When enough is enough | Andy Johns (ex-FB, Twitter, Quora)
Brought to you by Mercury—the powerful and intuitive way for ambitious companies to bank | Coda—Meet the evolution of docs | Miro—A collaborative visual platform where your best work comes to life — Andy Johns is a former tech exec and VC who had a successful run at several startups—including Facebook, Twitter, Wealthfront, and Quora—but left it all behind a few years ago to take a new direction in life. Now a mental health advocate, he aids military veterans with PTSD, guides burnt-out high achievers to new paths, and shares his healing journey from childhood trauma and mental illness through his newsletter, Clues Dot Life. In this episode, we discuss: • Why Andy left his seven-figure VC career behind • The four-step process of deep personal transformation • When suffering is necessary vs. unnecessary • Tips for finding a good therapist • How a writing practice can help you heal • When you’re in need of radical transformation Listen now on Apple, Spotify, Google, Overcast, and YouTube. Find the transcript for this episode and all past episodes at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/episodes/. Today’s transcript will be live by 8 a.m. PT. Where to find Andy Johns: • Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/cluesdotlife • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewjohns/ • Website: https://www.clues.life/ • Newsletter: https://andyjohns.substack.com/ Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com • Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/lennysan • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Andy’s background (04:45) His personal burnout story (12:55) The high incidence of mental health struggles in tech (14:41) Why Andy walked away from a seven-figure VC job (20:29) His work in mental health advocacy (23:32) The four-step process of deep personal transformation (31:40) The ego’s involvement (33:23) Necessary vs. unnecessary suffering (37:01) First steps in understanding your suffering (38:59) Advice on finding a therapist (42:11) How a writing practice can help you heal (43:47) Two methods for writing to gain self-understanding (47:47) Signs you’re dealing with more than just typical job stress (52:22) How to move into a place of self-compassion (57:16) The unpredictable timeline of healing (59:59) How to develop compassion for others (1:02:19) Why not everyone needs a radical transformation (1:04:10) The story of Pema Chodron’s transformation (1:06:06) What holds people back from making changes (1:13:29) Finding your own unique path to healing (1:17:32) Andy’s closing message to anyone feeling pulled toward a new chapter (1:18:59) How Andy is doing now Referenced: • How to know when to stop: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-know-when-to-stop • Heroic Hearts Project: https://heroicheartsproject.org/ • Panic attacks and panic disorder: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/4451-panic-attack-panic-disorder • The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma: https://www.amazon.com/Body-Keeps-Score-Healing-Trauma/dp/0143127748 • Vipassana meditation: https://www.dhamma.org/en/index • The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Now-Guide-Spiritual-Enlightenment/dp/1577314808 • Moby Dick: https://www.amazon.com/Moby-Dick-Herman-Melville/dp/1503280780 • When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times: https://www.amazon.com/When-Things-Fall-Apart-Difficult/dp/1611803438 Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. You're currently a free subscriber to Lenny's Newsletter. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. |
Older messages
An inside look at Figma’s unique GTM motion | Claire Butler (first GTM hire)
Thursday, September 7, 2023
Listen now (91 mins) | Brought to you by Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security | Mixpanel—Event analytics that everyone can trust, use, and afford | AssemblyAI—Production-ready AI models to
How to win your first 10 B2B customers
Tuesday, September 5, 2023
Part four of my seven-part series on kickstarting and scaling a B2B business
Inside Etsy’s product, growth, and marketplace evolution | Tim Holley (VP of Product)
Sunday, September 3, 2023
Listen now (72 mins) | Brought to you by Productroadmap.ai—AI to connect your roadmaps to revenue | Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments | OneSchema—Import CSV data 10x faster — Tim Holley is VP of
How to identify your ideal customer profile (ICP)
Tuesday, August 29, 2023
Part three of my seven-part series on kickstarting and scaling a B2B business
An inside look at Deel’s unprecedented growth | Meltem Kuran Berkowitz (Head of Growth)
Sunday, August 27, 2023
Listen now (72 mins) | Brought to you by Miro—A collaborative visual platform where your best work comes to life | LMNT—Zero-sugar hydration | AssemblyAI—Production-ready AI models to transcribe and
You Might Also Like
Peppered Kitty and The Penal Guard 💂♂️
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
The breed of the non-human͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
🗞 What's New: HARO/Connectively is shutting down
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
Also: Use AI to beef up your security ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
the wizard of oz.
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
Read time: 53 sec. Today I want to tell you about Cristiano. He was part of our last Starter Story Academy sprint. And during his first two weeks, he was busy designing and tweaking his landing page.
💃 Beyoncé loves her products...here’s how she did it
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
The exact steps to build your beauty brand empire Hey Friend , We just launched our newest course, How to Build a Million Dollar Beauty Brand. In it, for the first time, Alicia Scott—founder of Range
[CEI] Chrome Extension Ideas #166
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
ideas for Amazon, Twitter, Developers, and Students ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Navattic's PLG funnel with Natalie Marcotullio
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
In conversation with Navattic's Head of Growth about their product-led growth (PLG) funnel. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
You have one shot to sell your business 🤞
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
Just One Week to Go Until Exit Strategy Launches!
Product manager is an unfair role. So work unfairly.
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
How to thrive in “the great flattening” by redefining work norms ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Growth Newsletter #223
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
It's not "what" but "where" ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
All stock, 6-figure deal
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
Plus, overcome a big barrier to exit planning: owner dependency ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