Quit Job on Day 1 on 7th Oct, After Standing Up to an Extremely Toxic Founder CEO Boss. Kind Grapeviners, would be v.grateful for any leads

\[You've probably come across this and Im SORRY for posting across various subs but doing it for wider reach as few redditors asked me to :)\]

Hey everyone, I wanted to share my experience of quitting my job on the very first day (7th October 2024) & standing up to a toxic boss.

**A bit of background for context**

My dormmates & I co-founded a startup right out of college in September 2022. Our goal was to level the playing field for retail investors by addressing 3 core problems:

1. Lack of time
2. Limited expertise
3. The grunt boring work

We aimed to solve these issues with AI & algorithms that could automate data gathering, analysis, and simplify complex financial information. Think of it as an "Auto/Co-Pilot" for portfolio management, not buy/sell trading tool. This was before AI became the buzzword it is today.

As a part of our B.Tech CSE program, we were also introduced to finance, & markets through structured courses. In the midst of lockdown having extra time on our hands, our finance professors encouraged us to invest to learn in the markets & so we did. It was tough for us (CS Background), as learning about the basics of market fundamentals and tracking them was not easy.

We realized that many existing tools speak a financial language that's not familiar to most people, & we felt the need for something simpler.

By the time we graduated, we often wondered how we could manage a full-time job while keeping up with the markets. We couldn’t find a tool that really saved time & simplified things. That’s when we saw an opportunity to create one ourselves.

I worked full-time on product design & operations for our startup while my co-founder balanced a day job to support us financially.

We reached the finals of the Elevate Karnataka Startup Funding Competition, competing against over **800 startups**. Although we didn’t secure funding, we understood the government panelists' priority to support ventures in green/clean technologies & those from rural areas, even if they aren't always financially viable and they believed we could raise funds externally, because of a good decent college.

Our team included interns, & we shared equity among everyone involved. Unfortunately, due to financial constraints & the departure of key team members for higher studies, the project is currently paused. However, we haven’t given up; we just need more time & financial stability to get things moving again.

With that in mind, I began looking for a job. The interview for this position happened back in August. After completing two lengthy assignments (80+ hours of work, one of which I later found out was directly related to their product), they finally got back to me at the end of September. The offered salary was well below average, but I accepted it because it was a remote position that would allow me to focus on my startup after hours and on weekends.

However, things quickly took a turn for the worse on my first day.

**The Incident**

At the end of my first day (October 7th), my reporting manager (Cofounder/CEO) , made it clear that he expected unreasonable commitments—work beyond normal hours (expecting 12-14 hours) without any compensation. When I tried to establish boundaries, he mocked me for talking about "work-life balance," calling it a "fancy term" and "western developed nation behavior." He also ridiculed my desire for time to read & exercise, dismissing it as an excuse.

I understand that startups sometimes require ext ra hours—We've done that ourselves as co-founders at our startup. But there’s a difference between going the extra mile for your own project out of passion on your own & being coerced into it in a professional setting with an established, profitable company.

**Why I Shared This**

Toxic work culture isn’t worth compromising your health and self-respect.

**Would be Grateful for Leads** on my profile:

If anyone here can help me by recommending to UI/UX roles (Ill share profiles in the DMs & since this is a new account, I request you to DM first :) ), I’d be grateful & deeply appreciate it. I’m open to working in office/hybrid/remote environments.

I promise to deliver high-quality work to anyone who gives me the opportunity. Thank you all for taking the time to read this. Stay strong & remember—your well-being matters.

**Just For clarity & clear any air,** it's not that I’m unwilling to work after hours. It’s the personal attacks, belittling, & ridicule for mentioning I have a life outside work that are hard to handle. I’m fully committed to working when necessary, even on weekends if required. But not every day for 12-14 hours, as the previous founder CEO manager expected & demanded me to forfeit my entire life outside of work, & certainly not with the personal threats & insults he made.

CTC was 7LPA. Tried negotiating but they refused to even negotiate and talk. I Accepted it only because of fully remote setup flexibility even though it is below fair median pay with 2 YOE.