Why I Left Google
Early last year, I left Google to work for myself. I didn’t quite know what I wanted to work on, but had some ideas about working on Android applications or webapps. This surprised many of the people around me. Here I was, two years out of college, with a nice job, health insurance and great benefits, free gourmet food, and competitive salary (while the unemployment rate soared)–and I was just going to leave it all without something lined up?
To start off, I am very appreciative of my time at Google. I learned from and worked with some of the smartest and most competent people I’ve ever known. The team I worked with, from my manager, to my manager’s manager, to the PMs and all the other engineers, was stellar. Sometimes code reviews seemed very nit-picky, but they instilled in me a clean coding style that I appreciate now. Coming from a liberal arts education, working at Google with the best and the brightest was just the kick in the butt I needed to ramp up my technical skills. Free food, great coworkers…so why did I leave?
Truthfully, it was a combination of many factors. Ed Zschau’s “High Tech Entrepreneurship” class at Princeton really opened my eyes to the world of startups and entrepreneurship, and I accepted a job offer at Google with an expectation in the back of my mind that I would be there for at most a few years. During my time at Google, the main project I was working on was shut down. It wasn’t anyone’s fault in particular–it’s the inherent nature of a big company such as the one Google has become. They cannot run a business without occasionally surveying the project space and cutting out lower priority projects. Still, what I was working on was pretty cool, and I felt a lot of frustration when it was cancelled. My now-husband, Tyler, had left Google in 2008 to work on iPhone applications, and being around someone working for himself made me more seriously consider that possibility. Before I met him, I compartmentalized coding into a part of my life that I didn’t have to think about outside of work. His influence, the class I took at Princeton, and just being in Silicon Valley, made me think more creatively about new products and new ideas.
When I started thinking about leaving, I didn’t have anything concrete lined up. My plan was to work for myself for a bit and live off of some savings. I’d heard from other entrepreneurs that the hardest part of working for yourself is quitting your job. The power of inertia–to continue living day-to-day and put it off until later–is surprisingly immense. In fact, I didn’t tell my parents about it until after I gave my two week’s notice to my manager. I’m sure it seemed like a somewhat abrupt decision to them, but I actually was afraid they would manage to talk me out of it right after I had just built up the courage to take the leap. Though I didn’t have a solid plan in place for after Google, I realized that the biggest obstacle I had was my stable job and steady paycheck. I had done a few hours of Android programming on my own after work, but I knew that I wouldn’t really take it seriously until I jumped into the deep end.
Working at a big company like Google has undeniable perks. There are certainly days when I wish I had access to the plethora of knowledge at Google. And there are days (or maybe every day) when I wish I could pop into a massage room for a 15 minute chair massage with my favorite massage therapist at Google. The food is undeniably delicious, and I really miss the heated toilet seats. In the end, what it came down to was that I felt too young to work at such a corporate job indefinitely. I felt that if I stayed, I would look back at this time years down the road, and wonder, what else could I have done? After I turned in my laptop and completed my exit interview on my last day, I felt such exhilaration and relief. A whole world of opportunity was out there, and I drove home with a ridiculous grin on my face.
Related posts:
- Goodbye, Google. Adventure, here I come!
- Thoughts about School and Work
- The Thrill of a Deadline
- A Commonly Asked Question…
- Introduction
Comments (83)
I had expected some bad things about google for your leaving. BTW, what kind of skills are required to be a Google Engineer? Or You would like to answer on http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-skill-sets-needed-to-be-a-Google-Engineer
interesting read
you are taking a bit of a risk !! it sounds like you’re smart though, so if things don’t work out working for yourself- you can get another job working for another company.
good luck.
Yes, I figured the worst case was I’d be back in a similar situation, which wasn’t much of a risk at all (though it felt like a big one). Once I convinced myself of that, it made the decision much easier. It wasn’t so much that I was terribly unhappy at Google, just that I felt like I didn’t know what else was out there.
My reason for not trying something like this is the worst case is not being back in a similar situation.
It’s being without a job at all.
Especially in this economy, how can you be assured that if going it on your own doesn’t work, you’d be able to get back to Google, or some other company?
