I Worked at Google for 14 Years — Here's What I Had to Unlearn When I Started My Own Company I've discovered that the transition from "Big Tech" to "Baby Tech" is not for the faint-hearted.

I spent 14 years at Google and YouTube — long enough to watch those companies go from scrappy upstarts to careful giants. I always prided myself on being quick to act and adapt, but by the end of my time in Big Tech, these traits weren't always seen as positive. We typically spent months, even years, building out commercialization strategies — getting customer feedback and buy-in across the organization before executing. Often, managers told me to slow down.

So when I left Big Tech in 2021 to found my software company, Digiphy, I thought I was ready. In retrospect, I had no idea. I knew startups moved fast, but I didn't realize how fast. At Google, my "move fast" mentality still allowed for strategic deliberations and data-driven decisions over several months. As a startup, you operate on limited funds and tight timelines. I had to accelerate my pace and embrace even quicker decision-making with significantly less data and more immediate stakes.

Related: The Art of the Pivot — 6 Steps to Reengineer Yourself for a Career Change