5 ms·

A harrowing tale and I'm thankful the author made it through alright, but I have to fundamentally disagree with one possible takeaway from this: Her solution t

A harrowing tale and I'm thankful the author made it through alright, but I have to fundamentally disagree with one possible takeaway from this: Her solution to burnout was to _start her own business_?? I'm glad this worked out for her in the end, but holy shit this would be the literal last possible thing I (or I hope many others) would consider as a solution to burnout. That's a _fast track_ to burnout.

molsongolden 3y ago
Maybe. Starting a business does involve the classic “now you have all of your customers as bosses instead of just one boss” but it also unlocks much more autonomy and frees you from the loss of agency that the author felt in their corporate role.
- theteapot 3y ago
  Cool, I have zero bosses at my business!
blitz_skull 3y ago
Yeah, I’d say it depends on why you burn out. Some folks burn out from caring too much with too little input over the outcome. Maslow’s hierarchy and all that jazz would indicate starting a business might be a reasonable alternative. I know for myself I’ve been in business for a couple of years with a full-time job and I love my business infinitely more than I could ever care about someone else’s. Once it grows to the point of sustaining my family, I’ll have “made it” by my own estimate. But I do agree. It’s certainly not a cure-all, and largely depends on your personality and the unique reason you burned out.
zztop44 3y ago
Depends on the business. Some are definitely an extreme version of “caring about the results of our actions but having no meaningful control over those outcomes” but some are very different.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
xyst 3y ago
this "harrowing tale" was written in 2015 with a 2013-2014 backdrop, so it was a much different landscape back then. Starting your own business was much easier back then (still hard af) but the VC money was flowing and anything in the mobile space was mooning. Would be interesting to see if the author's opinion has changed today.
mongol 3y ago
To me it helped. Granted, I had some economic security beforehand but it helped a lot with my depressive mood.
mizzao 3y ago
Yep. Burnt out (at least) twice while building my own startup. This raised some alarm bells for me too. But, maybe the author just needed a change of scene...

molsongolden 3y ago

Maybe. Starting a business does involve the classic “now you have all of your customers as bosses instead of just one boss” but it also unlocks much more autonomy and frees you from the loss of agency that the author felt in their corporate role.

theteapot 3y ago
Cool, I have zero bosses at my business!

blitz_skull 3y ago

Yeah, I’d say it depends on why you burn out. Some folks burn out from caring too much with too little input over the outcome. Maslow’s hierarchy and all that jazz would indicate starting a business might be a reasonable alternative. I know for myself I’ve been in business for a couple of years with a full-time job and I love my business infinitely more than I could ever care about someone else’s. Once it grows to the point of sustaining my family, I’ll have “made it” by my own estimate. But I do agree. It’s certainly not a cure-all, and largely depends on your personality and the unique reason you burned out.

zztop44 3y ago

Depends on the business. Some are definitely an extreme version of “caring about the results of our actions but having no meaningful control over those outcomes” but some are very different.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

xyst 3y ago

this "harrowing tale" was written in 2015 with a 2013-2014 backdrop, so it was a much different landscape back then. Starting your own business was much easier back then (still hard af) but the VC money was flowing and anything in the mobile space was mooning. Would be interesting to see if the author's opinion has changed today.

mongol 3y ago

To me it helped. Granted, I had some economic security beforehand but it helped a lot with my depressive mood.

mizzao 3y ago

Yep. Burnt out (at least) twice while building my own startup. This raised some alarm bells for me too. But, maybe the author just needed a change of scene...