What Will They Say at Your Funeral?
This is not a dress rehearsal - this is you and the band, live at Carnegie Hall.
Cottonbro Studios
Introduction
You hang out at an online footage fetish forum.
People flock in billions to watch digital fragments of a life. The fragments inspire devoted cult followings. Flashes of iconic tech founder-CEOs suggest agility, speed, power, money, sex and membership in an exclusive club. Self-serving shit intrudes on the fetish footage with messages from your sponsor - “I’m humbled to be named VC Woman of the year in the Forbes 30 under 30 list. Followers get off on sound-bites of pseudo-wisdom. Clips from the mega-hit - “Programming humans 101” - Reward a behavior and you'll get more of it. Punish a behavior and you'll get less of it. A mentor is worth 10x more than a degree.
Followers go down rabbit holes with platform algorithms and an AI deciding the direction.
Are you even an entrepreneur if you're not constantly under enough stress to kill most normal people?
Wall Street's biggest nightmare just came true: Elon proved that 80% of corporate jobs are unnecessary. Not because humans are lazy. But because he discovered a dark truth about modern companies that no CEO wants to admit.
Suddenly, you remember—life is not an online fetish.
A Houthi ballistic missile could hit your bedroom at 4:10 tomorrow morning.
With your name and your family’s name on it.
Something else maybe - a car accident. A random event that reminds you that no one’s guaranteed another day.
Am I morbid? Influenced by the war against Iran and its proxies?
Maybe. But consider this:
When you’re gone, what will people say?
Will they remember you as the person who stayed too long in a job they hated?
Will they remember you for how many contracts you wrote with Korean biotechnology partners?
Who sacrificed time and energy on things that didn’t matter?
Or will they say, “They made a real impact. They gave a damn. They didn’t waste a second.”
That’s the difference between living your mission and just showing up.
Why This Matters
Your time is fixed. We all know this intellectually, but most of us live like we have an infinite supply of “somedays.”
“Someday, I’ll start that side project.”
“Someday, I’ll shift into a role that aligns with my passion.”
“Someday, I’ll stop working for people who drain me.”
But “someday” isn’t a plan. It’s an excuse.
Here’s the truth no one tells you
If you’re 45, you have maybe 35 working years left—if you’re lucky. And if you’re in biotech or tech, the landscape is shifting fast. AI, layoffs, and restructuring aren’t just headlines. They’re your reality.
So, what’s the plan?
The Trap of needing something:
Here’s a dangerous lie.
You need to have everything perfectly figured out before you take action.
You need to wait for the right economy.
You need more training.
You need more followers
You need more capital
No, you don’t.
Planning-paralysis is an excuse for not doing.
You’re here on a mission
Not to accumulate fast fashion, not to sit in endless strategy meetings, and definitely not to spend years of your life swiping through fragments of online footage.
Abraham's mission was to instill lasting values in his family, aligning with God's vision for humanity. His mission was to balance between individual ethics ("righteousness") and societal fairness ("justice").
The mission was not just for Abraham; it was for him, his family and the future generations to come.
Your skills—whether in biotech, tech, or leadership—are valuable right now. If you’ve spent 20+ years building expertise, you don’t need another certificate or an “offsite” session. You need to act.
Actionable Insight – What to Do Right Now:
Ask yourself three questions.
If I had to cut half the projects I’m working on right now, which would stay?
Would you kill your QA/QC SOP duties or your medical writing tasks?
– Hint: The ones that actually matter to you. If you love medical writing, make it your mission.
If I could do one thing that lights me up, what would it be?
Would you spend more time on source document review or on simplifying clinical protocols?
– Write it down. Now, who needs this skill or service today?
Who benefits the most when I show up fully and do my best work?
– This is your real customer. Forget the rest.
If you can’t answer these questions right away, that’s the signal.
You’re spending too much time on things that don’t move the needle on your mission.
Your Mission Is Not Optional
Look, I get it. There are bills to pay. Kids in school. Responsibilities that keep you in the game. But within those constraints, there’s still room for meaningful missions.
Dedicate your weekends to build an AI that simplifies clinical protocols.
Put in 3 hours/month; leverage your deep understanding of regulatory pathways to help startups.
