Why Liam Christopher Left One of the World’s Largest Investment Banks to Become an Online Entrepreneur

Today, Liam Christopher has built a reputation as an online entrepreneur by founding brands such as the men’s hair care, skincare, and beauty product line Aston James, which he co-founded with supermodel Fabio Lanzoni. However, many may consider Liam’s road to owning a business surprising, as it involves an exit from one of the largest financial institutions in the world.

Based on his background, Liam Christopher has been no stranger to hardships, growing up in a family of four boys raised on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia by a single mother addicted to drugs and alcohol. He even spent some time homeless before a family friend who was an investment banker bought his family a new home. In his upcoming book, How to Make Money and Influence Customers: Proven Ways to Unlock Online Learning Potential, Liam credits this family friend with inspiring him to make a large income so that he could live a better life than his early childhood in Australia. 

He initially pursued a job as an investment banker as a means to this end. After earning a scholarship, he studied liberal arts and economics at the University of Texas. He went on to continue his studies in finance and economics at Macquarie University. His knowledge of finance landed him a job at Goldman Sachs, the world’s second-largest investment bank. Despite spending all of his education training for a position in finance, Liam realized something during his two years working at Goldman Sachs that would forever change his career trajectory. 

“When I was working for Goldman Sachs, we had two entrepreneurs who came in and sold their company for $50 million,” he recalled. “It was at that point that I realized I would never be able to make the type of money I wanted to make while working for someone else, so I quit with no plan and no money saved up to start my first business online.”

At the age of 22, Liam left his position as an associate at Goldman Sachs to enter the ultra-competitive world of online entrepreneurship. The first company he founded after leaving Goldman Sachs was a clean technology company named Clean Energy Technology Holdings. Liam’s journey as an online entrepreneur was not without its challenges, including an incident in which a client stole all of the money from one of his companies, nearly bankrupting it before he closed enough deals to make all the money back. 

Despite these temporary setbacks, Liam has managed successful brands such as Digital Knockout, which was able to close 100 clients and reach seven figures in revenue within its first year. His other projects include serving as a speaker at digital conferences and events such as Mumbrella360, where he spoke on the topic of personal branding. He continues to work between Sydney and Los Angeles, brokering celebrity endorsement deals for online e-commerce brands. His book, How to Make Money and Influence Customers: Proven Ways to Unlock Online Learning Potential, is set to release later this year.