55. Leaving Google and Amazon to bootstrap Metacast (rerun of ep. 24)

We took a leap of faith and left our jobs at Google and Amazon to jump into the unknown. It wasn't easy and required quite a bit of planning. This is a rerun of June 2023 episode where we talk about how we did it. Get Metacast at ⁠⁠⁠metacast.app⁠⁠⁠. Join the ⁠⁠r/metacastapp⁠⁠ subreddit. Links Show notes for part 1 and part 2 can be found on our website. Chapters 00:00 - Cold open 00:21 - Rerun intro and Metacast promo 02:11 - The original episode begins 03:07 - Ilya's last day at Google 08:34 - Career recap: Amazon, Google, and beyond 09:37 - Why leave a cushy big tech job 16:02 - The wantrepreneur dilemma 22:05 - Fear of leaving and overcoming it 22:33 - Financial preparation and runway planning 30:29 - When the stars aligned 33:42 - Bootstrapping vs. venture funding 37:00 - Preparing the family 39:05 - Spiritual retreats and clarity 47:00 - Leaving nicely and not burning bridges 52:25 - Peter's Principle and outgrowing your role 57:42 - Amazon's writing culture vs. Google 1:09:18 - Best of both worlds for a startup 1:16:05 - Biggest risk you've ever taken 1:21:34 - Goals for the first year 1:23:00 - Career as a pathless path 1:28:13 - Golden handcuffs and ego 1:31:16 - Closing thoughts Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn