What happens when reaching the pinnacle of success turns out to be the most miserable experience and you have to find what actually matters next?
In this episode, Sami Inkinen, CEO of Virta Health and founder of Trulia, shares how he went from post-IPO misery to discovering a mission worth building his life around.
We explore his unconventional path to finding purpose: rowing across the Pacific Ocean, studying metabolic disease out of curiosity, and eventually committing to reverse diabetes in 1 billion people, not because it made business sense, but because he fell unexplainably in love with the problem.
Sami reflects on why the best missions can't be found in spreadsheets, how taking action creates clarity rather than waiting for it, and the difference between building a business with a mission versus a mission disguised as a business.
✨ Key Themes
- The post-exit identity crisis and addiction to being "on"
- Why unlimited optionality has negative value
- Finding your North Star through action, not analysis
- Building a mission disguised as a business
- The power of discomfort in discovering what's next
