How the CEO of Torch learned to face death
TQD: Issue 11
Welcome to The Quest Digest 👋🏼
Read the thoughts of Justin Kan, the co-founder of Twitch 🧠 , scout opportunities to work with us, and access episode summaries.
Know anyone that would love to join over 20,000 smart, curious, and interesting listeners?
In this issue:
Quest Minutes - takeaways and timestamps from our episode with Cameron Yarbrough, founder of Torch
JK #Shorts: How to land your dream startup job
Spin-Off: listen to our first live interview with Radi, our resident adventurer and Quest Fellow
🔦 Quest Minutes: Cameron Yarbrough
Catch the full conversation here:
A Torch Against the Night:
Most people don’t spend their twenties confronting their own mortality. But for Cameron Yarbrough, learning to face the pain of death from an early age was a necessary and powerful catalyst in his life.
From the age of 20, Cameron spent a decade working at a hospice and preparing for his own death ritual. He then became a coach, sharing the lessons he learned with business executives in Silicon Valley. He later founded Torch, a leadership development platform teaching empathy, which has raised close to $40 million to date.
In this episode, you’ll hear his learnings from losing a dear friend, becoming a leader who can empathize with the pains of others, and staring into the face of death.
Burdens (1:25)
Cameron’s coming-of-age story was one plagued with drugs, alcohol, anxiety, and paranoia. One of the saving graces that kept him on the right path was his discovery of meditation and Buddhist practice. But the path to enlightenment wasn’t easy - Cameron endured a tremendous amount of internalized pain which included facing all of his unmitigated anxiety and paranoia.
From the painful process, Cameron emerged with a greater appreciation of impermanence and understanding of the illusions of self and ego.
“You've got to go into the silence and deal with all of your demons and your fears, all the things that you've been running from and compartmentalizing. For me, it was a lot of physical and emotional abuse and dealing with those memories.”
Carrying the Torch (9:09)
Spending his twenties working at a hospice taught Cameron how to value the gift of the present. He prepared a ritual for his own symbolic “death”, practicing gratitude to those around him and taking life by the reigns.
Cameron also learnt how to apply his spiritual progress into the real world. He sought to fill a gap in the mental health space in Silicon Valley. Coaching others in the startup space eventually led to him founding his own company - Torch.
“This concept that doing good for the world and doing good in business are not mutually exclusive. I don't believe in the zero sum game. That's what Torch is about. Torch is a mission to help employees become more self-aware, more conscious, and therefore better leaders in the world.”
Loss (18:00)
Running a company is never easy - especially amidst a merger during a global pandemic. But the logisitical challenges were overshadowed by the loss of a dear and close friend, Eric Bankson, in a tragic rock climbing accident. The tragedy put into perspective all of Cameron’s spiritual learnings.
Eric was also the Chief Customer Officer at Torch. His loss took an immense emotional toll on co-workers and clients alike. Cameron learned the value and importance of being a leader capable of empathizing with the pain of those around him, and took that responsibility upon himself.
“I had to call our employees and tell them that he (Eric) was dead and I'll never, ever forget what it's like to tell somebody that they've just catastrophically lost someone. I heard a lot of crying, a lot of falling apart, and a lot of pain. It was a really important practice for me to have all those phone calls with my employees and tell them myself, because I think as a CEO, as any kind of leader, it's really important to be connected to people's pain and not shy away from it.”
Lessons from Justin:
When you build a business, think about the concept of right livelihood. A lot of the suffering I see from founders, including myself, comes from the fact that they get stuck working on the wrong thing. When you start a company, make sure you pick something that aligns with the impact you want to see in the world.
Sit with the pain. Being able to sit with your emotions helps you grow. When you run away from them, you are waiting to pay a therapist to do this for you. Like Cameron said, a good leader is always connected to the pain of others. Next time something terrible happens to you or someone you love, sit through the pain with them.
The path to spiritual awakening looks different for everyone. Just like there's no formula for success, there's no roadmap to finding fulfilment. Cameron spent 10 years in spiritual practice then got into startups. I did the opposite. To start your inner journey, you need to figure out what you care about and what makes you happy - and then doing whatever it takes to make it happen.
🧨 JK #Shorts: How to land your dream startup job
Demonstrate that you’re awesome at 1 thing: Startups are looking for people who have exceptional but specific skills. In your resume, show them what they are looking for and hammer down that point. 🔨
Keep your resume concise: If its not related to or helping with Point #1, keep it off! ✅
Write a cover letter that explains why you want to work there: Founders are always looking for people who are just as passionate as they are about their mission. 🎯
Get in the door first, and move laterally within the company: You might not get the position you want at first, but getting in is always the most important part.🚪
Once you get an offer, NEGOTIATE: There’s always room to move! 💬
Want more of these valuable insights from Justin? Make sure you’re subsrcibed to his YouTube channel!
💬 Tweet Feature:
🌎 The Quest spin-off
Last week, we conducted a pilot episode of our new weekly Quest show! We haven’t come up with a name yet, but here’s why we’ve decided to launch it.
We have so many incredible people in our server, each with their own unique story, insights, and knowledge. We wanted to showcase the legends of the Quest Fam community, and the best way to do that is to let folks tell their own story!
I had a blast co-hosting the first episode with Brent, and can’t wait to do more. The show is hosted weekly over a live Zoom call, access is available for all our Discord community members.
If you’re not in our Discord sever, don’t worry - we’ll be publishing these episodes on YouTube in the near future so be sure to keep an eye out for future announcements.
Our first guest is Radi, Quest Fellow and resident adventurer/explorer! In our conversation, he shared some incredible wisdom about seeking adversity and some wacky stories about driving hours away from civilization to camp in a freezing car.
You can find the full conversation with Radi by clicking here.
Did I mention that all our Quest Fellows get custom stickers? 👀 Apply here!
👀 Coming up next…
Molly Bloom - Author of Molly’s Game
♠️ ♥️ ♣️ ♦️ Hosted an underground high-stakes poker table attended by Hollywood stars, sports figures, and wealthy elites.
No we’re not bluffing. Molly Bloom reveals all her cards: her path to redemption, giving up her wealth and status in pursuit of happiness, the real story behind the movie, her battles with substance addiction, reconnecting with her family, and finding closure from her past.
Episode drops Tuesday 30th March @ 9AM PST. See you there 👋🏼
