At 17, Andrew Anagnost’s life was spiraling out of control. Today, he is the CEO of Autodesk, one of the world’s leading design software companies. The transformation, however, did not come easily. According to a profile published by Business Insider, it began after a harrowing encounter with the police and a memory of a teacher’s blunt warning that reshaped how he saw himself.
From Classroom Trouble to Rock Bottom
Anagnost admitted that high school marked the start of his downward slide. Struggling with what he now believes was undiagnosed ADHD, he turned to drugs, grew restless, and was eventually expelled. Anxiety and the “storm” in his head, as he described it, made him lose direction entirely.
The turning point arrived in the most dramatic way possible. One night, while on probation, he got into a high-speed chase with the police. The incident ended with his car slamming into a telephone pole. The near-death experience, which nearly claimed the life of his passenger, forced him to confront just how far he had fallen.
A Teacher’s Words That Changed His Path
That night, amid the chaos, one voice cut through the noise—his teacher’s. Years earlier, a teacher had told him: “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.” At the time, it felt dismissive. But after the crash, those words hit differently.
“This teacher’s voice came back to me the night that I crashed the car,” Anagnost told Business Insider. It was the push he needed to rethink his choices and find healthier ways to manage his struggles.
From Struggle to Stanford
What followed was not an overnight turnaround but a determined climb. Anagnost gradually left behind self-medicating habits and poured his energy into education. A decade after the crash, he had not only stabilized his life but was finishing a Ph.D. in aeronautical engineering and computer science at Stanford University.
He credits his recovery to surrounding himself with people who told him the hard truths. “The people that tell you what you want to hear don’t actually make a difference in your life. They may make you feel good in the moment, but they’re not transformative,” he said.
Lessons on Leadership and Feedback
Today, as the head of Autodesk, Anagnost brings those lessons into his leadership style. He believes the most powerful growth comes from criticism—if you are willing to find the truth in it. “Feedback is a gift,” he said. “So many people in the working world are unwilling or unable to give tough feedback.”
For young people, his advice is simple: do not just follow passion, but impact. “When we feel like the work we’re doing reflects a meaningful outcome, passion follows,” he explained.
Looking back, Anagnost says he would tell his younger self to embrace criticism without letting it crush him. “Look for the truth in every piece of criticism. Learn from that truth, grow from it, and apply it with courage,” he told Business Insider.
He argues that building this resilience early allows people to adapt to change later in life. It is a philosophy he has lived himself—turning a turbulent youth into a story of reinvention, resilience, and leadership at the helm of a global tech company.
From Classroom Trouble to Rock Bottom
Anagnost admitted that high school marked the start of his downward slide. Struggling with what he now believes was undiagnosed ADHD, he turned to drugs, grew restless, and was eventually expelled. Anxiety and the “storm” in his head, as he described it, made him lose direction entirely.
The turning point arrived in the most dramatic way possible. One night, while on probation, he got into a high-speed chase with the police. The incident ended with his car slamming into a telephone pole. The near-death experience, which nearly claimed the life of his passenger, forced him to confront just how far he had fallen.
A Teacher’s Words That Changed His Path
That night, amid the chaos, one voice cut through the noise—his teacher’s. Years earlier, a teacher had told him: “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.” At the time, it felt dismissive. But after the crash, those words hit differently.
“This teacher’s voice came back to me the night that I crashed the car,” Anagnost told Business Insider. It was the push he needed to rethink his choices and find healthier ways to manage his struggles.
From Struggle to Stanford
What followed was not an overnight turnaround but a determined climb. Anagnost gradually left behind self-medicating habits and poured his energy into education. A decade after the crash, he had not only stabilized his life but was finishing a Ph.D. in aeronautical engineering and computer science at Stanford University.
He credits his recovery to surrounding himself with people who told him the hard truths. “The people that tell you what you want to hear don’t actually make a difference in your life. They may make you feel good in the moment, but they’re not transformative,” he said.
Lessons on Leadership and Feedback
Today, as the head of Autodesk, Anagnost brings those lessons into his leadership style. He believes the most powerful growth comes from criticism—if you are willing to find the truth in it. “Feedback is a gift,” he said. “So many people in the working world are unwilling or unable to give tough feedback.”
For young people, his advice is simple: do not just follow passion, but impact. “When we feel like the work we’re doing reflects a meaningful outcome, passion follows,” he explained.
Looking back, Anagnost says he would tell his younger self to embrace criticism without letting it crush him. “Look for the truth in every piece of criticism. Learn from that truth, grow from it, and apply it with courage,” he told Business Insider.
He argues that building this resilience early allows people to adapt to change later in life. It is a philosophy he has lived himself—turning a turbulent youth into a story of reinvention, resilience, and leadership at the helm of a global tech company.
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