Aashna Doshi Leaves Google for AI: A Bold Bet on the Future

A Bold Transition to Entrepreneurship

Aashna Doshi, 23, made a bold decision to leave her position at Google to dive into entrepreneurship with a startup focused on artificial intelligence. Before taking this leap, she had already begun to make a name for herself in the tech world through a podcast she launched during her time at Google. This podcast allowed her to forge valuable connections with industry leaders and innovators, which played a crucial role in her decision to leave the company in May to fully dedicate herself to her new venture.

Aashna Doshi started a podcast while she was a software engineer at Google. This podcast helped her establish relationships with founders, executives, and tech leaders. She left Google in May to focus on her AI startup, as staying felt scarier than leaving. This first-person essay is based on a conversation with Aashna Doshi, a former software engineer at Google living in New York. The text has been edited for length and clarity.

Taking Calculated Risks

In February 2024, while still a student at Georgia Tech, Aashna received a job offer from Google for a position in California. However, her desire to work in New York led her to decline this opportunity, a risky choice given the competitiveness of the tech job market. Her determination paid off, as she eventually landed a software engineering position at Google in New York. This was just the beginning of her risk-taking, as she would soon embark on a side project that would change the course of her career.

In February 2024, a few months before graduating from Georgia Tech, Aashna received a full-time job offer from Google. But there was a catch: the offer was for an engineering position based in California, and she really wanted to work in New York. In a tech job market that had become tougher for many of her peers, no opportunity could be ignored. Even so, she decided to take the risk and turn down the offer.

An Insatiable Need for Creativity

Despite a rewarding experience at Google, Aashna felt the need to express herself more creatively outside of her technical work. This is how the podcast "0 to 1" was born, which she co-hosted with a fellow engineer. The show's concept is based on the idea that true value lies in the journey between the starting point (zero) and the endpoint (one). This project allowed her to meet inspiring individuals and learn from their experiences while expanding her professional network.

Overall, Aashna really enjoyed her time at Google. She learned something new every day and met many smart people from a range of backgrounds. However, working as a software engineer is a very technical job, and she wanted something more interactive and creative outside her desk. She loved meeting people, hearing their stories and learning from them, which ultimately sparked the idea of launching a podcast. In early 2025, while working at Google, she launched the podcast "0 to 1" with her co-host, a software engineer at a major tech company.

An Expanding Network

The podcast quickly gained popularity, reaching over 100,000 views on YouTube in its first year. Through this platform, Aashna and her co-host were able to interview influential figures from major companies like Amazon and Microsoft. This success facilitated their access to industry leaders, which would have been difficult to achieve without this initiative. The podcast became an essential tool for "networking up" and establishing valuable connections.

The podcast helped them "network up." Many of the early guests came through cold direct messages, their own network and people close to them. They interviewed founders, engineers, executives and creators about their journeys, from their beginnings to where they are today. Things moved much faster than expected. In the first year, the podcast passed 100,000 views on YouTube. Eventually, it became easier to reach people, and they were able to invite leaders from major companies like Amazon and Microsoft.

The Right Moment for a New Start

Working at a large tech company can feel like being just a cog in a vast machine. Aashna aspired for more autonomy and the ability to see the direct impact of her work. With the emergence of innovative AI tools, she saw a unique opportunity that she didn't want to miss. In May, she left Google to fully dedicate herself to her startup, Bounty. This company offers a model where businesses pay only for verified results, which is particularly relevant in the AI field.

In a large tech company, you are one piece of a very large machine, and Aashna wanted the ability to make decisions, act quickly and see the direct results of her work. What is more, the AI tools available to creators right now are unprecedented. She had a strong conviction about a specific idea, and she did not want to look back wondering what might have happened had she seized the opportunity while the timing was so good. In May, she left Google to commit fully to building her AI startup, Bounty, with her podcast co-host. It is a results-based AI marketplace where companies can post specific tasks (such as sourcing candidates, managing communication or generating leads) and pay only for verified results.

A Risky Financial Bet

While leaving Google was a logical decision personally and professionally, it involved giving up a comfortable salary. The startup Bounty is still in the pre-launch phase and is not yet generating significant revenue. Aashna is taking a founder's salary, which is much lower than what she earned at Google. The podcast, although influential, is not yet a source of income, but she hopes it will become one through future partnerships. Aashna is convinced that pursuing a passion is worth the risk of leaving a stable situation, even if it means sacrificing short-term financial security.

Having the podcast gave Aashna the confidence to make the leap. In her view, media and distribution are essential to a startup today, and having a podcast with a built-in audience of founders and operators (the people the company is built for) is the perfect distribution channel for what they are building.

Although leaving Google made sense from a personal and business standpoint, giving up the Google salary was not an easy decision. They are still in the pre-launch phase and are not yet generating revenue. Aashna is taking a founder's salary, but it is definitely a fraction of what she earned at Google. The podcast is not yet generating revenue, but they hope it will soon through partnerships. Leaving Google was a risk, but she has always believed that if you feel a strong pull toward something, you have to be willing to step away from the good to pursue something that could be great. Financial security is comfortable, but it can also be a trap. The scariest version of this decision was not leaving Google. It was staying and always wondering what might have been.