#19: Phil Carter — The Hedonic Treadmill: Find Your Answers Within For a Balanced Life

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Episode SummaryIn this conversation, Phil Carter shares his journey from a Midwestern upbringing to becoming a successful product leader in the tech industry. He discusses the importance of family values, the challenges of work-life balance, and the impact of paternity leave on his relationship with his children. Phil reflects on his career shifts, the lessons learned from each chapter, and the decision to start his own consulting business for greater flexibility and autonomy.

In this conversation, Phil Carter discusses the challenges of modern work culture, particularly in the tech industry, where constant connectivity and high expectations can lead to burnout. He emphasizes the importance of finding balance in life through routines, personal anchors, and prioritizing family and community. Phil also highlights the significance of self-awareness in navigating the pressures of societal expectations and the rat race, advocating for a focus on internal fulfillment rather than external validation. He concludes by sharing his wife's nonprofit, Daring Girls, which empowers young women in East Africa. Support Daring Girls: https://daringgirls.org/About PhilAfter starting his career at Bain and getting his MBA from Stanford GSB, Phil Carter has spent the last decade as a VC and product leader helping companies like Faire, Quizlet, and Ibotta build world-class products and accelerate their growth. Phil is now a growth advisor and angel investor who helps Seed - Series C consumer subscription businesses define their growth strategies, build their growth models, hire their growth teams, scale their growth processes, optimize their growth channels, and achieve their full potential. Phil also teaches a Maven course on Consumer Subscription Growth and has a Substack newsletter where he shares additional thoughts.Connect to Phil:Website: https://www.philgcarter.com/Maven Course: https://maven.com/philcarter/consumer-subscription-growthLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philgcarter/Substack: https://philgcarter.substack.com/X: https://x.com/philgcarterChapters00:00 Intro to the EpisodeChapters

03:20 Introduction to Phil Carter

06:12 Growing Up in the Midwest

08:30 Family Values and Childhood Memories

09:59 Navigating Work-Life Balance

12:21 Career Shifts and Professional Growth

16:54 The Impact of Paternity Leave

22:44 Starting a New Chapter: Entrepreneurship

24:48 The Pressure of Constant Connectivity

27:11 The Dynamics of Tech Culture

30:22 Navigating the Rat Race

32:49 Finding Balance in Life

35:41 Anchors of Stability

39:03 Production vs. Production Capacity

42:50 Empowering Young Women through Daring Girls

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