I Worked 13-Hour Days at Apple While Building My Startup. Here’s Why I Didn’t Quit Sooner

For many aspiring founders, the conventional advice is straightforward: if you believe in your startup, take the leap and go all in.

Julie Zhu chose a different path.

The 29-year-old entrepreneur spent years balancing a demanding role at Apple with the early stages of building her startup, Odd One In. Her decision meant long days, competing priorities and the challenge of developing a business while maintaining a career at one of the world’s biggest technology companies.

But despite repeated encouragement to leave Apple and focus entirely on entrepreneurship, Zhu decided not to quit until she felt personally ready.

Her story highlights an often-overlooked reality of entrepreneurship: there is no universal timeline for becoming a founder.

A Longstanding Dream of Becoming a Founder

Zhu said the idea of entrepreneurship had been with her since she was 18.

After joining Apple in 2022, however, the dream of starting a company began to compete with the realities of a demanding corporate career.

She described her relationship with the company as complicated. While she valued what she learned at Apple, she also experienced the pressure associated with working in a high-intensity environment.

She struggled with imposter syndrome and increasingly felt drawn towards building something where she could have greater influence over decisions and direction.

For Zhu, entrepreneurship represented more than simply leaving one job for another. It offered the possibility of creating something independently and taking greater ownership of her professional choices.

Yet wanting to become a founder and feeling ready to leave a stable job were two very different things.

Most People Told Her to Quit

When Zhu sought advice from people in her professional and startup circles, she found that most had a similar answer.

According to her account, around 95% of the people she spoke to encouraged her to leave Apple and commit to entrepreneurship full-time.

The argument was relatively simple.

She had a strong résumé, experience at a major technology company and a profile that people believed could attract interest from investors. Some felt she did not need to have every detail of her future company mapped out before making the transition.

For many startup founders, there is a belief that commitment requires a clean break.

Quit the job. Build the company. Raise money. Move quickly.

But Zhu was not convinced that following the advice of others was the right decision for her.

She realised that a path that worked for one entrepreneur would not necessarily work for another.

Why She Chose Not to Go All In Immediately

Zhu decided that quitting before she felt adequately prepared would create more pressure rather than less.

The advice to “go all in” is common in startup culture. It is often associated with courage, conviction and commitment.

But the decision to leave a stable career involves more than motivation.

Founders have different financial circumstances, levels of professional experience, personal responsibilities and tolerance for uncertainty. They may also have very different ideas about when a business is ready for full-time attention.

For Zhu, remaining at Apple while developing her entrepreneurial ambitions gave her time to think through her next move on her own terms.

The decision was not about a lack of ambition.

It was about choosing timing deliberately.

The Reality of Building While Working

Balancing a startup with a demanding full-time job is rarely easy.

Zhu’s schedule often stretched to around 13 hours a day as she worked on her entrepreneurial ambitions alongside her responsibilities at Apple.

This kind of arrangement comes with obvious challenges.

Time is limited. Energy is limited. Progress can feel slower than it would if the founder were working on the company full-time.

At the same time, keeping a job can provide a degree of stability while an entrepreneur is still developing an idea, understanding the market and deciding whether a business has genuine potential.

The side-project route is not necessarily easier than going all in. In many cases, it can mean doing two demanding jobs at once.

But for some founders, it can provide the space needed to make better decisions before taking on the full financial and professional risks of entrepreneurship.

Startup Advice Is Not One-Size-Fits-All

Zhu’s experience raises a broader question about the advice often given to aspiring entrepreneurs.

Startup culture frequently celebrates bold decisions and dramatic stories of people leaving established careers to pursue uncertain ideas.

Those stories can be inspiring.

However, they can also create the impression that successful entrepreneurship follows a fixed formula.

It does not.

Some founders leave their jobs before they have developed a complete business plan. Others build a product on nights and weekends before making the transition. Some raise capital early, while others prefer to validate their business with customers first.

The right approach depends on the individual founder and the circumstances surrounding the business.

Zhu concluded that she did not have to follow the path that worked for the people advising her.

She wanted to create her own path.

Apple Experience Still Played a Role

Leaving Apple did not mean rejecting the experience she gained there.

Working at a major technology company can expose employees to complex products, high expectations and large-scale decision-making. Those experiences can shape how future entrepreneurs think about building teams, understanding customers and developing products.

For aspiring founders, employment and entrepreneurship do not always exist as completely separate phases.

A corporate career can provide skills, industry knowledge and professional experience that later become useful in building a company.

The question is not always whether to quit immediately.

Sometimes, it is about understanding what can still be learned before making the transition.

Entrepreneurship Is Also About Timing

There is considerable attention on the risks founders take after launching a company.

Less attention is often paid to the decision-making that happens before that moment.

Choosing when to leave a job can be one of the most consequential decisions an aspiring entrepreneur makes.

Leaving too early may create financial pressure or force a founder to make decisions before the business is ready.

Waiting too long can also carry risks. A founder may delay pursuing an opportunity or become increasingly comfortable with the security of a traditional career.

There is no formula that can determine the perfect moment.

For Zhu, the answer was to wait until she felt ready.

That decision allowed her to ignore the pressure created by well-meaning advice and make a choice based on her own circumstances.

From Apple Employee to Startup Founder

Zhu eventually left Apple last year to focus on her startup, Odd One In.

By then, she had spent considerable time thinking about the transition rather than making the decision simply because others believed it was obvious.

Her experience offers an alternative perspective to one of the most common messages in entrepreneurship: that hesitation is always a sign that someone lacks commitment.

Sometimes, waiting can be a strategic decision.

A founder may need more time to validate an idea, develop skills, save money or simply become comfortable with uncertainty.

The important distinction is between delaying a decision out of fear and deliberately preparing for a major transition.

The Bigger Lesson for Aspiring Founders

The startup world is full of advice.

Founders are told to move faster, take bigger risks, raise money earlier and commit more deeply to their ideas.

Some of that advice may be useful.

But no two entrepreneurial journeys are identical.

Julie Zhu’s story demonstrates that a founder does not necessarily need to follow the most popular version of the startup playbook.

Working long hours while maintaining a demanding career may not be the right route for everyone. Neither is quitting immediately.

The better question for an aspiring entrepreneur may be: What approach makes sense for my idea, my circumstances and the stage I am currently in?

For Zhu, the answer was to wait.

She spent years working at Apple while pursuing her entrepreneurial ambitions and ultimately left only when she was ready to make the transition.

That choice went against the advice she received from most people around her.

But it was her decision to make.

And in entrepreneurship, deciding when to take a risk can be just as important as deciding to take one.