BOOK
They Lied To You
by Django De Gree, II
ABOUT THE BOOK
They Lied To You is my attempt to peel back the illusions Western culture has woven so tightly around us — the obsession with productivity, appearance, and endless striving. These “beautiful lies” promise happiness, but in reality, they drain our spirit and flatten our humanity.
By giving you this early copy, my hope is not just that you read these pages, but that you wrestle with them. Question the defaults we’ve inherited. Notice the ways convenience, distraction, and the chase for more have crept into your own life. And most of all, imagine what could happen if we chose a different path: one rooted in presence, rest, authenticity, and creativity.
You are among the first to see this work, and that means your voice matters. Tell me what resonates. Tell me what challenges you. Tell me where it hits too close to home. This is not just a book — it’s a conversation, a movement, and hopefully, a spark that helps us begin to live awake in a culture that often puts us to sleep.
With gratitude, Django
You've been told that success, productivity, and appearances are the path to happiness.
They lied to you.
For generations, Western culture has sold us a glittering myth: that more, faster, and louder will finally make us whole. We chased the dream of endless progress, only to find ourselves burnt out, anxious, and quietly aching for something real. We sacrificed authenticity for approval, turned our lives into performances for an invisible audience, and mistook motion for meaning.
They Lied to You rips back the curtain on this cultural illusion and dares you to ask the questions no one wants you to ask: Who would you be without the masks? What if all the things you've been taught to pursue-status, speed, convenience-are actually the very things robbing you of life's substance?
This book is not a sermon, it's an awakening. A manifesto. A spark meant to ignite a fire in your soul. Page after page, you'll confront the myths that bind you and discover the raw, uncomfortable, liberating truth that we are not machines to be optimized-we are human beings meant to live fully, deeply, awake.
If you've ever felt the gnawing emptiness beneath the hustle, the quiet despair behind the curated smiles, the sense that life must be more than what you've been handed-then this is the book you've been waiting for.
Because the real tragedy isn't that they lied to you.
It's that you might keep believing it.
Don't. Open these pages. Step into the awakening.
This isn’t just a book. It’s a lifeline.
Behind every unicorn headline and investor update is a human story that rarely gets told.
Burn Bright, Not Out shatters the silence around mental health in the startup world, where pressure masquerades as passion, and burnout is often worn like a badge of honor. This book gathers the unfiltered voices of founders and investors, past and present, who have dared to speak the truth: building something big can come at the cost of your soul if no one is watching.
Through raw, vulnerable interviews, this book uncovers the emotional toll of chasing scale in a system that rewards output over well-being, sacrifice over sanity. It's a window into what happens when the dopamine wears off, when the fundraise is over, and when the anxiety refuses to leave.
But it’s also a call to action.
Every page is a reminder that you're not alone and that asking for help doesn’t mean you're weak. It means you're human. In partnership with Focus On Words and the Kabila Founder Mental Health Fund, all net proceeds from this book go directly toward providing free therapy to founders.
Burn Bright, Not Out is for every founder who’s ever whispered, I can’t keep going like this.
It’s time to speak the truth. And it’s time to shatter the silence.
When you buy this book, you're helping the Kabila Founder Mental Health Fund (a project of Social Good Fund) provide free mental wellness resources for US-based startup founders!
About Django De Gree, II
Hi, I’m Django: Co-Founder of Focus On Words and author of "I Hope You Wake Up" & "They Lied To You". I woke up one day and have wanted to wake up society ever since. All my books are made to help point you to freedom. I hope you come journey with me!
Hi, I’m James: Managing Partner of Kabila Ventures, a new venture firm coming soon, and Founder of the Kabila Founder Mental Health Fund, a non-profit, which provides free mental wellness resources for founders who want them but can’t afford them.
I’m a husband to an amazing wife, and co-founder of the world’s cutest twins.