Yousuf Imran, a former account executive at Google, resigned from his position at the company, leaving behind a salary of $1 million or Rs 9.4 crore to create his own AI startup, according to news reports on Tuesday.
Imran stated that he made the decision based on his FOMO (fear of missing out) regarding the AI boom as well as his uncertainty regarding job security when Google's recent round of layoffs led to the letting go of people that Imran deemed "genuinely talented."
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He then decided to leave his job after six years at the tech giant, to found his startup Mangosteen Studio, which he described as using AI to "build the tools he wish he had" when he spent two decades "quote carrying" for notable firms.
Mangosteen Studio describes itself as an 'AI Product Lab' that builds AI tools for account executives in sales firms to help them consolidate their workflows.
"We believe the best AI tools should make salespeople feel more capable and more in control, not more dependent on clunky systems," the company's website said.
Background
Yousuf Imran immigrated to New York, USA from Bangladesh with his family when he was five years old. He credited some of his success to the "immigrant hustle" culture he adopted growing up in Queens. He decided to pursue a career in sales due to his belief that it rewarded talent over credentials.
Imran joined Google in 2020, and primarily aided customers in resolving business issues through the use of AI and machine learning technology.
On his time off, the startup founder would experiment with Large Language Models such as Claude, Gemini and ChatGPT to "vibe code" applications and side projects, despite not having a software development background.
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He stated that he was satisfied with his job at Google but experienced FOMO on learning about Anthropic and ChatGPT's equity packages, which he described as "being in a different universe."
He decided to then make the shift to establishing his startup. Imran set aside $200,000 to fund his company for two years along with an additional $150,000 to pay for his mortgage and personal expenses.
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