Indian Man Leaves JPMorgan, Takes 70% Pay Cut, Creates $6 Million Startup: “Life Felt Robotic”
Gurgaon-based 33-year-old Meet Semlani walked away from a lucrative banking career following a transformational meditation retreat and later cofounded the $6 million-backed startup Tartan
Journey from Corporate Routine to Entrepreneurial Purpose
Meet Semlani, who began his professional journey at JPMorgan in 2015 as an intern, subsequently taking on an associate role within the asset-management team. As time passed, he found himself caught in a vicious cycle of meeting targets, attending endless calls, and striving for corporate upward mobility. By his mid-twenties, he was disheartened by just how formulaic and unexciting his workdays had become.
Everything flipped when he attended a 10-day silent meditation program. The time without technology and conversation led him to reflect deeply on his career and personal fulfillment. He resigned from JPMorgan in early 2018 and decided to join the startup world, even when this meant making 70% less than what he was earning.
Semlani then moved to an organization that specialized in assisting foreign students in finding financial aid for studying. He reconciled himself to a more Spartan lifestyle, with lower expenses and greater satisfaction from work that seemed to hold more substance. He enjoyed being creatively involved in his work, working at the leadership level, and helping establish new systems rather than attending routine meetings.
However, the startup ran into funding problems, and he was laid off in 2019. The pandemic years gave him time to think about his next move, which eventually led him to cofound Tartan, a data-infrastructure company. To date, the venture has raised more than $6 million in investment. Though he says working at JPMorgan did instill in him discipline, Semlani believes today that true success comes from a job that is fulfilling, one that allows him to wake up and go to bed genuinely happy.
