The Chief Marketing Officer of AI-startup Cluely was earning Rs 2.7 crore per month when he recently opted to leave the top role. The 22-year-old content creator said he had encountered a growing sense of monotony after stepping into his dream job mere months after college. A social media update from Daniel Min also recounted how he had dealt with the “12-hour grind” and gradual end to most “small freedoms”.
In an Instagram video, Min discussed his decision to walk away from a lucrative position. “I just left my $300,000-a-year dream job as the CMO of Cluely,” he stated, adding that the experience initially felt like exactly what he wished for—“building the most hyped tech startup with all my best friends.” However, he explained that within a few months, the routine started to feel different to him.
“Grinding 12 hours a day’ and missing out on “small freedom”
Min stated how he believed intensive work was the standard expectation at that age. “I thought working all day, grinding 12 hours a day, was what you should be doing when you are at the age of 21,” he said. But he later added that pace quickly came with its downsides too. He said he started missing what he called as “small freedoms,” including “getting dinner with friends” and surprising my older brother for his 12th birthday.
As he put it, he still wanted to give his best in his leadership role. “I was supposed to be the boss at CMO,” he said, adding that “as a leader at the company, I wanted to put my all into it.” Yet, he said the work that once felt exciting gradually started to feel repetitive. “In the beginning of the work was super fun, but over time it slowly started to get a little bit more monotonous,” Min said.
Min’s conversation with his CEO
Min stated that a conversation with Roy, whom he identified as his boss, became a turning point in his life. He recalled Roy pulling him aside and asking, “You don’t seem to be very happy …what work do you think would actually excite you?” Min said he thought about it and told Roy that he had been considering leaving. “That’s when I mustered up the courage to tell Roy I have been thinking of for a while of leaving,” he said, adding, “I proceeded to start crying.”
Min described Roy responding with empathy rather than anger, stating that Roy told him, “as the CEO, I would love you to find something you are excited about…But as your best friend, Roy, I would want you to do what makes you happy,” and to make sure that “ladder” he was climbing was the one he truly wanted.
Min also outlined how difficult the decision felt personally. There’s probably no one else who has looked out for me more than Roy, but it broke me to realise that being at Cluely, this little brotherhood that I spent literally 12 hours a day living with, wasn’t the ladder that I wanted to climb.” He ended the video by thanking the company and Roy, saying that Cluely felt like “my family for the last seven months.”