Making of a Million Dollar Staff Engineer

How this Staff Engineer overcame hardship to reach great heights

Hey! This is Raviraj. When we look at successful people, we get fascinated by their wins but don’t understand how they got there. Only when we learn about their journey can we take actionable learnings.

For that reason, I collaborated with Gourav this week. He has graciously agreed to share his struggles and journey, which is truly inspirational. 

For more from Gourav, follow him on LinkedIn & subscribe to his newsletter, The Curious Soul's Corner.

Over to Gourav.

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I never thought I would drive a Mercedes ever in my life.

I couldn’t even dream of owning a home 🏠 in the USA.

And today having achieved all that, I am considering retiring early after meeting my FIRE number.

This transformation wasn’t easy. In childhood, my family faced severe financial hardships. I lost my father in my teenage years, and debts surrounded my family. Uncertainties about life's basic necessities left me anxious. I would wake up with a pounding heart and sweat. 

Upon entering the corporate world, I found myself underpaid, struggling to meet my expenses. Balancing a full-time job, a side hustle, and continuous rounds of interviews meant sacrificing social gatherings, leisure, and sleep for years until I finally triumphed.🏆

My hard work got me a high-paying job in software engineering at Big Tech, which changed my life forever.

👋 Hello! This is Gourav, a Staff Software Engineer at Hubspot. In today's article, I will share what kept me going during tough times and helped me achieve growth. I hope that can inspire the budding engineers who are struggling right now.

📉 Financial Struggles

Coming from a lower middle-class Indian household, we used to live paycheck to paycheck.

My father worked tirelessly to make ends meet. However, he kept taking on debt to pay for a business venture that didn't succeed as planned. This placed immense pressure on our family's finances, and I vividly remember the stress and uncertainty that filled our home.

Tragically, just 20 days before my 12th-grade finals, when I was 17, my father passed away. His sudden death left us not only grieving but also grappling with the harsh reality of mounting debts and financial instability.

I wanted to attend college and get an Engineering degree, but I couldn’t afford it. Obtaining a loan was difficult due to lack of assets as collateral. A friend of my father's came to the rescue and helped me secure a loan.

🫶 Support and Motivation

My older brother stepped up and took on family responsibilities. He left his passion for photography and took on a job in media to pay for my college supplemental expenses. He met with failures in his job, got laid off, and had to hop into multiple small jobs to meet the ends. His struggles and sacrifices taught me invaluable lessons about resilience and determination.

During college, I was fortunate to have my girlfriend (now my loving wife) by my side. She believed and motivated me to take bold steps. She trusted in me and firmly believed I would succeed and achieve great things one day. 

My mom’s blessings were incredibly powerful. Her prayers and encouragement always felt like a guiding light. During my toughest moments, when I felt overwhelmed and would break down in tears, she offered comfort and reassurance. Her unwavering support gave me the confidence to believe in my dreams and keep moving forward.

💼 Initial Job and Hustle

My first software engineering job in India was with a consulting firm that paid me very little — just enough to cover my rent and food. Whatever remained, I used to settle debts and provide groceries and household essentials for my mom. I soon realized that this job wouldn't alleviate my financial burdens and obligations, and it would take me years to pay off the debt. 

I started a side hustle preparing and delivering Food Boxes in the evenings 🥘. This involved shopping for groceries, cooking, packing meals into boxes, and delivering them across the city on my bike.

Using Facebook for marketing, I began receiving 20-50 orders daily. However, scaling up the business posed challenges requiring hiring a skilled cook and additional staff. Even if I had taken on more debt to expand, with a 50% net profit rate, achieving around 200 guaranteed daily orders would have been necessary to match the annual compensation at a Big Tech company. 

I wanted a more stable and predictable income stream and wanted to eliminate debt rather than take on more.

My passion for software engineering motivated me to succeed, but managing this hustle consumed much of my time. I juggled long hours at the office, followed by rushing home to fulfill orders. After whatever time I was left with, I used to prepare for Big Tech Interviews at night, sleeping very little.

Managing it was difficult, so I had to end my side hustle. I doubled down preparing for interviews and started interviewing with Amazon, Google, Adobe, SAP Labs, and many other companies. 

📈 Career Growth

All that hard work paid off when I made a leap to Amazon India as a Software Development Engineer early in my career. This move increased my salary 6x and marked a significant turning point.

Within the next two years, I managed to pay off all my debts. 🎉

The sense of freedom I felt was indescribable! 🌟

I saw pride in my mom’s eyes and her newfound lightness of spirit.

My brother, too, experienced a big relief as if a heavy weight had been lifted off his shoulders. 

My family was no longer burdened by the constant worry that had shadowed our lives.

As I progressed further in my career, thanks to Amazon, I relocated to Seattle, USA 🌍, where my compensation skyrocketed 🚀to 130 times what I earned in my first job in India. This financial leap was truly life-changing. With my debts settled, I didn’t know what to do with this much money. I began investing in equities and upskilling myself.

I doubled down on my engineering skills, solved complex business problems, and led multiple projects with an extreme ownership mindset. This dedication earned the trust of industry leaders and propelled my career growth. 

• Within the next 5 years, I received two promotions. ⚡

• In a total of 8 years of experience, I became a Staff Software Engineer.🌈

I connected with like-minded professionals and industry leaders, further elevating my career. I changed companies and now earn over half a million dollars annually. 

This is not a brag; I aim to inspire others facing similar challenges. 

🌟 Helping Others

During my professional struggles, I found limited support, which inspired me to help others break through barriers in the tech industry. I am committed to sharing my knowledge and mentoring those looking to overcome life's challenges and pursue lucrative careers in software engineering, aiming for both high salaries and financial stability.

I find joy in helping these individuals navigate both their career paths and life's challenges. 

• Throughout my journey, I have referred numerous friends and colleagues to opportunities across various companies and have mentored over 50 individuals. 

• Today, I run a newsletter called 'The Curious Soul's Corner,' where I share weekly stories and insights on becoming a leader in the software engineering field. 

• I also post meaningful and relatable content on LinkedIn. I aim to help others accelerate their growth, find fulfillment in their careers, and achieve work-life harmony.

Key Learnings

🏋️‍♀️ Resilience and Hard Work

• Losing my father and taking on responsibilities at a young age taught me resilience.

• Balancing interview preparation and side hustles with work made me value hard work and persistence. These qualities are invaluable in the software engineering field, where challenges are constant.

💻 Continuous Learning

• The learning never stops. Embracing this mindset has helped me stay ahead in my career.

• The field is always evolving, and staying updated with the latest technologies and methodologies is crucial.

💸 Financial Literacy

• Understanding finances was a game-changer. Learning about paying off debts, switching to high-paying jobs, and then saving and investing has provided me with a sense of security and future planning.

🫰Closing Note

To all the aspiring software engineers and professionals facing their struggles, remember that your persistence and hard work will pave the way for a brighter future. Let my story be a testament to what is possible when you refuse to give up.

As a parting note, I would like to leave you with these words of wisdom from Winston Churchill:

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts."

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It’s Raviraj again! If you enjoyed this article, then hit the ❤️ button and follow

Gourav Khanijoe

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If you think someone else will benefit from this, then make sure to 🔁 share this post.

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