From $100 Million Sale to Existential Crisis: The Journey of MVMT Founder Jake Kassan
At 27, Jake Kassan sold his wildly successful watch company, MVMT, for $100 million. While the financial windfall initially brought joy, it quickly revealed a darker side. Kassan’s story highlights the complex relationship between wealth, purpose, and mental well-being, offering a compelling narrative for those chasing the entrepreneurial dream and a cautionary tale about the pitfalls of unchecked ambition.
Key Takeaways:
- Financial success doesn’t guarantee happiness: Kassan’s experience proves that achieving a major financial goal doesn’t automatically translate to fulfillment.
- Purpose and identity are crucial: Losing his entrepreneurial drive left Kassan feeling lost and contributed to his struggles with anxiety and depression. The need for purpose is paramount.
- Mental health challenges are real, even for the wealthy: Kassan’s story challenges the perception that money can solve all problems, highlighting the importance of mental health support, regardless of financial status.
- Rediscovering purpose: After a period of reflection and a significant wake-up call, Kassan refocused his energy on creative pursuits using his skills in videography and storytelling, discovering new avenues for fulfillment.
College Dropout Turned Millionaire Entrepreneur
Jake Kassan wasn’t your typical academic high-achiever. He readily admits, “Academically, I’ve just never done well. I’ve always been probably just a little below average.” However, he possessed a keen entrepreneurial spirit, evident from his early ventures like selling lollipops as a seventh-grader. By college, his business acumen was already well-honed. He launched an interactive glow-in-the-dark T-shirt business in 2008, gaining valuable experience, although it ultimately faltered due to neglecting the burgeoning e-commerce landscape. This failure, however, would serve as a crucial lesson for his future success with MVMT.
The Birth of MVMT Watches
After dropping out of Santa Barbara City College, realizing the limitations of his brick-and-mortar business model and guided by his business experience, Kassan co-founded MVMT Watches with his college roommate, Kramer LaPlante, in June 2013. Their strategic focus on e-commerce and a strong social media presence – amassing over a million Instagram followers – propelled their brand to remarkable heights. Within five years, they built a team of 45 employees and ultimately sold MVMT to the Movado Group for a staggering $100 million, a testament to their ingenuity and the power of a well-executed digital strategy.
Money’s Impact on Mental Health
The sudden influx of wealth was initially exhilarating. Kassan describes the experience as seeing “your bank account look[ing] like a phone number.” However, the initial euphoria soon waned. The sense of accomplishment and the constant drive that had fueled his entrepreneurial journey were replaced by a profound emptiness. He admits that the post-sale period brought on intense feelings of anxiety and depression, exacerbated by a sense of lost purpose and identity. The daily grind of building MVMT had given him a structure and a sense of meaning, a void that the amassed wealth couldn’t fill.
The Weight of Expectation
Kassan’s struggles underscore a crucial point: the pressure to maintain a certain lifestyle and the difficulty of finding meaningful connections when your wealth sets you apart from peers. He poignantly articulates this: “How do you empathize with someone who is rich and depressed?” This question speaks volumes about the inherent isolation that can accompany extreme wealth and the limited understanding people may have of mental health challenges in such contexts.
Eureka Moment
A severe panic attack – described as “completely out of left field” – during a 2024 trip to Australia served as a pivotal moment for Kassan. This wasn’t merely an anxiety episode; it was a profound wake-up call, forcing him to confront the emptiness he had been trying to ignore. His reflection led to a crucial realization: his sense of satisfaction hadn’t stemmed from the wealth itself, but rather from the creative process and the challenge of building something from the ground up. That challenge and purpose were much more fulfilling.
Redefining Success
Kassan’s subsequent actions demonstrate this newfound perspective. He hasn’t simply retreated into a life of leisure; rather, he’s actively seeking new challenges and redefining success on his own terms. He’s building a YouTube channel, focusing on videography and storytelling, and engaging in angel investing, supporting promising startups. His statement, “I can’t buy more peace of mind,” encapsulates this shift in priorities. For Kassan, happiness is no longer measured solely by financial success, instead, it’s about purpose, creative fulfillment, and the satisfaction of building, learning, and contributing in meaningful ways.