When enough is enough | Andy Johns (ex-FB, Twitter, Quora)
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career
Lenny Rachitsky
5.0 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 10 September 2023
⏱️ 87 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
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
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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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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/when-enough-is-enough-andy-johns-ex-fb-twitter-quora/#transcript
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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/
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Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
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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
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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
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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.
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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | There are day-to-day stresses that are noble and we just have to put up with. |
| 0:04.4 | But then there's the other stuff that's kind of the flashing red alarm. |
| 0:10.2 | Again, you can go back to animals, it's like when they're fundamental functions, when their core behaviors of diet, exercise, playfulness, socialization, sleep. |
| 0:21.0 | When those things get disrupted, it's a sign that there is something going on here that you need to take a look at. |
| 0:27.5 | And so the same is true with people. |
| 0:29.5 | If your sleep always sucks, if your relationships are constantly strained or frequently |
| 0:36.5 | strained if your physical health is failing you know there's so many ways that |
| 0:41.0 | that can be measured so there's really no excuse for that to say like oh I just |
| 0:44.9 | didn't know I'd say it's to look at those things like when those are suffering or when they're |
| 0:49.7 | really out of whack it's undeniable that there is something that is detrimental to your well-being that's going on right now and your body is telling you like, stop, something needs to change. Welcome to Lenny's podcast where I interview world-class product leaders and growth experts |
| 1:08.1 | to learn from their hard-won experiences building and growing today's most successful products. Today my guest is Andy Johns. This |
| 1:15.2 | is going to be a very different type of episode and maybe the most meaningful and |
| 1:19.2 | important episode of the podcast. Andy was a legendary product and growth leader at Facebook, |
| 1:24.1 | Twitter, Cora, and Wealthfront, where he was VP of Growth and VP of Product and then |
| 1:28.7 | President and as you'll hear was in line to be CEO Wealthfront until he came to realize that this path was not right for him. |
| 1:36.0 | And after a lot of internal reflection and hard self-work, he changed his entire life's path to becoming a mental health advocate and helping |
| 1:43.8 | burn out high achievers and also veterans with their mental health journey. In our |
| 1:48.1 | conversation Andy shares his personal story, what true burnout looks like and when you should pay attention to your mental health, |
| 1:54.4 | talks about the process of deep personal transformation and the four steps involved in making |
| 1:59.4 | lasting change in your life. He also shares how to actually allow change to happen in your life, |
| 2:04.7 | tactics for moving down this path, and a lot of advice and real talk on mental |
| 2:09.4 | health and tech. There's a lot of struggle happening in the world right now, including in tech, and so I hope this conversation helps you with your own journey. |
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