Burn Rate

I had been eagerly anticipating this one as I worked in the startup world during Bonobos’ peak era – we were watching everything they did. I had seen Andy Dunn speak a few times and knew quite a bit about him from mutual friends, and was really curious what his book would be like. This is his memoir – of founding (and building Bonobos) and his experiences as a person living with bipolar disorder. Entrepreneurship and mental health. I have to be honest, I like him more after reading this. It’s really vulnerable, raw, and honest — I think a lot of people will benefit from his experience. He isn’t afraid to admit where he makes mistakes and we also see the prevalence of mental health in the startup community. (It takes a very specific personality both when it comes to creativity, performance, drive, etc. to found a startup.) The book follows him from college where he had a scary manic episode through graduate school (where he sweeps it under the rug, seeing his diagnosis as an unspeakable shame) through founding and ultimately selling Bonobos. I enjoyed it. The startup/entrepreneurship parts and bits about living in New York were nostalgic for me and I appreciated his vulnerability.