I'm at Google, 7 YOE, L5. The golden handcuffs are real ($400K+ TC) but I'm bored, burned out, and feel like a cog in the machine. Thinking of joining a startup or starting something. Any desi engineers who made the jump — do you regret it? How did you handle the financial downgr...
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Left Amazon (L6, $500K TC) 2 years ago to co-found a fintech startup. Honest assessment: **What I gained:** - Energy and purpose — I actually want to work - Learning 10x faster (wearing every hat) - Equity that could be worth $0 or $5M - Freedom to make decisions without 6 layers of approval **What I lost:** - 60% pay cut (paying myself $150K from runway) - Immigration stress (had to switch to O-1 visa, H1B was tied to Amazon) - Sleep (working 70hr weeks vs 40 at Amazon) - Prestige (aunties stopped asking about my job at dinner parties lol) **Was it worth it?** For me, absolutely. But I saved aggressively for 5 years first ($800K liquid). Don't jump without at least 2 years of expenses saved. The financial stress alone can kill a startup dream.
Counter perspective: I left Meta for a Series B startup, it failed after 18 months, and I went back to FAANG (Microsoft). Zero regrets about trying. The experience made me a much better engineer and I got re-hired at a higher level. FAANG will always take you back if you have the skills.
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