The last thing Andre Marquis ever told me was to slow down.

"You think because you're young, you have to solve everything at once. You'll never get this time back."

I nodded. I thought I understood.

One year ago this July, Andre died by suicide. He was 62. He had built billion-dollar companies and still gave his Monday afternoons to students like me through the UC Launch Accelerator at UC Berkeley. He believed in the long view. He tried to teach it to me.

I was too busy sprinting to listen. 

THE RACE

Before this past year, I had never run more than a mile straight. I've spent twelve months sitting with what Andre tried to teach me. In February, I ran my first half marathon. This week, on the approach to the one-year anniversary of his passing, I signed up for the Tri-Cities Marathon on October 25th. Tri-Cities is my hometown. It is where ATFA was founded, and where I was sitting when I found out Andre was gone.

I am not running this because I enjoy running. I do not. I am running because Andre spent the last conversation we ever had telling me that life is not a sprint, and the only way I know how to prove to myself I finally heard him is to run the slowest, hardest thing I can think of.

So this October 25th, I am running 26.2 miles.
 Slowly. On purpose. In his memory.

Every mile is a reminder of what he tried to give me. Every mile is the answer I wish I had given him sooner.

WHY THIS MATTERS

Our culture tells founders and young professionals to sprint at all costs. Andre spent his career pushing back against that. He built billion-dollar companies and still made time every Monday to sit with a college student and ask the right question. He believed in people more than metrics.

His death showed me how much that kind of support is missing, and how devastating it is when people who carry others never find someone to carry them.

HOW YOUR DONATION IS USED

All donations are received by All Teens Financial Academy (ATFA), a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit. ATFA has no formal partnership with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

Funds are allocated as follows:

50% to AFSP. ATFA will make a direct donation to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, which funds suicide prevention research, crisis intervention, and advocacy nationwide.

50% to The Long View Fund. A dedicated fund within ATFA created in Andre's memory, to build peer support and mental health resources for founders and young entrepreneurs navigating the pressure our culture puts on them. This is the work Andre believed in, and it is the work his story calls us to continue.

THE GOAL: $5,000

If you give $100 or more, I will write your name on my arm before I cross the start line on October 25th. You will run every mile with me.

If you cannot give, share this with one person who knew Andre, or who has ever felt the weight of a world that never tells you to slow down.

This is the long way. That is exactly the point.

Ashwin Joshi, Founder
All Teens Financial Academy (ATFA) 501(c)(3) Public Charity | EIN: 88-3911129
[email redacted]

NOTE FOR EARLY DONORS

To those who gave before this update: thank you. I want to be transparent. I had every intention of running the Santa Rosa Marathon and had it locked in on my calendar. By the time I went to register, it had completely sold out. The Tri-Cities Marathon on October 25th is where I will run instead. It turned out to be more meaningful anyway. Your donation stands exactly as given, and I am grateful for every one of you.