Daniel Min, the 22-year-old Chief Marketing Officer of the AI startup Cluely, resigned from his upper-division job in a step that has ignited a fresh conversation on work-life balance in the high-stakes tech sector. Despite earning the $300,000+ (approximately ₹2.7 crore) salary, Min wanted to leave, citing mental and physical fatigue from long 12-hour workdays.
The “Grind” That Degraded
Daniel Min, a Wharton School graduate and popular content creator, joined the New York-based startup in May 2025. At only 21, he was suddenly thrust into a leadership position. This meant setting a strategy for a company that went viral because of its AI tools. At first, Min accepted the "hustle culture". He said recently, in an Instagram video, ''I thought working all day, grinding 12 hours a day was what you should be doing when you’re 21.''
But after eight months in the role, the relentless pressure wore on him. Min said he experienced a sense of “ennui” and that he had become monotonous, something he enjoyed working on until this point but now found to be an unending drain on his soul. Missing "Small Freedoms". In addition to mental malaise, Min also spoke about the personal sacrifices that resulted in his exit. He talks beautifully about the simple moments of life—the ₹2.7 crore paycheck could not match them.
Family Moments
He lamented missing his brother’s surprise for 12th birthday. Social Life: The pleasure of grabbing dinner with friends was little more than a luxury. Personal growth: Min had the epiphany all “puts his all” into a company was only leaving him with nothing for himself.
A Trend Toward the Gen Z Leadership Leader
Min’s resignation is seen as a watershed moment for Gen Z professionals, who increasingly are rejecting the “burnout” model of success and wanting better jobs. Whereas earlier generations have mostly seen 12-hour days as a part of becoming part of the next generation, younger leaders like Min are choosing mental health and freedom over being paid super amounts of money.
“As a leader, I wanted to put everything into it,” Min said, considering his eight-month stint. “But it became clear to me, almost immediately, that there was no time for tiny freedoms.” Cluely, associated with its AI applications used for interviews and exams, has not yet announced an heir. For now, Min intends to go back to where he came from — as a content creator, where he has amassed a following of over 17,000 on Instagram by sharing the "best and worst parts" of working in the professional world.
