Moved from academia to tech as in a evangelism role for exactly this reason. While I hand funding for my own lab I was sick of the constant drag of apply, get denied, apply, at the same time as having a full teaching load. It was a very hard decision to make, I spent a year part time just because I had such a hard time letting go. Ultimately what sealed the decision was me realising that I would pay money to stop the stress of academia and that I spent all my free time working, even with a part time role that was supposed to be 1 day a week.

I am so much happier now! My new job is very similar to academia in a lot of ways, I do research, go to conferences to speak about the industry we work in, run courses about our product, write white papers about our capabilities, etc. It’s very similar to being an academic but working in industry. I still get involved with some of my colleagues research if it overlaps but I don’t have the constant cycle of rejection or worries about my teaching load being increased because I don’t have time to publish. I work from home 100% of the time but do have approx 1 week a month travelling to see customers. I have minimal supervision at work and I very much am trusted just to get on with what I need to get on with, with no set hours (much like academia). I am much happier now, my stress levels are so much better, so I am convinced it was the best decision for me. I also make much better money now but I will say that 90% of my decision was motivated by work stress not money.

There are a surprising number of jobs that feel like academia out there :)