Junead Khan left his Rs 1.9 crore Microsoft job to build his own AI startup, Treasury. The 25-year-old resigned in August last year after feeling his role slowed down his learning. Although his new venture has earned Rs 5.4 lakh, Khan currently lives off his savings while developing the business.
Junead Khan had a six-figure salary, stock bonuses and a job at Microsoft that gave him a front-row seat to the artificial intelligence boom. Yet, after working at the tech giant for around two years, the 25-year-old decided to walk away from that financial security to build his own AI startup, according to Business Insider.
Khan, who is now based in Seattle, earned more than $200,000 (around Rs 1.9 crore) in 2024, including stocks and bonuses. His startup, Treasury, has generated more than $6,000 (around Rs 5.4 lakh) in revenue so far. However, he is not drawing a salary from the business and continues to live on the savings he accumulated while working at Microsoft.
Why he decided to leave Microsoft
Khan joined Microsoft full-time in 2023 after graduating with a computer science degree from the University of North Carolina. His work involved supporting the rollout of data centres across the world, giving him valuable experience during a period of rapid AI growth.
Over time, however, he began to feel that the job was not helping him develop the AI skills he wanted to learn. Following service outages in early 2025, he noticed a greater focus on security and service stability, which he felt slowed down product development.
Meanwhile, AI coding tools were improving rapidly, making him increasingly interested in building products independently. He had already been working on Treasury alongside his full-time job and began considering whether he could turn the idea into a business.
The idea originated during his college years, when he struggled to manage his finances across the UK and the US. He saw an opportunity to build an AI-powered money coach that could help ordinary people manage their finances without paying thousands of dollars for a financial adviser.
He began developing Treasury before joining Microsoft and spent nearly two years working on it during evenings and weekends.
AI tools helped him build the startup alone
Khan initially applied to startup accelerators, including Y Combinator, hoping acceptance would give him the confidence to leave his job. When he was not selected, he decided to use his Microsoft earnings as the initial funding for his venture instead. He resigned in August last year, after waiting for some of his company stock to vest and ensuring he would not have to repay part of his joining bonus. He officially launched Treasury two months later.
AI coding tools, including Claude Code and Codex, played an important role in his decision to build the business without a co-founder. He believes these tools have made software development accessible enough for him to build and test a product independently, without venture capital funding.
He also began sharing his startup journey on social media, including failed product launches and the challenges of running a business alone. His audience has since grown to around 30,000 followers across platforms. Treasury now has paying customers, but Khan acknowledges that the business is still at an early stage. He is focused on attracting more users and growing revenue before deciding whether to seek outside funding.