The economy isn’t great, but it seems to me like there’s always something going on in or around Silicon Valley. And I have to believe that listing a full-time job at Google on her résumé is a huge selling point for any company.
Good luck!
This is a common response but the fact is, if you have a skill you can get a job.
The interesting thing about this scenario is that companies don’t think twice before letting large numbers of employees go at anytime and they don’t ask or care if you can find another job.
Good luck Jean and hats off for following your calling.
I’m trying to work up the courage myself. A house payment isn’t helping at all. I can definitely relate to the inertia problem. Have you decided what you’re going to be working on? Good luck!
I was working on some projects on my own for awhile. I started looking consulting gigs a few months ago, and fell in love with a startup (Pulse), and joined up full-time. Startup world is a completely different world than someplace like Google.
Although I didn’t “leave google” to start-up, I’d say I can relate 90% of this blog as my own. I left my job as a consultant 3 months back.
All the best for what you choose to do.
I hope that I have to balls to do what you did, when I inevitably leave the job I get to pursue my dreams. Right now, though, finding a job is a best way to stay with my girlfriend as she (almost definitely) heads to a world-class PhD program.
You are inspiring. I hope the life you live is as fulfilling as you’d imagined it to be.
It sounds wonderful. All the best to you and Tyler.
Congrats on your decision and best of luck to you. I made the same sort of decision almost 3 year ago and I’m 100% happy with it.
I think what you mentioned about inertia is completely true, but I also believe that you can use it to your advantage once you get up to speed as an entrepreneur. Who needs heated toilet seats anyways?
Good luck – it seems you’re following a plan that you put together a few years ago. Congrats on sticking to it. Looking forward to your updates on shipping product, lessons learned, wins and losses. Cheers!
Best of Luck for your future endeavors!
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do keep us updated. I think you can see my email in the comment info. I keep getting ideas and I don’t have time to work on any of em (and you know what they say about an idea just left lying around… monetary value = 0 bucks) so if you would want to throw ideas around send me a mail so that you can try and get started out on your own thing soon
.
If you are wondering why is this person just coming and trying to offer whatever help he can (be it worth it or not) it’s because right now I’m stuck in a job which two weeks into it is screaming boredom at me everyday. I come back home and code on my own startup projects in the night to relax. It’s starting to become stressful and I hope I’ll make it through.
So yea. I’d like to try and help someone who let their job go to follow their dreams. So when you feel like it just throw me some ideas along the lines of what direction you’d like to head in, like if it’s android are we talking productivity, you see some vague problem or funky solution but you aren’t sure what to do with it just buzz me. I’ll do my best to help.
It’ll also help ease my boredom
I recently left a lucrative position at a large SaaS company to do the same thing. I relate to what you said about being too young to work in such a corporate environment. Im 27 and have done a couple of cycles of corporate/freelance/startup. Looking back my personal and career lives have grown so much more this way than I would have following a ‘career growth plan’ at a corporate employer.
Good on you.
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I believe the problem is not google, the problem is to work for somebody at all. If you work for somebody you have mostly to do what the stakeholder says and it is not always the same what you think the best solution is, but the most bad part is – you will always feel like you could rule the company much better and if you don’t even try, you will ask yourself the whole life, “what if?”.
I wish you to create something great and have success! If not – there are a lot of jobs out of there.
Olá, Bom dia! Meu nome é Getulio. Escrevo em português, pois não sei inglês. Consegui ler seu “post” utilizando o tradutor do google. Trabalho com desenvolvimento de sistemas voltados para a web. Estou começando, cursando facultade ainda, tenho inumeras dúvidas e sinceramente sou um admirador dos sistemas e funcionalidades do google. Gostaria de saber se não poderia me ajudar com materiais voltados para essa área de desenvolvimento, ou me mostrar uma direção com relação a que linguagem programação utilizar, designer, usabilidade enfim. Qualquer tipo de material seria bem vindo. Obrigado!
Good Luck! You inspire me
Great story. Interesting to read. I always thought that a job at Google in sillicon walley was a dreamjob anybody dont wanted to leave, but after i read your post, i can see what you mean.
Beautiful, Jean-o!
Hi Jean:
Working on what you ultimately like is the best thing one can ever have (and family of course). I truely love your passion and dedication!
