“My career was on the rise, I had the beginnings of a financial safety net …Yet I started to suffer from debilitating panic attacks”

Andy Johns Was In-Demand As a Startup Growth Guru But Couldn’t Continue The Work Until He Helped Himself First

Andy Johns was one of the original notable ‘growth’ experts, working at a variety of startups and larger tech companies to help drive product strategies that resulted in organic and sustainable user acquisition. We were fortunate to include him as an advisor to our portfolio during early Homebrew investments, and he eventually crossed over to venture himself, before stepping back to focus on his own health. It’s that effort I wanted to focus on in this Five Questions interview. Thanks Andy for being open about your own diagnosis and subsequent healing.

Hunter Walk: Thanks for doing this interview Andy. We’ve known each other for a while and I wanted to focus today primarily on your recent writings about your personal journey to find mental health and wellness. What prompted you to start talking more publicly?

Andy Johns: My mental health journey first started in early 2010. Life was good at the time. My career was on the rise, I had the beginnings of a financial safety net, I was physically…