A few months ago, I left my job at Facebook. It was a short ride at every product guy’s dream company. What happened? Why did I leave Facebook\u2014 the tech Mecca\u2014in the middle of a pandemic? We’ll get there.<\/p>\n
First, let me tell you the how.<\/strong><\/p>\n For some background, my career began in engineering, but I dreamed of being an entrepreneur. I moved to the US from India to pursue these entrepreneurial endeavors. While studying at Arizona State University, I started a company with a professor. While that professional endeavor didn’t pan out, it prepared me for the journey and introduced me to the startup community. Fast forward a few years to 2011, we founded Vessel.io, built a team, raised funding, and sold the company in 2015.<\/p>\n Where there’s a will, there’s a way.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n For an immigrant with a complicated visa situation and zero social capital in the Valley, founding Vessel was one of the best decisions of my life. I learned a lot, made new friends, and began to fulfil that entrepreneurial dream of mine. Going through acquisition and then integrating into the parent company was another unique experience that showed me what I was made of. (I’ll save the acquisition topic for another day\u2014but if you know, you know.)<\/p>\n Since then, I lead product teams in top-tier companies and learned from exceptional leaders but, deep down, I always had a nagging feeling that didn’t let me settle in a job. I thought about new ideas in my spare time and spent nights and weekends trying to hack something, anything. Even though my job was rewarding financially, something was missing.<\/p>\n Let’s all agree that it takes courage to face our fears and to take action.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n I joined Facebook in March 2020. I felt like this was the final destination\u2014the job I had been working my whole life towards. But I quickly realized that I was performing the same drill on a larger scale. Getting hired at Facebook made me feel like I was finally reaching that last round, but when I got there, I looked around and saw I was in the same place. I asked myself: Do I really want to do this? Is this IT? I was so focused on believing that this job was THE job that I was afraid to admit\u2014even to myself\u2014 that the life I wanted was outside this campus.<\/p>\n When you’re stuck in your thinking, it’s time to make a change. Growth and change can be painful, but nothing is as painful as staying stuck.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Once I decided to give in and follow my heart, things became crystal clear. As a leader, if you are honest with yourself, managing everything and everyone else around you gets easier.<\/p>\n Following my heart, I am ready to make new mistakes.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n I’m building a new company called Simplified | Digital design and collaboration platform<\/a>\u2014 a powerful digital design platform that helps you create content, scale it and collaborate with your team like never before.<\/p>\n Simplified is the modern way to build your brand without hassle and chaos.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
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