A man quitting a high-paying corporate job is not exactly breaking news anymore. But one Indian entrepreneur’s brutally honest video about leaving behind a comfortable executive life has suddenly struck a nerve online – especially among exhausted professionals secretly dreaming of doing the same thing.Ashwani Kumar, an entrepreneur and founder of startup BadaFranchise, recently went viral after sharing the story of how he walked away from his position as Vice President at a ₹300 crore company to build something of his own at the age of 40.And according to him, the decision didn’t exactly go down well at home.“300 crore ki company chhodne ki kahani — pehli baar camera pe. Ye decision easy nahi tha,” he wrote while posting the video on Instagram.In the clip, Kumar recalls how years of working in the corporate world gave him everything people usually chase — a big salary, foreign trips, an air-conditioned cabin, a car, financial security and a comfortable lifestyle. From the outside, life looked sorted. But internally, something felt off.He explained that one thought kept bothering him: he was spending all his energy building someone else’s brand while never creating anything of his own. That realisation eventually pushed him towards a decision most people are too scared to make.“I resigned the next day,” he said in the now-viral video.The fallout at home was immediate. Kumar shared that his mother stopped talking to him for three days after hearing the news, while his wife genuinely thought he had lost his mind. Leaving a stable executive role at 40 to enter the uncertain startup world sounded reckless to everyone around him.But he still went ahead with it.Today, Kumar runs BadaFranchise, a company focused on helping Indian businesses expand through franchising. And despite giving up what many would consider a dream corporate life, he claims he finally feels mentally at peace.Ironically, the video itself exploded online overnight.Kumar later revealed in the comments that he uploaded the clip around 3:42 am assuming hardly anyone would watch it. By early morning, however, the post had already picked up massive traction with lakhs of views, comments and shares pouring in from people relating to his story.“300 CR ki neend me sukoon nahi tha. Aapke 489K views ne sukoon de diya,” he wrote.Social media users flooded the comments section with reactions. While many called his story “real motivation,” others said they were also considering leaving their jobs to start businesses of their own.At a time when burnout, toxic work culture and corporate fatigue are constant conversation topics online, Kumar’s story seems to have hit a very relatable nerve — especially among professionals wondering whether financial comfort is really worth sacrificing peace of mind.
