A venture capitalist and former CEO describes becoming burned out at 40 despite early success, realizing he'd pursued roles that looked impressive but didn't match what he actually loved. He argues that managing people as a CEO felt wrong for him, and that chasing titles misaligned with your strengths leads to burnout, not fulfillment.
Chapters
It's a very, you know, immigrant Russian Jewish upbringing. You know, that was the mindset. I did a lot of really challenging things that looked very impressive, right? I was a venture capitalist at 25. I started companies. I joined successful startups. I was pretty good at what I did, but it eventually all led me to a complete burnout at 40. Why? Because the things I was doing, they were not aligned with what I loved or what I was great at, right? When I was— I a pretty decent tech CEO. Sure, I'm pretty I'm smart like you, like many of your listeners, I could figure it out. Is that my zone of greatness? No. Managing people, it's not something I love. It is not something I'm great at. It's actually not where I want to have an impact, right? And as a CEO, you're doing that. And when I— after I burnt out is the first time in my life that I got honest about— and you know what, we— you and I were talking about courage before. It takes a lot of courage to ask yourself, well, what do I actually love to do?