AI did not remove the entry-level job for fun. It removed it because the work was repeatable. What is left is the work that is not: judgment, presence, accountability, client trust. This is a path that starts with that work on day one.
From one chair I run B:Side Capital, a 35-year-old lender that has approved 5,500 small business loans. From the other I teach entrepreneurship at ASU's W.P. Carey School of Business. Same person. Two views of the same trend.
What I see from both chairs: the rungs are gone. Entry-level analyst work, junior associate work, first-year consulting work, the grunt work that used to turn a smart graduate into a capable professional over 18 months. AI ate most of it.
The students who thrive now are not the ones who memorized the Big Four playbook. They are the ones who can show up on a real client call, ask the right question, and earn the follow-up meeting. That skill does not come from a lecture. It comes from doing the work next to someone who has done it.
AI removed the rote work. The training ladder went with it.
Fewer people, more responsibility, faster growth. The only way up that is still there.
We are not trying to replace the Big Four summer analyst program. We are trying to give people who see the ladder evaporating a place to actually build something.
From the first week you are on a real client engagement. Taking notes in a real scoping call. Mapping a real workflow. Helping draft a real deliverable that a senior advisor reviews and sends. Coffee runs are not a rite of passage here, they are a distraction from the work that makes you valuable.
Judgment. Presence. Accountability. Knowing when to stop talking. Knowing when the scope is wrong. Knowing when to push back on a senior. These show up in a room, not in a syllabus. You build them by being in the rooms where the work happens, and by working with people who have been in them for a long time.
B:Side is 35 years into relationships with operators, lenders, founders, and investors across Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. You do not build that network as a first-year analyst at a big firm. You build it here, because on day one you are sitting in on the calls that make it.
This is not a resume drop. We read what you write. Honest and specific beats polished and generic every time.
We review every application. You will hear from us within five business days, either with a note that says it is not the right moment, or with a 20-minute scheduling link. We answer either way.
If the rungs feel missing to you too, you are paying attention. This path is not for everyone. It is for people who want to build something before they are told they are ready. Send the application. We will read it.
