In 2023, Vinay Hiremath achieved a milestone most entrepreneurs only dream of, selling his video-messaging startup Loom to Atlassian for a staggering $975 million. Yet, the co-founder’s personal blog post, titled “I’m rich and have no idea what to do with my life,” reveals that financial success hasn’t brought him clarity or fulfillment. Instead, Hiremath admits to feeling lost, unmotivated, and unmoored in a haze of infinite freedom but with no compelling purpose.
“Life has been a haze this last year. Everything feels like a side quest, but not in an inspiring way,” he wrote.
“I don’t have the same base desires driving me to make money or gain status. I have infinite freedom, yet I don’t know what to do with it, and, honestly, I’m not the most optimistic about life.”
The Indian-origin entrepreneur shared raw and vulnerable insights into his journey, touching on turning down a $60 million pay package, the painful end of a two-year relationship, and failed attempts to find purpose in ventures like robotics, mountaineering, and even a brief stint working with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy at DOGE.
Hiremath’s path to success was anything but linear. He dropped out of the University of Illinois, interned at Facebook, and honed his engineering skills at startups like Backplane and Upthere.
In 2015, he co-founded Loom alongside Shahed Khan and Joe Thomas, creating a video platform now used by over 25 million users in 400,000 companies globally. Despite its groundbreaking success, he walked away from Loom and its acquiring company, choosing personal exploration over wealth accumulation.
Reflecting on his insecurities, Hiremath admitted that Loom’s rapid rise inflated expectations—both his own and others’.
“When we went through our first round of layoffs, my ego was hitched to the company, and I lost myself.”
This spiralled into a period of soul-searching marked by radical choices, including summiting Himalayan peaks with no mountaineering experience.
After experimenting with projects that left him unfulfilled, Hiremath landed in Hawaii, studying physics in the jungle. His blog captures his embrace of ambiguity and the humility it brings.
“If this means I’ll never do something as spectacular as Loom, so be it. It’s been too long since I’ve been completely raw and real with myself.”
Hiremath’s honest reflection sheds light on the seldom-discussed challenges of post-success life. It appears that for now, his journey is less about conquering the next frontier and more about rediscovering himself.
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