The startup I was working for shut operations in October 2023, rendering 400+ people jobless. I was part of that, but saw it coming from a mile away. I had already applied for a few companies, received verbal offer from Jio in October, but the offer letter took its sweet time (keep reading for the date).
I chilled for a month because I needed a break (and the severance was good), and started looking for a new job from November. After a series of 15+ interview rejections, my confidence was at an all time low.
Out of the blue, I get my offer from Jio in late December 2023. It was like a lifesaver because I was jobless for about 3 months at that time. I didn’t stop there, kept interviewing with all the companies that were in pipeline, and suddenly everything started to click.
I got offers from- Sprinklr, one other startup about to launch their product, and a shitty startup as well (I was desperate).
Sprinklr would have been the logical choice, but due to a family emergency, I had to let go of it since I could not move to Gurgaon (I’m in Mumbai by the way, very close to Jio’s national head office).
I joined Jio mid January, and still kept hearing from recruiters. One of them was from Swiggy (rather a company acquired by Swiggy). I’m very close to cracking that (as I’m writing this). There is another great startup (profitable) that I can start and use my Supply Chain Tech experience to do better. And Sprinklr is still an option (spoke to the HR)
To tell you why I’m even considering leaving Jio this early on- as a PM, we don’t have access to data, there are no product processes, too much bureaucracy, Product GTM was done without thinking about edge cases and guard-rails. We are just shooting in the dark.
Even though my last startup shut down, it was still a very enriching experience, and Jio is miles away from Product thinking.
The reason I’m still unsure whether to leave or not is because of the market conditions. Should I stay or quit and run? Help!
