When enough is enough | Andy Johns (ex-FB, Twitter, Quora)

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

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Where to find Andy Johns:

Where to find Lenny:

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:

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

[XXXX-lqyw]

We need to practice more self-compassion. We're too hard on ourselves. This was a great conversation, thanks for sharing it.

[splave]

Thanks to Lenny for having Andy "Clues" Johns today; this was gold and will help many people. I won't be surprised to see Andy on a TED Talk :) Enjoy the trip in Vietnam. (a fav destination)

[ameenulinsan]

The greatest question of all - ‘When is enough?’ Thanks Lenny for setting this up

[greatopomu]

This was a helpful podcast. Life isn't money. There's more happiness to life than Startups, Series C or any other metrics the society calls success.

[nivedhithaselvam]

The most insightful and helpful Podcast! Amazing I found it on a PM focussed channel!

[jillcobodyworks]

This interview landed spontaneously in my ears.
Being on ’a’ path to inner understanding and mental health awareness, it all resonated very well. The self love deficit problem shows up in my biggest accomplishments. The journaling helps (pretty much no cost other than a pen and paper), therapy, life coach, and especially the central nervous system work assisted by a good practitioner/healer.

[lepomjames]

Learned so much. This was your best episode yet - thank you for sharing

[salmanarif]

This was very powerful! Andy thanks for sharing your experience

[romulo_gomes]

That's some deep - and important - s#!%. Thanks for sharing, both!

[EmmanuelChriqui]

Great ! Good questions, great answers. Very interesting.

[ashwinaditi]

Curious, I intend retiring/working much less in 5 years and keen to know best, how people split their pay, how much of it goes into savings, spendings or investments? I earn up to $180K per year, but nothing to show for it yet