Best of wishes!
Nicely said Edward
Very interesting. I am curious about what you will be building.
I applaud your decision. You’ll learn much more working on your own than you can ever learn at a large company even if that company is Google.
I think people right out of school should go to a start-up and then work on their own after 2 – 3 years as you’re doing. Save the big company experience for later in your career (if you don’t strike it rich along the way).
Good luck!
The time to take the risk is when you’re young, and pressing the “restart button” doesn’t cause serious problems. Once you have to pay $30,000 per year for mortgage, $50,000 for kids collage. and $20,000 for living expenses (Insurance, Heat, Water,food), and your told you need to save an additional $20,000 a year for retirement. … The concept of leaving a steady income looks looks a lot scarier.
If you think that you can survive for a year with no new income, (without going into debt), then it’s our obligation to your “future self” to try it …
+1
“Live off some savings” – how the fuck do you do that, two years out of college, with a Google salary (infamously low)? Is there something you are not telling us?
Fact that Google has warmed toilet seats = interesting albeit well-known Google anecdote.
Fact that you will miss them = TMI.
I was fortunate to not have any debt after graduation, but besides that, I started from nothing (except a few thousand saved from summer internship). It’s very doable if you have few financial responsibilities. That being said, I currently do have income now, as I joined a startup a few months back. The 8 months with no paycheck was a critical time though, and helped me see my options more clearly.
Hi Jean,
Your cousin’s husband found the blog. I thought you had a very logical mind to take a little detour before you settle down. To stick your nose in sand is not the best thing in life. When someone does not have debts,there is a world of freedom out there. There are a lot of layers and wrinkles we are accumulating in life—–we are lucky not to be in a rut.
We are having ice and snow tonight. Enjoy your CA climate.
Lynda
Thanks for visiting =) Heard about the “snowpocalypse” on the East coast… Stay safe and warm!
hey Jean,
The heated toilet seats had me chuckling, that’s got to be a first in reasons for staying/leaving
I wish you much good luck and I hope that you will latch on to what it is that you want to do quickly and that you’ll pursue it with everything you’ve got. Please keep the world informed about how you make out!
Google has become a corporate giant, and it’s just like that to work there. It used to not matter so much when they were private – after all you knew you’d be a millionaire. Same when the stock was going up like crazy – but these days, growth will be slow in that regard so the stock options won’t be worth so much.
I was considering working for Apple once – I had done an internship there and I knew what it was like inside. I love the products. In order to think about this, I sat outside the Apple campus and watched people come and go. Then something hit me – there’s Steve Jobs, and Jony Ive, and a handful of the most brilliant software engineers I’d ever met or would ever meet – but 90% of the people working there are just like the people in any other large corporation. There’s a WHOLE LOT of boring stuff at a big corporation.
I am taking the leap to independence now too, even though I have 2 kids and lots of responsibilities. You only live once – better make it count.
No kids obviously? Once you’re 18, time to get a job and procreate.
I can’t stand blog posts like this. Nothing contributed, nothing gained, except ‘freedom’. Good luck!
Why, because people at jobs contribute so much? That’s moronic. Where do you think these companies come from that contribute so much innovation and creativity? Most companies start with a couple people getting together, come up with an idea, or 2, or 3 – one of them is a hit, and then they grow. Not all of them become Google, Yahoo, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc, but they don’t need to be for their contribution to be made. In fact, in my opinion, good ideas often get killed by committee, which is why small, agile businesses are the backbone of innovation and strength of the economy.
Besides the fact that Harvard, Yale, Princeton and all of the top schools advocate entrepreneurship for the very reason that it contributes more to the world than just having a job does. Your contribution to the world is measure by your contribution, not your position or pay. That this young lady had the courage AND freedom to choose to give up the security and status that came from working at Google to find her own way, to make her own contribution is one of the things I applaud. The fact that 75% of new millionaires are immigrants is a testament to their passion, persistence, and creativity that too many people in our great country lack.
Heated toilet seats on Amazon: 80$ http://amzn.to/hPn7pl
1 problem solved
Good luck!
Congrats Jean – I can absolutely resonate. Coming from Liberal Arts and having worked at corporates in the last 3.5 years, I came to reevaluate my position in my career recently.
