Ali PartoviCEO, Neo · Sway & Code.org cofounder

Introducing Confession with Ali Partovi

3 Oct 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:12

Ali Partovi and other leaders confess the hidden struggles of their roles: the fear of failure, the shame of admitting weakness, the devastation of being fired. They describe rock-bottom moments and the gap between their public success and private turmoil.

There was this deep fear that this risky bet that I took was a failure and that I was a fool.
Behind every success story, there are painful lessons that we never hear about. Admitting weakness or admitting fear is actually a bigger lift for a leader.
And that is unquestionably gonna be on me.
Being a CEO is like crazy. I was like, I'm not, I'm not that person, you know? I'm Ali Partovi, and this is Confession.
I was angry, I was sad, I was every emotion you can imagine.
That was the definition of rock bottom. Inside, you're like thinking, oh shit, you know, like, why am I here?
I basically felt like I was lying, and it felt just terrible.
Even the most successful person you know is a human being, someone who makes mistakes, who has lessons that they learn from those experiences.
So what are you looking for in a new CEO? Why are you asking me? Ask the fucking board members. They're the ones who fired me. It's just always harder than you think. I distinctly remember. In fact, it haunts me.
Did you feel ashamed? This is Confession. Listen wherever you find your podcasts and watch episodes on YouTube.