable version. Whether to stay in consulting or banking, move to corporate, switch firms, or leap to a startup is a higher-stakes call than any single offer — and the one people get the least help with. We work out what you actually need from the next chapter, and which path and which employer deliver it.
What can you actually tell from an offer, a company, and a process?
More than most people think. The level and scope, how the comp is structured, who you'd report to, how the process was run, and how they answer your hard questions all signal what the seat is really like. Layer on knowing the specific employer — KYE — and you can read where the path actually leads, not where the title says it does.
Isn't this just the salary negotiation session?
No — this comes first. The pressure-test is about whether to take the role, or which path to take, and what the seat is really worth to your trajectory; the negotiation is about the best terms once you've decided. Many people do the pressure-test, decide, and then negotiate — but each stands alone.
Will you tell me to turn it down, or pick the other path?
If that's where the read lands, yes — plainly, with the reasons. The value is an honest second opinion from someone with no stake in your decision. More often it's not binary: it's which path keeps the most doors open, which risks to test, and what to ask before you commit.