Most VCs work non-stop and still feel like they're failing. They do 2x the deals of their peers. They're at every event. And they still feel like they're not doing enough.

What James Johnson and Freddie Birley reveal in this episode is what VCs won't say publicly: the loneliness, the ambiguity, the constant feeling of underperforming despite objectively crushing it.

What drives this?

Founders want freedom. VCs want peak performance. When you're optimizing for achievement but venture's ambiguity makes it impossible to define what "good" looks like, you're stuck in perpetual dissatisfaction.

In this episode:

Why most VCs feel like they're failing even when they're crushing it

The loneliness both founders and investors experience (and why both jobs are more similar than different)

What actually drives each group - and why this explains why they talk past each other

How to shift from outcome obsession (exits - out of your control) to input control (craft mastery - in your hands)

For founders: Understanding this changes how you work with your board

For VCs: This is the validation you didn't know you needed

This is Peer Effect Post Bag - James and Freddie answering your toughest questions.

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Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com