Earlier, when I was a citizen of a country where I could work any job, do anything, get any opportunity: I had a massive appetite for risk. I don’t have that luxury here.

I also think that the halcyon days of working an awful job for a big payoff are over. That was a low interest rate phenomenon.

Now, I just want to do good work that makes a difference, and have good work / life balance. No more hustling for venture capital, ever.

I had a good run. I was an early double digit employee of one of the rocket ship startups. I couldn’t even stand staying long enough to benefit from that, because of its ethical challenges. I was a founder in the good times, and I got to travel around the world, raising money, and running companies. But that isn’t a sustainable way to live.

I know some people still hustling in that life, and I feel sad for them. If you didn’t ’make it’ in the mid 10s, I think it’s over, get a job.

We don’t talk enough about the personal costs of living that life.

I wrecked my mental and physical health for an idea, that ultimately was about enriching the venture class. It’s taken me years to come back from that.

Maybe the job-job people were right. I’m glad I took that path while it lasted, it was never boring at least, but I am still paying down the bodily and mental debt I incurred from hustling for the venture class, that made us believe it was for us, too.

In case you’re curious: every single one of my founder type friends has a mystery autoimmune disease of some kind, and some have other worse illnesses, or they’re hiding it.

I don’t think a human body is supposed to take on that repeated pattern of tremendous stress on a daily basis.

I ended up needing to swallow a radioactive pill to kill my thyroid gland, and that was after I almost lost the use of my limbs for hours at a time due to a complication of a stress-related autoimmune disease.