From Amazon to FIRE: Why I Quit a 20-Year Tech Career to Build My Own Life
Episode notes
In this episode, I sit down with Jay Sharma, who spent over 20 years building tech products at companies like Amazon before walking away from corporate life in 2025.
Instead of chasing a bigger paycheck, Jay decided to design a life around financial independence, freedom, and purpose.
We talk about:
• Why chasing a FIRE number can be a mistake • How to design the life you want before calculating money • His real portfolio allocation (Index Funds, Real Estate, Bitcoin) • Why he doesn’t believe in gold or bonds anymore • The investing mistakes he made early in his career • How option selling generates income • Why Bitcoin solves the problems of traditional money • How AI might reshape the future of jobs and companies • What people should build before quitting their jobs
Jay also shares how he and his wife aligned their goals before leaving corporate life and what they’re building now.
If you're interested in FIRE, investing, financial independence, or building a life outside the corporate grind, this conversation is packed with insights.