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A few days before Christmas, I was emailing a friend and wrote about how it seems like the odds of a liquidity event are about equal to the odds of having at le
by hluska 11y ago
A few days before Christmas, I was emailing a friend and wrote about how it seems like the odds of a liquidity event are about equal to the odds of having at least one founder try to commit suicide. That is likely an exaggeration, but like you, I feel like we are losing too many of our people.
I'm not qualified to speak to why. I have suffered and many of my issues were due to a bad combination of burnout and 'I'm killing it' culture. Simply, admitting weakness in our field feels career ending and so the tendency is to push through burnout and depression. But, I wonder if the fear of admitting weakness is endemic of our culture of if it just a symptom of the disease.
In light of my past, I have started emailing my friends, telling them that I care about them, and letting them know that if shit looks bad, they can tell me. They don't need to kill it, or be ultra successful. They just need to be.
I've also wondered if something like that could become sort of a volunteer organization. Kind of a founders helping founders organization??
- mclovinit 11y agoI seem to remember reading about an organization whose aim is to help startup founders battling depression, but I cannot seem to find the reference. I did, however, come across this article from last year: http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/30/founders-on-depression/ http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/30/founders-on-depression/ In any case, I believe those endeavoring on leading ambitious projects almost entirely on their own must have a strong personal circle of friends and colleagues that are always supportive and know how to encourage preventative measures. Easier said than done, but maybe providing incentives for startup founders and investors would be one way to encourage a program like this.
- Balgair 11y ago'founders helping founders'. Not to make fun of a terrible disease that is depression, but a better name must be made. It's is just SO techy sounding and first-world-problem-ish. I like the idea, but then again, not a soul on earth is making you be a 'founder' other than the one in the mirror. Maybe go book a fly fishing trip in Montana?
- hluska 11y agoI tossed 'founders helping founders' out to describe an idea. Don't worry, I haven't bought the domain yet...:)