He Got Fired. 6 Months Later He's Making $2M/Year with AI (Full Story)

'We regret to inform you that your position has been eliminated.'

After 8 years. One email. Done.

6 months later:

Same person. Different story.

This is how getting fired became the best thing that ever happened to him.

The Setup: Meet Daniel. 8 years at [Major Tech Company]. Senior engineer. Stock options. The whole package.

$180K salary. Nice apartment. Assumed he was set.

January 2024: Mass layoffs hit. 10,000 people. Daniel was one of them.

'I remember sitting at my desk, laptop open, and my manager's face on Zoom. I knew before he said anything.'

The Aftermath: First month was rough.

200+ job applications

15 interviews

0 offers

'Overqualified.' 'Not the right fit.' 'Position filled.'

The market was flooded with laid-off engineers. Everyone was competing for the same shrinking pool of jobs.

'I'd given them 8 years. Best years of my career. And I was just... disposable.'

That anger? It became fuel.

February 2024: Daniel's friend showed him Cursor.

'I was skeptical. Another AI hype tool. But I was bored and depressed, so I tried it.'

In one weekend, he built a tool he'd wanted for years - a code documentation generator that actually worked.

Something that would have taken him weeks at BigCorp? Three days. Solo.

'I realized I'd been building for someone else's vision for 8 years. With these tools, I could build for myself. Fast.'

The Idea: Daniel kept hearing the same complaint from his laid-off friends: tracking job applications was chaos.

Spreadsheets. Lost emails. Forgotten follow-ups.

He thought: 'I can build this. In a week.'

March 2024: 7 days. Cursor + Claude + Bolt.

JobTrackr was born.

What He Built:

Application tracker with AI status predictions

Follow-up reminder system

Interview prep AI assistant

Salary negotiation helper

Tech stack:

Next.js frontend (Cursor)

Supabase backend (Claude)

Stripe payments (templates)

Deployed on Vercel (one click)

The Launch: Posted on Reddit r/layoffs. His people.

'I got laid off and built this to help me job hunt. Maybe it helps you too.'

First Week:

3,400 signups

47 paid users ($9/month)

$423 first week

Not life-changing money. But proof.

'That first Stripe notification? I cried. Not because of $9. Because someone valued what I built.'

April 2024: Word spread. Laid-off workers telling other laid-off workers.

Revenue: $4,200/month

Daniel added features users requested:

LinkedIn application tracker

Recruiter CRM

Interview recording transcription

Each feature: 2-3 days with AI tools.

May 2024: Hit $10,000 MRR.

At this point, job hunting stopped.

'Why would I take a $150K job when I'm building something that could be worth millions?'

June 2024: Viral moment. Tech influencer shared JobTrackr.

50,000 new users in a week.

Revenue: $28,000/month

The Hiring: Hired first contractor. Another laid-off engineer.

'I wanted to help someone like me. Someone who got thrown away by BigCorp.'

December 2024:

Monthly Revenue: $167,000

Annual Run Rate: $2,000,000+

Team: 3 people (all former BigTech layoffs)

Hours worked: 35/week

On Getting Fired: 'Best thing that ever happened. I'd never have left on my own. The push off the cliff forced me to fly.'

On AI Tools: 'I built in 6 months what would have taken 2 years and a team of 5. That's not hyperbole. I scoped this project at BigCorp. Leadership said 18 months. I did it in 6. Alone.'

On Other Laid-Off Workers: 'Everyone who got laid off has a superpower they don't realize: no golden handcuffs. Nothing to lose. That's freedom.'

On The Future: 'We're profitable. Growing. I could sell this for millions. Or I could keep building.'

'Either way, I'll never work for someone else again. Not because I hate it. Because I don't need to.'

Daniel's story isn't unique. It's a pattern.

100+ founders in our community have similar stories. Laid off, discovered AI tools, built something better.

The Pattern:

1. Getting fired removes the fear of leaving

2. Desperation creates focus

3. AI tools compressed what used to take teams into solo projects

4. Solving your own problem finds your first customers

The job market isn't coming back. Not like it was.

But the opportunity market? It's wide open.

Every laid-off engineer is sitting on skills that, combined with AI, could build a business.

Most won't try. They'll apply to 500 jobs and take the first offer.

But some will build. And they'll never go back.

If you're in Daniel's January right now - freshly laid off, terrified, angry - I want you to know something:

This might be the push you needed.

We've collected 100+ stories like Daniel's at End of Coding. Real people, real numbers, real paths from layoff to freedom.

Plus the tools, tutorials, and ideas to get started.

Link in description.

Getting fired isn't the end.

It's permission to build something better.

The question is: will you?