Dopamine, Drive & Peak Performance Neuroscience

How understanding your brain’s reward system can transform unsustainable hustle into lasting success

I’ve been building startups since I was in my senior year of high school. As a result, I got into a deeply-engrained pattern of intense focus and astonishing productivity that would sometimes last for months, others for years, but would inevitably end in a crash of some sort as my nervous system, adrenals and neurochemistry struggled to cope with the extended periods of high drive. I ended up achieving great things but it came at a cost—similar to the extractive nature of our economy today.

The pattern was eerily consistent: I’d get swept up in a vision—whether it was building Just Customs in my bedroom in Colorado, launching Goodery during the pandemic, or scaling ReFi DAO, hosting ReFi Podcast all while leading growth at Toucan. I’d work 12-14 hour days, fueled by coffee, exercise and intense determination—convinced that just a few more months of intensity would create the breakthrough I was chasing.