Pivot to something more aligned with your strengths and what you love doing.
Whatever it is: Stop wasting time and start executing your mission
20 years ago I was reliable in a shit-storm
I was recruited 20 years ago to be CTO of a fintech startup. I wanted to play the startup game, make a big bet on creating something great, exit and make a lot of money. I spent 2 years in a role that didn’t fit me. Good pay, good title—but I was window-shopping through life.
It took one hard moment of clarity—when the company crashed, seeing the founder bail out—to realize I wasn’t immune. I stepped into the CEO role. I managed cash, the board, fired the team, sold the equipment. I discovered strength and resolve I never thought I had. The investors told me I was reliable.
But I didn’t want my legacy to be “he was reliable in a shit-storm.”
I wanted it to be: “He built something that mattered.”
That was 20 years ago.
Downshifting in 2024
I first met David 5 years ago in SF. He had just raised a Series A for his biotech company. We met again a few months ago in Israel. This time he was looking for guidance from me. After flying high during COVID, his company was failing but he could not admit it publicly.
He could not bear the thought of people thinking he was a failure at age 55 after being a CEO for so many years.
In our first session, he didn't look me in the eye. His gaze wandered.
Success had been his identity since his thirties. His kids grew up telling friends "Dad's a CEO." At industry conferences, he was the story of success, the voice of experience.
Now at 55, he was facing failure. His company was dying.
This was on him, and we both knew it.
As we explored his fears, patterns emerged. Every LinkedIn notification felt like salt in an open wound. Every industry email might expose the truth. He became an expert in crafting stories about "exciting changes ahead."
The breakthrough came unexpectedly. He mentioned his wife had "dragged" him to a charity gala. "You need to get out of the office, David," she'd insisted. There, he'd met an environmental scientist explaining carbon capture breakthroughs. His energy shifted noticeably as he described sketching chemical equations on a cocktail napkin.
"I haven't seen you this excited in years," his wife had said while driving home.
In our next session, we explored that moment. When was the last time he'd felt genuine enthusiasm about anything? We pulled up his old chemical engineering research papers. He'd traded it all for the executive track.
"What if this 'failure' isn't the end of your story?" I asked. "What if it's the beginning of a better one?"
The pivot wasn't clean or easy. We strategized his first steps - volunteering on an environmental NGO board. He initially viewed it as reputation management.
But something unexpected emerged: The thrill of solving real problems. Innovation beyond quarterly numbers and handling his board.
His network's reaction surprised us both. Other executives began reaching out privately. "How did you know it was time to change?"
He didn't know it was time to change. He was forced into it. That force was his gift.
Six months into our work together, a cutting-edge greentech startup approached him. Low salary. Big purpose. For the first time in years, he felt rich in ways that mattered more.
Yesterday, he called me.
Someone had asked how he maintains his edge.
"What did you tell them?" I asked.
He laughed. "I told them I was willing to lose it.
Sometimes, that's how you find something better."
Sometimes what looks like failure is actually an invitation to something greater.
The real challenge isn't maintaining success - it's having the courage to redefine it.
Start building
If you’re ready to stop waiting and start building, I’m here to help.
I work with biotech leaders over 45 who want to create new opportunities from the expertise they already have.
The missile isn’t a metaphor. We all have limited time.
So here’s the question again:
What will they say at your funeral?
Don’t let the answer be “They waited too long.”
Let’s make sure your next move counts.
Best way to contact me is dl@dannylieberman.com
the article does not single out males - as in my target readership in life science there is a dominant female population. The Western/American ethos indeed currently places the highest value on workplace fullfillment and making money as a measure of fullfillment.
I believe that there has been a gradual shift over the past 40 years with the growing popularity of mindfullness and physical fitnesss and more recently with more a balanced definition of wealth that includes time, mental, physical, spiritual and community in addition to money.
Unfortunately - HR slogans like 'work-life balance' are just that: slogans.
And in the Western/American world, there is a divinity gap, which is arguably the source for lack of balance.
That said, the article assumes that the reader is male, self actualization is solely in the workplace, and revolves around one singular focus. A well-balanced life revolves around multiple axes. This, of course, is the challenge: finding both clarity as well as fulfillment in the mire of it all. :)