This episode is brought to you by ⁠⁠Symphony⁠⁠. Symphony not only performs technical due diligence engagements for search funds, Private Equity firms, and strategic acquirers, but they also partner with those buyers on an ongoing basis on all things product (outsourced development, team augmentation, new product prototyping, UI refreshes, QA professionalization, and so on). Symphony is offering a full 15% off of any of their services for listeners of In the Trenches. Just go to ⁠⁠the Contact form on their website⁠⁠ and tell them that you’re a listener of the podcast to receive this discount!

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This episode is brought to you by ⁠Avidbank⁠. Avidbank is one of the most experienced search fund lenders in North America, having funded over 40 separate transactions since 2014, for a total of over $300M. They are deeply familiar with the search fund model, and understand the nuances of the fundraising process, dealing with sellers, communicating with your equity investors, LOI reviews, and everything else in between. Reach out to Anthony Rodriguez ([email protected]) or Conor Tidgwell ([email protected]) to learn more.

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My guest this week is Andy Johns, whose memoirs could be titled "a tale of two careers". In his "first" career, Andy was an executive within the start-up and technology ecosystems, with growth and product oriented leadership roles at Facebook, Twitter, and Quora, among others. Following his time at these three companies, Andy became VP of Growth, VP of Product, and eventually President at Wealthfront, an automated investment platform that currently boasts $27 billion AUM across 470,000 accounts.

Now, in his second act, Andy spends his time helping others heal from emotional pain, transform themselves, and discover their life purpose. He is the Founder of clues.life, an online collection of wisdom, information, stories, and research on mental health, personal transformation, and the pursuit of meaning and purpose. He is also the author of a very popular substack, where he writes about the mental health struggles often faced by high achievers like himself.