How I Left Johnson & Johnson After 6 Years to Build a Startup

By Zach Schleien

I had a safe corporate career at J&J. Then I quit to build a dating app. Here's why leaving was the best decision I ever made.

I spent six years at Johnson & Johnson. Good salary, great benefits, clear career path. And I walked away from all of it to build a dating app.

People thought I was crazy. My parents were nervous. My friends didn't get it. But I knew that if I didn't take the leap, I'd spend the rest of my career wondering "what if."

The Corporate Comfort Trap

At J&J, I worked in marketing and business development. I learned how large organizations think about growth, how to navigate internal politics, and how to build cross-functional relationships. Those skills became invaluable later.

But I also learned something else: corporate comfort is the enemy of ambition.

Every year, the raises came. The title bumps came. And every year, the golden handcuffs got a little tighter. I watched colleagues who had been there 15, 20 years - talented people who had stopped dreaming because the paycheck was too good to risk.

I didn't want that to be my story.

The Moment I Decided

In 2021, I was already building on the side. I had launched 18percent, a mental health community that grew to 18,000+ members and partnered with Crisis Text Line, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and the National Eating Disorders Association. I had given a TEDx talk. I had sold a dating publication called Top Romp.

The signal was clear: I was more alive building things than I ever was in a conference room.

So I co-founded Filteroff, a video speed dating app. The idea was simple: skip the swiping, go straight to face-to-face conversation. We raised $2.4M from a Fortune 500 company, hit #1 on Product Hunt, facilitated 2 million video dates, and got featured in the New York Times and BBC.

Eventually, Filteroff was acquired.

What I Learned

1. The skills transfer. Everything I learned at J&J - marketing, partnerships, stakeholder management - became the foundation of how I ran Filteroff. Corporate experience isn't wasted; it's compressed training.

2. The risk is never as big as it feels. When I left, I thought I was risking everything. In reality, I was risking a salary. The upside was unlimited.

3. You don't need permission. No one at J&J told me to leave. No mentor said "now is the time." I just decided. And that decision changed my entire trajectory.

4. Build before you leap. I didn't quit cold. I had been building side projects for years. By the time I left, I had proof that I could create things people wanted.

The Advice I Give Founders

When founders ask me if they should leave their corporate job, I ask one question: "Are you building something on the side that you can't stop thinking about?"

If the answer is yes, start planning your exit. Not tomorrow - but soon. The longer you wait, the harder it gets.

I went from a safe corporate career to building and selling a company, getting 200+ media features, and now helping other founders build their own growth engines. None of that happens if I stay comfortable.

If you're a founder ready to build a real growth system for your business, book a free strategy call. Let's figure out your next move together.