My Dubai Salary: ‘I'm 26 and earn around Dh18,000 a month at a start-up’

Aditya Gupta left his role at investment bank Goldman Sachs in Bangalore, India, three years ago to join an early-stage start-up called Alaan, a corporate card and spending management platform in the UAE.

He willingly took a lower salary for higher equity and that has paid off handsomely.

In the company’s recent Series A employee stock buyback plan (Esop), Mr Gupta's equity was valued at about 15 times what it was three years ago. Now the Indian professional, 26, says he has the financial freedom to start his own company, with a buffer of five years to build the venture.

“This buyback validated my belief in equity as more than just ‘on paper’ value," says Mr Gupta, who moved to Dubai in 2023. "It has provided me with a substantial financial cushion, effectively removing the primary barrier to starting my own venture."

He plans to pursue his entrepreneurial goals, without the immediate need for external financing to lift his venture off the ground. “I plan to launch my company soon, which will focus on solving problems related to documentation, legal processes and administrative tasks within fast-growing companies," he says.

The aim is to create a platform that can automate workflows and organise documents that at present are managed inefficiently.

"The goal is to provide a solution that streamlines these processes, saving time and money for businesses without requiring them to change existing habits,” he tells The National.

Mr Gupta, who earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from Christ University in Bangalore, capital of the southern state of Karnataka, now lives in Arjan in Dubai.

What was your first job and salary?

My first job was at Goldman Sachs as a franchise manager on the equities desk in the global markets team in Bangalore. Over my tenure, my salary ranged between 580,000 Indian rupees to 700,000 ($6,540 to $7,900) a year towards the time I exited the company.

Tell us about your current role. What is your salary now?

I work in the operations team at Alaan. I started as a founder’s associate and was the first non-tech hire in the team.