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I've worked with several startup founders and a few early engineers who told me they'd been clinically diagnosed with mental health problems. Generally I've no

I've worked with several startup founders and a few early engineers who told me they'd been clinically diagnosed with mental health problems. Generally I've noticed that an unfunded, stressful startup environment magnifies their existing problems. Some suggestions to avoid a breakdown: - wait for the right time to begin your own startup (get funding based on a powerpoint first, start a popular blog or podcast to have PR traction before writing any software, get caught up at the dentist, buy a new car if needed, see if any medication is needed/works for you, etc.) - or join an early but funded startup - understand that startups are usually 7-10 year marathons before the final success or failure, so you need to be able to keep it together for several years. That includes maintaining the best physical and mental health you can so you can handle inevitable setbacks. Even if you're an introvert, that includes relationships. Starting your own company to "escape" civilization usually doesn't make sense unless you can self-fund it for several years, or your existing contacts can quickly be paying clients. What happens when you're not prepared is that paranoia will dominate your relationships, depression will deepen, etc. so your startup marathon doesn't have a chance of finishing. Having said that, manic people can accomplish a lot during their manic phases, but to sustain that over several years means they need to follow the preparation above. If you're a non-technical founder, understand that engineers are very expensive to make payroll (which adds to your stress), and have options (don't really need you or other mentally ill people in their life.) So ensure you have adequate runway, or structure your staff relationships, so that you don't stall your project. Also, in the US, ensure you've considered health insurance expenses before doing the startup thing. Most small businesses struggle with that, and it gets worse every Jan. 1.

lemthro 6y ago
I havent been clinically diagnosed and as its manageable I doubt its anything serious, but occasionally I suffer from some "light" health issues around anxiety, anger, very visible changes in longer lasting temperament etc. Heavier mental health issues are above avg in my family. I found that the initial setup and early stage of our startup was a rollercoaster but not really a trigger. I guess it was because I had already framed the failure in my head and even when the expense was way more than planned and Id lost the bulk of my savings I still had my initial, though wobbly, frame to fall back on (had a month or two in salary and could likely find a regular job, kids weren't gonna starve). Ironically it was when we got larger, well funded and more secure that it become more difficult for me. As the larger you grow the more time you spend dealing with people-stuff. The solution seemed to match general founder-advice when scaling. Hire good people, build process, delegate etc. A caveat though, ive always been the type of person to thrive in situations adverse to me, but not social situations. I would probably have a worse time in a large corporate if I was psychologically invested in its success.

lemthro 6y ago

I havent been clinically diagnosed and as its manageable I doubt its anything serious, but occasionally I suffer from some "light" health issues around anxiety, anger, very visible changes in longer lasting temperament etc. Heavier mental health issues are above avg in my family. I found that the initial setup and early stage of our startup was a rollercoaster but not really a trigger. I guess it was because I had already framed the failure in my head and even when the expense was way more than planned and Id lost the bulk of my savings I still had my initial, though wobbly, frame to fall back on (had a month or two in salary and could likely find a regular job, kids weren't gonna starve). Ironically it was when we got larger, well funded and more secure that it become more difficult for me. As the larger you grow the more time you spend dealing with people-stuff. The solution seemed to match general founder-advice when scaling. Hire good people, build process, delegate etc. A caveat though, ive always been the type of person to thrive in situations adverse to me, but not social situations. I would probably have a worse time in a large corporate if I was psychologically invested in its success.