The Right Way to Quit a Job to Launch Your Startup
Published in
8 min readApr 10, 2019
- Many years ago, I got super-excited with an idea for a new startup. I worked at Microsoft at that point. After thinking for several weeks, I decided to quit Microsoft and dedicate my entire time to the new venture. I told my manager that I would be quitting in 4 months, so they would have enough time to find a replacement. I also did my best to finish everything I could finish, and to pass to my successor all the remaining projects in perfect shape.
- Every 2–3 weeks my manager tried to convince me to stay at Microsoft, but with no result. He made his final attempt in our weekly 1:1 just a few days before my last day. When I reaffirmed the desire to leave, he asked about my startup. I spent 15 minutes describing the idea and what we had achieved so far. Eventually, my enthusiasm ignited him, and he asked me whether I would accept him as an angel investor. Of course, I responded “Yes”. This is how we got the first $50,000 of seed money, and a Microsoft VP as an investor.
- That first investment gave us momentum. We recruited a few other prominent angels within just a month of me quitting Microsoft. Note, I never intended to raise money from my manager. It just happened this way because he did not want me to go. And he did not want me to go because I did my job well, even knowing that I would be leaving soon.
