I joined Google in 2016 as a tech lead in the Gmail division and transitioned to the Google Search team in 2020. By 2024, I realized I wanted to lean more heavily into AI. I didn’t feel my position at Google would give me the opportunity to do that, so I opened myself up to other opportunities.<\/p>\n
When a Meta recruiter reached out about an AI machine learning engineer<\/a> role, I decided to pursue it and eventually received an offer. I left Google in July 2024 and started at Meta a month later.<\/p>\n I had a positive experience at Meta. I worked with great people in a high-resource environment and learned a lot. I was also able to lean into AI as I’d hoped, focusing fully on AI products.<\/p>\n \n Every time Jacob publishes a story, you\u2019ll get an alert straight to your inbox!\n <\/p>\n \n Stay connected to Jacob and get more of their work as it publishes.\n <\/p>\n However, halfway through 2025, I started thinking about resigning to build a startup<\/a> \u2014 specifically, a venture that would use AI to help the typical household with their finances.<\/p>\n Business Insider is speaking with workers who’ve found themselves at a corporate crossroads \u2014 whether due to a layoff, resignation, job search, or shifting workplace expectations.<\/p>\n Share your story<\/strong> by filling out this form<\/a>, contacting this reporter via email at jzinkula@businessinsider.com<\/a>, or via Signal at jzinkula.29.<\/p>\n I struggled with the decision of whether to resign from Meta<\/strong><\/p>\n Whether to resign from Meta<\/a> was a complex decision.<\/p>\n The startup was something I was growing increasingly passionate about. I know what financial pressure feels like \u2014 I had been a low-paid graduate student trying to provide for a newborn.<\/p>\n Many people don’t have access to great financial planning and management tools to help improve their financial situations. While I was still figuring out what the business would look like, I felt there was an opportunity to help people, and that was very motivating for me.<\/p>\n I connected with a potential cofounder \u2014 a friend of a friend \u2014 and we spent a lot of time talking through the opportunity. That helped me grow more comfortable with the idea of leaving Meta<\/a>, but there were still a lot of other factors to consider.<\/p>\n It’s hard to leave a world-class team with people you like \u2014 not to mention a reliable source of income.<\/p>\n Read more about people who’ve found themselves at a corporate crossroads<\/p>\n I made sure my family would be prepared to lose my income<\/strong><\/p>\n I know some people start businesses on the side<\/a> while keeping their full-time jobs, but I couldn’t do that because I was already juggling two demanding roles as a Meta employee and a parent.<\/p>\n My other concern was legal. I would’ve had to disclose any outside business to Meta, and there could’ve been non-compete issues \u2014 especially since my business idea was related to AI, like my role at Meta.<\/p>\n I wanted to make sure my family had enough savings to cover at least one year of our current expenses without touching our retirement accounts. My wife works, but I wanted a cushion in case she lost her job. I figured that would give me at least one year to build the business, and, if things went really badly, enough time afterward to find a job.<\/p>\n We already were in a good place savings-wise, so we were still able to take vacations, hire tutors for our kids, and order DoorDash. I had about six months before resigning to make some minor adjustments, including cutting back on 401(k) contributions and putting more money into liquid savings accounts.<\/p>\n This financial planning process<\/a> for my family really helped crystallize the direction I wanted to go with the startup. In September 2025, I resigned from Meta.<\/p>\n When I shared the news with my colleagues, the response was a mix of surprise, support, and a large amount of jealousy. A lot of people want to leave and start their own thing, but for various reasons they can’t or won’t \u2014 whether it’s because of their visa status, financial constraints, or broader fear.<\/p>\n I’m now focused on my business, Bear Financial<\/a>. My cofounder and I are planning to publicly launch in the second half of this year. We may seek external funding, but for now, we’re bootstrapping the business, so I’ve tracked our spending very carefully.<\/p>\n My advice for people in a similar situation<\/strong><\/p>\n I have a few pieces of advice for people considering leaving their jobs<\/a> to start their own business. First, get your finances in order. Second, make sure anyone who depends on you, like your family, is supportive of the decision \u2014 I was fortunate to have a supportive partner who knew that I felt limited working in Big Tech<\/a>.<\/p>\n Third, <\/strong>choose an idea you deeply believe in. With a startup, you have to be the one to bring the energy, the enthusiasm, the vision \u2014 and to carry others into it.<\/p>\n Address your knowledge gaps. Startup founders often need to be generalists, which means having a basic understanding of a lot of areas.<\/p>\n I’d also suggest envisioning the worst-case outcome and asking yourself whether you’d be OK with it. I thought about what it would look like one year later if my business failed. I believe I’d still value everything I learned over those 12 months.<\/p>\n![\"Jacob](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769533268_524_6936e0f204d0f0a114f19381.jpeg\")
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