A Korean American executive earning an annual salary of $300,000 has resigned from a New York–based artificial intelligence startup, saying he lost the “small freedoms” of everyday life. The decision has drawn wide attention online as discussions about work-life balance in the startup industry continue.
The executive is Daniel Min, 22, who served as chief marketing officer at Cluely. Despite the high pay, Min said he decided to resign because long work hours left little room for personal life. In a post on his personal Instagram account on the 10th, he said that while he once believed working 12 hours a day was normal at age 21, he began to miss ordinary moments such as having dinner with friends or celebrating his younger sibling’s birthday.
Min said he initially found deep satisfaction in startup work and was fully committed as a leader. Over time, however, the work began to feel repetitive, and as he poured nearly all of his energy into the company, his personal free time almost disappeared. “I wanted to give everything to the company, and at first the work was genuinely fun,” he said, adding that it gradually became monotonous and led him to feel a sense of ennui.
According to Min, the change was first noticed by Roy Lee, the chief executive officer of Cluely, who asked to speak with him privately. Min said he shared his desire to leave after some reflection and became emotional during the conversation. Lee was said to have respected Min’s decision and encouraged him to prioritize his own happiness.
Min described Cluely as a meaningful experience where team members worked together for 12 hours a day and developed a strong sense of brotherhood. However, he said realizing that it was not the ladder he wanted to climb was not an easy process.
Min studied marketing and operations management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania before joining Cluely as CMO in May last year, when he was 21. He reportedly led the marketing team for seven months while earning an annual salary of $300,000.
Cluely is an AI startup co-founded in April last year by Roy Lee and Neil Shanmugam. The company offers services that provide instant answers and information in situations such as exams, interviews, and sales, and is reported to generate more than $3 million in annual revenue. Lee previously drew controversy after using a self-developed “cheating AI” to pass a Big Tech internship interview while enrolled at Columbia University. Following the controversy, he chose to drop out and founded the company based on the technology, securing $5.3 million in seed funding.
BY YOONSEO SONG [song.yoonseo@koreadaily.com]