I just started at a new job this Monday, having forgone the opportunity to start completely on my own (I still have programming to learn before I can commit). My other choice was to work for free with a firm I highly respect and spend the rest of the time coding. It was the hardest decision I had to make.
In the end, I realized that I still have more coding to do before I can be on my own – and my new job promises to make me a startup media junkie so that was not a far detour from where I wanted to be.
I did the same thing myself 3 years ago (that was not Google though). I wanted to work as contractor and so I did. The problem is that I stuck into the same kind of trap – working on a good position, it pays good, but I feel I have to move further. And I’m about to make the same step again. The step into web and mobile apps. Have no idea how I would make that, but sitting on the current position keeps me away from that.
Mark.
If you’re fortunate enough not to have college debt, then it’s trivial to save over a third of an engineering salary. Over two years, that nets a significant cushion.
Ahhh, the folly of youth. You should have stayed with Google for at least 5 years, learned all that you can learn, then move on. Oh well. You probably could have been great, but now you’ll just have to settle for mediocre.
you just threw away a great opportunity.
bad move.
you might regret this years down the road.
You rock, I am very near the precipice of quitting my job, still deciding on interviewing with other tech companies or striking out on my own. I love reading these kind of blog posts that show that striking out on ones own, as scary as it may seem, need not be fraught with the kind of angst that it undoubtedly is for most people.
I had a similar experience. Left Microsoft early last year to do iPhone/Android apps. It’s true, deciding to quit and putting in that two week’s notice is very hard when you work at a place that’s got insurance, food (well, at least drinks), etc.
I don’t regret my decision at all, though. I’m much happier doing my own thing and making much much less (with a large potential upshot).
Good luck!
Cool! Would love to hear what you are working on. The mobile space is really exciting =)
Nothing beats the feeling of jumping into the void & wondering where you’ll land. The good news is, there are a lot of good places to end up (or to try for a while). FWIW, I think conquering inertia is a skill that’s easier to learn young, but once you have it, it’s yours forever. Good luck! And have fun.
(In case this sounds kind of odd given that I’m still at Google myself, well, Google was where I landed after trying three completely different things more or less at random. I’m glad I tried every single one of them).
“the hardest part of working for yourself is quitting your job”. So true. I made a similar decision to leave Microsoft last year. I literally went to a therapist to help me make the decision. I haven’t looked back. I think it’s key to realize that there’s always another job in corporate America – you won’t always be able to do a startup.
Congrats!
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Congratulations on having the courage to make the leap! Good luck!
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Thank you so much for this article. I’ve been wanted to quit my job for a while and I am afraid but you just encouraged me. For me it’s not about to do a startup but it’s more about questioning myself about work and money. I hope I will be able to take action.
Hi! Quitting a day job to form a startup takes a lot, and you’ve got it! I took the leap recently and it’s been very rewarding. I wish you all the best with your venture.
Best of luck! I am not sure I get your point about why you left, nor am I sure that two years is enough foundation to start working for yourself, but everyone is entitled to a chance.
I am planning to stop my freelance career by year end and start living off of my savings, so it can be done
Good luck and congratulations! About year ago I left the company where I was working (Neoris) and created with two friends a small company (http://blog.oxenstudio.com.ar) at Argentina. It was hard the first months, but being your own boss is priceless!
I really like your independent spirit.
Good job … while the unemployment numbers are constantly growing, you leave a stable job with a stable income for an undetermined fate. In response to a previous commenter who asked who she can live off of savings two years after getting out of college, the answer is simple. She was probably already loaded before coming to Google. It is posts like this that get common people in trouble.
They read about how one person has enough balls to leave a stable career at arguably one of the nation’s biggest companies to live off of savings while pursuing a pipe dream. People like me who work a full 40 hour week (software developer), teach classes at a local community college, further their education, and do side consulting as the norm realize this isn’t an option. Sure, I could make ends meet and support my family on the full 40 hour week salary, but I’m not naive enough to think that quitting my job and becoming a full time freeloader err I mean freelancer will put food on the table on a continual basis.
Take this with a grain of salt readers … what’s true for the part isn’t true for the whole.
