[nishparadox]

Few years back I was a co-founder and director of tech and research. We were not doing well. I was personally struggling financially not just at startup level but also at my person/family level. For 8 months nobody (co-founders) took any salaries. Because of personal financial struggles, I was drowning in a mild debt (asking money from friends) to even sustain everyday life. After a year, due to some internal politics (which I absolutely hate on any organization and given my more "nice guy" personality, I couldn't bare), I decided to quit. I quit without any second thoughts. I remember giving resignation without anyone anticipating it. I didn't have any plans. After quitting, I asked for some compensations which lasted me for only 2 months. It was hard for me and my family (you know how Asian parents are). Out of nowhere, I decided to pursue grad school. So started GRE+TOEFL. Gave it. That was 2 years back. I am still in "going to grad school" phase for my Master's. Let's see how it goes in next 2 months.

However, out of nowhere during the end of 2019 I was approached by a startup here which works in Document AI space. I am the only senior. I am juggling through research + engineering ML. But in some ways, I didn't anticipate that I would be enjoying so much here. But still, imposter syndrome hits hard often.

If I hadn't quit my initial startup plan, I don't know what might have happened to my research and career. I might have been more miserable.

:) ---