Google employee making nearly $1 million a year quits, says ‘I felt some FOMO…’ | Today’s news
A former Google employee who earned nearly $1 million a year has explained why he decided to leave the tech giant to start his own artificial intelligence (AI) company.
In an essay published by Business Insider, 41-year-old Yousuf Imran, a former account manager from the San Francisco Bay Area, said he is well paid at Google but feels “FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)” as AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic start offering stock packages that could be “life-changing”.
“Last year I made almost $1 million as an account manager at Google, but I felt some ‘FOMO’ around the AI boom,” he wrote. He said eventually owning a stake in his own business became more appealing than the financial security of his job.
Imran joined Google in 2020 after spending around 15 years working in sales. His role was to help customers use Google’s artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies.
Although his annual base salary was about $170,000, most of his income came from commissions. He disclosed that his total W-2 earnings for the year came to approximately $986,000.
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Imran said his strong work ethic came from what he described as the “immigrant rush”. His family moved from Bangladesh to New York when he was five, and he grew up believing that success comes through hard work. He also credited his earnings to understanding customers’ businesses and building expertise in AI and machine learning.
What made him leave Google?
Imran said that his interest in artificial intelligence gradually exceeded his day-to-day duties at Google. During the evenings and weekends, he experimented with artificial intelligence tools including ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, creating applications and personal projects despite having no background in software engineering.
He also said that Google’s recent rounds of layoffs have made him rethink his future.
“I’ve been struck by the recent rounds of layoffs at Google that really talented people have been hit,” he wrote. He added that the uncertainty encouraged him to “take a gamble.”
How did he prepare before taking the risk?
In April, Imran left Google to start Mangosteen Studio, an AI product lab that develops AI-based sales tools for account managers.
He said the move was carefully planned and not made on impulse. Before resigning, he saved $200,000 to fund the business over two years and set aside another $150,000 to cover his mortgage and personal expenses during that period.
Imran said he hopes to grow the company without raising external funding for as long as possible, allowing him to retain ownership of the business and focus on building products instead of worrying about finances.
What advice does Imran have for others?
In retrospect, Imran acknowledged that leaving Google meant giving up a secure income and access to some of the most advanced AI resources in the industry. Still, he believes his years of sales experience gave him the confidence to start his own company.
“For people who feel stuck in their careers or unchallenged, AI gives people the opportunity to build something of their own. The key is to have domain expertise to fall back on. I wasn’t a software engineer, but I’ve spent 20 years learning about the challenges marketers face,” Imran said.
“In the end, I realized that leaving Google meant leaving behind a lot of things – both financial and professional. But my confidence and expertise in the field made me feel that this was the right time to take the risk,” he added.