Jean, I wish you the best of luck and I honestly hope you can look back on this in ten years and say you made a good choice instead of the most idiotic decision of your life.
I recently joined a startup so I do have income now, but I started off with nothing and lived off the savings from when I was at Google. I was very fortunate to not have any debt (student loans), but have been financially independent since I moved out here after graduation.
For others out there who are considering doing this while they are young and have few financial obligations (mortgage, kids), I think it is certainly very doable if you save up enough money. For those with mortgage and kids, it is also doable, as some previous commenters have attested to. I worked for myself for a full 8 months and did not freeload off of anyone–I would never regret this decision.
Glad you didn’t get sick. (Health insurance?)
I had health insurance lined up through Anthem. It was an individual plan with a high deductible for emergencies. Catastrophic insurance.
How do you have savings paying for rent in Silicon Valley which has highest cost of living in nation, and assuming you were a newbie at Google in the past 5 years and did not start at $250K or so? Or did your boyfriend/husband cover a lot of your costs so you can wing it?
my husband was also working for himself at that point, so we were both living off of our savings from our time at google. I put a lot away each month and saved more the last few months (also google bonus).
That’s too bad that you left. If you had stayed, you would be able to reach a larger audience with whatever Android app you developed in your 20% time. Anyway, good luck, and remember that you’re welcome to come back if things don’t work out or if you’d like to rejoin the Google family.
Thanks Michael, Things change constantly so who knows where I’ll be in a few years! I was really looking for a change of pace and wanted to see what else was out there.
WOW! Good luck indeed. A very brave decision!
Hmmm, i think you just want to work for yourself. I think that’s reasonable and great idea..
You left Google to really have more time to learn other technologies, in your case Android. Now you work @ Pulse w/ your Hubby. I think everyone here thinks you’re working to create your own startup. Instead you’re at Google-little.
Hi Jean, I´m so glad i red your blog by chance. I haven´t found anybody with the same feeling I have. But you´re the first one!
I can relate.
I did something very similar, except it was a Wall Street firm and it is not easy for others to understand.
I shared the same BIG
, yrs of work experience, and I have complete confidence that my own new gig is going to work out great.
Certainly a risk that had to be taken by me.
So you are working full time again with a smaller agency? I would take that the desire for leaving Google was the size? Maybe you were intimidated by your peers and were in need of a smaller place where it is easier to excel.
I work for a big company too and our food is awful! I’m glad Google spent some money on their food!
It’s been 30 years here so hopefully I’ll be here another five and call it a career.
I think you guys live in a bubble in Silicon Valley when you realize how hard it is to find any work for many people in America. Walking away from the type of job 98 out of 100 Americans would die for. But I hope it works out for you. I don’t know your age – maybe the perspective is different and the Silicon Valley culture is different and “finding oneself” in work is more important than knowing one will be taken care of in retirement and send kids to good colleges (debt free like you were lucky enough to be).
I think that’s not the problem of Google (or any other giant corporation). We should find out what makes us excited. Life is a one way road. Google, Microsoft or anything else is not necessarily the best choice. We should get to know ourselves.
Nice to hear someone be honest about the toilet seats, lol.
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I don’t quite understand what you mean by ” The power of inertia–to continue living day-to-day and put it off until later–” do you mean depending on your paycheck for day to day living??
Most people don’t take risks because of fear of failure which they come to regret later in life.
The only thing that drives people–and the race–forward are decisions like this. Do keep us posted Jean. Fwiw I wrote a post on your decision.
http://wagefreedom.com/can-you-quit-google/
—T
Thanks Tom! Great post-I love this line: “Lord knows there will be cold toilet seats when you least expect it.” =)
Hi Jean !
Nice post ! I think I’ve learned something from your article after my reading. Google is really an amazing company in the world. It is indeed a dilemma to leave or stay in such a charming corp. And you made your final decision on your own. That’s admirable. Anyway, thanks for sharing and wish you good luck!
are you chinese?
I admire that you have the courage to choose the road less travelled , wish you enjoy the different scenery ~
Great story, Jean! Thanks for sharing. I’m in a similar ‘inertia’ spot right now and I was wondering what would push someone to quit from Google – seems like the same issues I’m having!
Best of luck, I hope you’re enjoying the change!
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