The $2.5 Million Dollar Mistake

I made a huge mistake when I was 22 years old.<br><br>It was 1994 and I was a computer science major. I had completed 2 internships with IBM during college, and also done a co-op with them my senior year. <br><br>I liked IBM, and I was very good with computers and knew I could make a lot of money. I worked hard my senior year, networking with IBM management, and taking the right classes to set myself on a leadership track. When I graduated, I was offered a full time position in IBM’s leadership development program, with good compensation and a full benefits package. <br><br>I was on track to be an executive by 40, and probably make a few million dollars along the way.<br><br>I hated my IBM job in every way. I didn’t hate tech; I still liked writing code and building systems. I just didn’t like being an IBM drone.<br><br>So I quit IBM and got a coding job up in the SF bay area with a small startup. I took a huge pay cut. My IBM job paid $60k plus stock benefits, and the new job paid $44k plus some worthless startup options. <br><br>I was sad to leave IBM, but it was the right decision for me - I had to do it. I was depressed and sick at my old job. I thought about it constantly and worried that I was ruining my future. I had no place to live lined up in San Francisco, and no friends or family in the area. I had to start over, and it was scary.<br><br>I loved my new job. I was way happier than I was in New York, and I started making new friends in San Francisco. A few years later the startup I joined went public in one of the biggest tech IPOs at the time, and my net worth went over $1 million.<br><br>A few years after that, I helped start a new tech company, and I now own a stake in a company worth several billion dollars. <br><br>I am very wealthy now, and I owe it to taking control of my life and making difficult decisions. I was on track for a million-dollar career with IBM, but I made a better choice. I am not sure how much I would have made with IBM had I stayed, but I think it would have been a lot harder to get where I am now if I hadn’t left.<br><br>tl;dr: I was on track to be a millionaire at IBM, until I figured out that I hated being a corporate drone and took control of my life.