Andrew Anagnost left high school amid probation, drug use, and behavioral problems that he used to self-medicate. He likely had undiagnosed ADHD, went off the rails, and was expelled while battling anxiety and an internal "storm." A high-speed police chase and crash that nearly killed his passenger served as a rock-bottom turning point. The memory of a teacher's warning about not ruining others' lives prompted reflection and motivated behavior change. He learned to accept honest feedback and find productive ways to manage his challenges. Over the next decade he completed a Ph.D. in aeronautical engineering and computer science at Stanford and later became CEO of Autodesk.
"I never saw myself as a CEO," Anagnost told Business Insider, adding that there was nothing in his background that "preordained anything that was interesting."
"I got involved in a high-speed chase with a police car, and ran into a telephone poll, and came very close to killing the passenger in the car," Anagnost said. "It was a blow."
"you can ruin your life all you want, but I'm not going to let you ruin the lives of the people in this classroom."
"This teacher's voice came back to me the night that I crashed the car," Anagnost said.
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