Vinay Hiremath, co-founder of video messaging platform Loom, has revealed that he currently has no income and is actively looking for internships. This comes after Loom was acquired by Atlassian for $975 million in 2023 - a deal that reportedly earned him between $50 to $70 million.
Appearing on the Moneywise podcast, Mr Hiremath revealed that he walked away from a $60 million retention package, which would have lasted him over four years.
"Well, I left $60 million on the table. I have no income. Right now, I'm looking for internships," he admitted.
Since selling Loom, he has spent five to eight hours a day studying physics and engaging in online discussions with young enthusiasts. He now hopes to land an internship at a robotics company as a mechanical engineer.
"I've been doing a bunch of physics. Hopefully, I'll be interviewing at a few startups - maybe robotics companies - to intern as a mechanical engineer," he shared on the podcast.
Mr Hiremath also shared his thoughts on work, success, and why he chose to leave money behind. He explained that he didn't want to spend his life "swapping values and databases across different financial systems."
Before selling his company, he believed in grand missions, but over time, he realised that the real joy came from creating excitement for those around him. "I think life is about creating," he said.
Talking about Loom's journey, he admitted the startup's original mission was over-glorified and, at its core, it was just a simple screen recorder connected to the cloud.
"The raw truth of what we were building at Loom was not an 'asynchronous video messaging platform' - this bullsh*t that we told ourselves. We built a f****ng screen recorder that was hooked up to the cloud," he remarked.
In a January blog post titled, "I am rich and I have no idea what to do with my life," Mr Hiremath reflected on his struggle to find purpose after the sale of Loom. He described the period as a haze, admitting that while he now has the freedom to never work again, it hasn't been as fulfilling as expected. Without the drive to earn money or gain status, "everything feels like a side quest - but not in an inspiring way," he wrote.
