317. He built his company around happiness, but was he happy? With Richard Clarke
About this episode
Richard Clarke discusses the unexpected emotional challenges faced after selling his company and the essential needs for happiness at work.
Have you ever hit a massive milestone—like selling the business you spent a decade building—only to feel an unexpected wave of grief instead of pure joy? In this episode of Truth, Lies and Work, we sit down with Richard Clarke, founder of software company Secret Source. He did what every entrepreneur dreams of: he grew his business, put team happiness at the absolute center of his culture, and successfully exited. But instead of finding ultimate contentment, Richard fell face-first into the ultimate happiness trap: "I’ll be happy when..." Richard opens up about the bittersweet reality of exiting a business, the sudden loss of community, and how he had to use his own behavioral science background to climb out of the post-exit slump. Plus, he breaks down the 5 essential needs every human requires to be truly happy at work and thoroughly busts the famous myth surrounding Google's "20% time." Key Takeaways from This Episode The 5 Workplace Needs: Based on the US Surgeon General’s framework, everyone requires five core elements to thrive: Safety, Community, Autonomy, Growth, and Purpose. The Post-Exit Slump: Founders often find that while an exit checks off the "safety" and "autonomy"…
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