Happy Tech Podcast Kiril Abazher

This is a very special episode, when we will learn from someone who had a lot of professional success and is in the midst of a major burnout as we speak.

Jonathan Anderstrom is a tech entrepreneur who I have known and worked with for over 6 years. I have a lot of respect for him for how he handles his business and stays on top of being a great family man with 4 kids to manage between him and his wife.

It is an insightful episode with a number of unexpected answers that really surprised me. I am super grateful to Jonathan for his openness and willingness to share how he deals with what he is going through.

On the call today is Yev Irkhin, he’s been a good friend of mine ever since we met a few years ago. Yev has worked in tech all his life, had a very successful career at Twillio, and then launched several tech businesses of his own which he currently runs. After we went surfing at 6am on a weekday, I realized this guy knows something about happiness that I don’t and so I invite you into our conversation so we can learn together.

This time I am interviewing Jon Darbyshire, serial tech entrepreneur who moved on from big successes in a corporate world to founding, running and then selling his own tech company about 10 years ago. Now for the last 3 years he has been working on his new exciting project and that is how we met. I’ve had a privilege of spending quite a bit of time one on one with Jon, and learned a great deal through our conversations and also realized that he is quite a fulfilled and a happy person in general. I’d love to learn more from him on this specific subject and invite you into our conversation about happiness at work and in life.

1st question - what makes you happy in what you do?

Personal life is a foundation for everything. When it comes to profession - begins with loving what you do, seeing progress over time, people you’re working with.

2nd question - how do you keep the balance in the midst of everything?

Having a good process in the company helps eliminate some of the stress
The process you have helps carry you through the stress
Having open communication - communicate goals, celebrate success along the way. Having other people know and understand key goals and metrics. Goals for departments and employees.
Everyone does an assessment on how they did. Did they meet/exceed the goal. Do retrospectives.
Having a systematic process in a company with retros, assessments etc frequently - helps to talk things through.
It helps to create a sense of ownership

3rd question - how do you avoid burn out?

People that take a bit more time off tend to be more productive over the long term.

4th question - What was getting on the way of your happiness and fulfillment when you were younger?

It’s important to know who you are, and not try to be something different.
Let your management style reflect who you are and your personality
He thought he needed to be like someone else and act like other people, which didn’t match his personality style - that was hard and wrong.
""I wish my younger self would say - take your time and enjoy the ride"".
A lot of younger people are watching you. Do things in a more calm manner.

Jon discusses with Kiril how he apporaches life with all its challenges and complications.

He answers 3 serious questions about happiness and avoiding burnout and shares interesting insights about how perspective helps him keep the balance in life.

Some intriguing phrases you should look for in the podcast, as they have an interesting context:

*** I always feel better and I’m in a better mood if my task list for that day is done
*** Statistically, I have less than 1000 weekends left to live…
*** Learn to look at things in a grand scheme of things
*** 1 year from now I wont even remember about it
*** I try not to get too high or too low
*** When I am low, I need to focus on things that make me happy, and sometimes I don’t even know what that is
*** You gotta force yourself to do something

Jon is the founder and CEO of Lifebase Solutions - a tech company which simplifies nutrition and enables coaches to help people achieve their best body composition.

I met Jon over 5 years ago, we’ve developed a good friendship and I’ve always admired his positivity and peaceful perspective, no matter what the situation is - which is why I want to find out how he does that, as his life seems pretty stressful!