Hi Brandon!

I was reading your article that a friend sent to me impatiently. I couldn’t wait to get to the end and to share it with a lot of people saying “wow. This guy’s story feels just like mine. I could have written this.” And while I’m already sharing a lot of my journey and learnings through daily vlogs and occasional article, you motivated me to share my full story as well because it provides the canvas for people to put everything in context.

My story is different (less business success, less Ayahuasca and much more through thinking, reflection, disorientation experimentation and observation but it seems we came from a similar place and arrived at a similar place.

However, not everyone shares my enthusiasm for your story.

A friend of mine’s reaction to your article is the following and while I don’t share his perspective, I think others might and I wonder what you have to say to them (i assume I’m unknowingly facing similar judgement but friends don’t tell me. I hope you don’t mind me just pasting it here. Ultimately, it’s about convincing the whole world to join us where we are already. That’s our mission.

So here it goes:

“It’s a nice read. I find him disingenuous though. He’s quantifying his financial success too much, name dropping, and not really mentioning that he could do none of that exploration without a substantial financial safety net. He’s basically rejecting a leadership role in society but only once he’s achieved most of the goals the society values. Had he 2 failed startups under his belt you bet his spiritual journey would not happen or would happen in a very different way. He should be honest enough to acknowledge that. But worth reading for sure.”

I followed up with: “I think you’re way too critical. He’s American that puts a different spin on things. He’s sharing his realizations that what he did do previously was not what he wanted and that’s why he moved on. I think it’s very genuine and I think he’s a step ahead of 99.9% of people. Yes, things would be more difficult if he had no money but most people with many don’t do what he does. That’s the difference. Don’t blame him for making money before but salut him for discovering a better path and now using his abilities for other people to do so. He has become a better human. That’s what matters. Anyone who enables other people to live better lives plays in a different league by my value system. He could also start his next company.”

His response: “I’ll be as critical as I want to be of course. He could be more impactful if he changed his style. I don’t blame him for being successful I blame him for pretending to be enlightened when he’s just hanging out in retirement.”

My follow up: “Interesting point. What would he need to do differently for you to “approve” or see him in a more positive light?”

Him again: “He would have to be much less one-sided, selfish, and simplistic. 1. He shouldn’t vilify the corporate life. He says nothing of the joy of building a firm, enabling dozens of employees to earn a livelihood. His co-founders or exec team and the wonderful togetherness you feel on the journey. He is very narcissistic about describing how successful he is, and also pretty unaware he is being like that. He’s completely imbalanced. 2. He doesn’t explain his choices sufficiently. Why Miami? He says his best friend “Barry who is also a tech founder” moved there. Was that significant in his decision making? No explanation. 3. He says nothing about how his former relationships transformed. Does he have a gf? Has he gone back to NYC? How are his family and friends from the time before? What kind of trade-offs is he facing? He is painting a simplistic picture – what is he giving up and or missing in this new life vs. the old? Choices are always tradeoffs, they come with giving up something good and also gaining something negative, but he’s not talking about any of that. It’s a narcissistic unbalanced outpour. 4. Very corny pictures. and don’t effing call yourself a “spiritual warrior” and five other cliche things. Also, how much bloody ayahuasca do you need??! Seems like he’s just doing it a ton. Why is he continuing to do so? When will he stop? This article would need a ton of literary surgery to be helpful to people. It’s also way too long.”

This is quite a mouthpiece full. Apologies for the lengthy comment. I’d love to hear your response. Either here or in a private conversation.

I’d also love you to invite you to an event I’m co-organizing later this year bringing together curious, open minded, non judgmental, positive people that continuously upgrade themselves and want to enable each other to have a positive impact in the world. Think of it as a cross of the ethos of Burning Man, Summit and something that doesn’t exist yet but much more intimate and heart centric. It’s called Upgrade and I’m happy to tell you more.

Thank you for finding the time to read my comment and the courage to share your journey with the world. 🙏