I worked 13-hour days building my startup while working at Apple. Here's why I ignored advice to go all in sooner.

This as-told-to effort is based connected a speech pinch Julie Zhu, a 29-year-old entrepreneur successful New York City who near Apple past twelvemonth to attraction connected her startup, Odd One In. The pursuing has been edited for magnitude and clarity.

A fewer years ago, I started considering leaving my job astatine Apple and making the leap into entrepreneurship. A batch of group astir maine thought the determination was obvious: I should conscionable quit.

There were a fewer factors nudging maine retired the door. For one, I had wanted to become a founder since I was 18. I'd besides developed a benignant of love-hate narration pinch Apple, wherever I began moving successful 2022.

I was grateful for what I learned there, but I felt for illustration it was a high-pressure, high-stress environment — and I besides struggled pinch imposter syndrome. I wanted to build thing wherever I had much of a opportunity and could make much decisions.

When I sought proposal from group I knew, including those successful the startup community, astir 95% told me, "Julie, if you're not happy astatine Apple, you should conscionable quit."

They said I had the cleanable résumé and that venture superior firms would apt beryllium consenting to springiness maine money — aliases astatine slightest talk to me. They thought it was good that I hadn't afloat figured retired my business thought yet.

I realized I didn't person to travel the way that worked for different people. I wanted to floor plan my own. Quitting earlier I felt prepared wasn't the correct determination for me.

I wanted a scheme earlier I quit

I deliberation a batch of group who told maine to discontinue gave maine that proposal because they'd recovered occurrence successful the startup world, which made it easier for them to show maine to return the risk.

The truth is nary 1 knows what it's for illustration to locomotion successful your shoes — aliases what determination is correct for you.

For me, completing a checklist I'd fixed myself earlier leaving Apple was really important. That included having a tangible thought I believed in, a team, and capable of a instauration to consciousness for illustration I wasn't jumping wholly blind.

Financial information mattered a lot. I wanted to make judge I had astir 3 to 5 years of runway crossed my assets and savings, including my Apple stock.

I besides wanted my family's support. My parents are entrepreneurs, and I wanted them to understand why I was giving up a comfortable firm job, peculiarly erstwhile layoffs were happening crossed the tech industry.

As I reflected connected the champion people of action, I talked everything done pinch my therapist. I wanted to beryllium logical and logical astir my decision.

My business thought started coming together

By precocious 2024, immoderate of those pieces were starting to travel together. I found a cofounder who was already a friend of mine. Having that existing relationship and spot made it overmuch easier for america to commencement building thing together.

From there, we started processing an thought I'd had for Odd One In, an creator collectible company. We officially started the business successful December 2024, but I wasn't fresh to time off Apple. So I decided to do both.

Before incorporating Odd One In, I checked pinch Apple's business behaviour squad to make judge I could activity connected my institution while employed there, and started building it extracurricular my Apple activity hours.

For the adjacent 8 months, that meant structuring astir my full time astir my 2 jobs.

I built my startup earlier and aft work

While building my startup and moving full-time astatine Apple, I would aftermath up astir 5:30 a.m. and spell to the gym — usually doing immoderate cardio to aftermath myself up and enactment healthy. Then I'd activity connected Odd One In from astir 6 to 8 a.m.

After that, I'd caput to Apple for my time job. I'd typically get location astir 5 p.m., eat, and commencement moving connected the startup again. I'd often activity until astir 10:30 p.m., past spell to slumber and do it each complete again the adjacent day. On a emblematic weekday, I was spending astir 13 to 14 hours moving crossed Apple and the startup.

It was a demanding schedule, but I had a plan for my business pinch circumstantial milestones I wanted to achieve. That made the other activity consciousness intentional, alternatively than for illustration I was conscionable "working each the time."

I yet felt fresh to spell each successful and discontinue my job

By August 2025, juggling some my Apple occupation and Odd One In had go excessively much, successful portion because my business was demanding much of my time.

I besides didn't deliberation continuing was adjacent to my team astatine Apple. I'd recovered thing I was much passionate about, and galore of the pieces I'd wanted successful spot earlier quitting had travel together.

This included getting my parents' support for my determination to time off Apple. It took clip for them to understand why the move was important to me, but erstwhile they understood my reasoning and saw existent traction from what we were building, they became overmuch much supportive.

Overall, I yet felt assured that aft 4 years pinch the company, it was the correct clip to move on.

I'm gladsome I didn't discontinue earlier I was comfortable

Since leaving, being a laminitis has been humbling, but it's besides fixed maine confidence. At Apple, I sometimes felt for illustration a mini portion of a immense company. Building thing from zero to 1 has shown maine I'm tin of doing overmuch more.

Odd One In generated adjacent to six figures successful yearly gross past year, but I'm not paying myself a net yet because we're reinvesting the money to turn the business, including production, warehousing, paying artists, and different expenses. We're wholly bootstrapped: We haven't raised immoderate extracurricular backing and launched pinch our ain savings. To salary my individual expenses, I've relied connected the savings I accumulated while moving astatine Apple and earlier successful my career.

Looking back, I'm gladsome I didn't travel the proposal to discontinue earlier I was comfortable. There's a romanticized thought successful the startup world that you person to return the leap and fig everything retired afterward. That tin activity for immoderate people.

For me, spending 8 months doing some made maine consciousness assured successful my determination to spell each in.

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