Burn Rate

More about the book

The co-founder of a menswear startup shares his gripping and honest struggle with bipolar disorder in this memoir of mental illness and entrepreneurship. At twenty-eight, fresh from Stanford's MBA program and immersed in Silicon Valley's fast-paced culture, Andy Dunn was thriving. He built Bonobos, a digitally native, direct-to-consumer brand, from his Manhattan apartment, revolutionizing men's pants sales. As business boomed, Dunn raised millions while blurring the lines between work and personal life. However, he grappled with the shadows of his bipolar disorder, diagnosed after a manic episode in college, which clashed with the expectations of his upbringing and the business world. As his startup flourished, traits that fueled his success—relentless drive, confidence bordering on hubris, and ambition verging on delusion—began to threaten his well-being. This tension led to a chaotic night that could unravel everything he built. This memoir serves as an unconventional account of entrepreneurship, shedding light on mental illness within the startup community. With intimate prose, Dunn explores the dark side of success and invites readers to engage in the critical conversation about creativity, performance, and disorder.