Oct 22, 2025

A Midlife Crisis Before 40 - Are We Doing Life Wrong?

Episode 46: Troy Munson – https://www.linkedin.com/in/troymunson and Daniel Berk – https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielberk open up about midlife shifts, burnout, and finding meaning beyond work. From Troy’s recent Dimmo pivot to raw conversations about mental health, selfishness vs. self-care, and why life behind a screen can feel empty, this episode hits deep. The dads get vulnerable about identity, parenting, and the quiet weight many people carry but never voice. What starts as a business update turns into an unfiltered look at purpose, loss, and what really matters when the noise stops. — Show Notes: (0:00) Launch day: Troy breaks down Dimmo’s pivot and new focus (0:45) The grind of startup life without big marketing budgets (1:30) What’s actually working in outbound today (3:30) Social algorithms, LinkedIn reach, and why virality can feel fake (5:00) Beehive’s story and how email is being reinvented (6:30) The power of organic impressions and building real audiences (7:00) Do audiences matter outside of tech? (Reddit, Quora, X) (8:00) The attention economy—are we leaving it or just renaming it? (9:30) Why “eyeballs = revenue” still rules every platform (11:00) Reddit as the last honest corner of the internet (12:00) Coffee, burnout, and managing ADHD during the grind (13:00) Troy’s routine change that killed his afternoon crash (14:00) Running, training, and the mental game of staying disciplined (16:00) Moab 240, ultras, and the insanity of endurance athletes (19:00) Why some pain is chosen—and some isn’t worth it (20:00) The case for being “selfishly healthy” as a parent and partner (21:00) Putting mental health first so you can show up for others (22:00) The fine line between balance and burnout (24:00) Marriage, faith, and where selfishness crosses into neglect (26:00) Early mornings, exhaustion, and the cost of self-discipline (27:00) TikTok tears: the story that broke Troy (28:00) Midlife reflections: am I living the right way? (29:00) Escaping screens, chasing sunsets, and booking spontaneous trips (31:00) Grief, loss, and remembering people are hurting silently (33:00) Teaching empathy to your kids through small actions (34:00) Why gratitude hits harder after you cry (35:00) A new podcast idea: talking to random people about what they’re going through (36:00) Suicide awareness and how often “the signs” don’t show (38:00) Why men need more spaces to talk about what’s real (39:00) Reconsidering what Two Dads in Tech could become (40:00) Closing reflections: impact, purpose, and what comes next — Links: • Daniel Berk's LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielberk • Troy Munson's LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/troymunson • Two Dads in Tech Newsletter – https://twodadsintech.com • Shop Two Dads in Tech – https://shop.twodadsintech.com • Listen on Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/30GQP8FPJoKpLGpYBahlFP • Listen on Apple – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-dads-in-tech/id1785662964 • Check out Dimmo – https://www.dimmo.ai