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Season 1 · Episode 04  —  Michael Friedberg · Co-founder, Flux B2B

You Are Not Alone

Content note: This episode discusses depression, burnout, workplace bullying and medication. Please listen with care. If you need to talk, free-call or text 1737 (NZ) any time.
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A career like “a cork on the ocean” — fifteen years at IBM, his own ventures, and now co-founding Flux B2B. On a breakdown, the insidious bullying that knocked a seasoned leader flat, and the friend-turned-psychotherapist who helped him climb out.

A late-life realisation about neurodiversity, building mental fitness (not just health), the drift, and why leadership now means actually caring.

Read the article about this episode

In this conversation

  • Addicted to the momentum — “an executive will never run.”
  • “Dropping the balls that bounce” — knowing the three things that must not drop.
  • Late-life neurodiversity, and thinking in systems.
  • The drift — when “this is fine” quietly becomes the wrong current.
  • The breakdown, the bullying, and “it was not my fault.”
  • Mental fitness, the tunnel, and “not being a dickhead is not enough anymore.”

Moments worth holding onto

“I got good at dropping balls that would bounce.”— Michael Friedberg
“When I’m at my worst, I’m in the tunnel — thinking the harder I work, the more I’ll work my way out. That’s exactly the wrong thing to do.”— Michael Friedberg
“You are not alone. You do not need to do this alone.”— Michael Friedberg