Dying Young: The Dark Side of Being a Founder

Startup founder mental health is a seriously under-addressed issue. Elon Musk famously said starting a tech company is like eating glass.

Entrepreneurs are 50% more likely to have a mental health condition than the rest of the world, and twice as likely to suffer from depression. Founding a tech startup is the most stressful job I'm aware of. I feel lucky to count many startup founders as my closest friends, and I work with dozens of successful founders as a venture capitalist, and in this video I’m going to share the 7 biggest stressors I’ve seen startup founders face.

I’m hoping not to sensationalize founder stress, but have an open dialogue that normalizes discussing mental health and the dark side of being a founder. In any case, I think it’s important to be open about the enormous challenges founders face, in the hopes we get better at identifying them and helping founders deal with them more effectively. Then maybe founders won’t have to give up so many years of their lives while trying to make their dent on the world.

About me:
I’m a Silicon Valley based venture capitalist at multi-billion dollar fund SignalFire, and an investor in companies such as Uber, Ro, Grammarly, and others. Before that, I spent years bouncing between stints at Google, McKinsey, Goldman Sachs, and Harvard Business School, before finally finding my dream job as a VC.

I was raised by parents from a farming village in Taiwan, who left everything behind to become engineers in America and build a better life for their kids. I’m inspired by a world with no gatekeepers, and my personal mission is to raise the collective level of empathy in the world. Today, I do this by investing in early-stage startups that are breaking down the barriers to a more connected, open and educated society.

#mentalhealth #entrepreneurship

[nogatekeepers]

What's the biggest source of stress founders need to manage? Am I missing any other challenges that founders face?

[saikeerthikumarpoolla]

Can't agree more with ur point on 'Loneliness'

[ilonamaitra]

Wayne, thank you so much for sharing this. So true on many levels. Grateful for the work you are doing.

[rickykynd]

As a founder myself, you’ve uncovered a deep issue in entrepreneurship Wayne. The psychological effects over a long period of time is quite revealing, particularly the expectation to build a billion dollar company for most entrant founders. This is an absurd expectation and one that cripples exploration and curiosity into real world problems that actually need solving, yet most founders start a company in a saturated or trendy market to seek the title of a Unicorn, 😔. This is a crying shame frankly and it reasons why some investors focus on younger and perhaps more naive founders to invest in - where money doesn’t mean much to them, though in molding them, value may be actualized in some way (sorry, my cynical bias without any basis). These are just my observations, experiences and fears as a founder constantly barraged with this narrative but I don’t see it all as a negative, however.

Anyway, all points you have mentioned are true - at least in my experience. I’m still hoping to see 80 if this works out as planned.

Love your work Wayne, as always. Hope you’re doing well and know that the support is here.

[rakileh]

I’m a founder that is working to revamp medical training globally. It is such a sacrifice but I love the challenge and everyday I wake up and get straight to it. Definitely startup life is not as glamorous as it’s portrayed

[jyotisood]

such an important issue, thanks for sharing this!

[alexander]

Love your content, Wayne. ❤️ I'm so happy to see your channel grow. It's the best channel out there for any founder who's planning to raise money.

[madhankumar]

wonderful video, You opened my eyes Wayne Hu !!

[paulhuang]

First thanks Wayne for the video, an excellent one. My own experience as a founder, thinking about something that may shorten my life, no kidding, is every time when I received a letter from IRS, my heart rate just double😀

[ranjitmenon]

Rejection is often a part of Life one must be prepared as a founder to be rejected quiet often

[ezetalamona]

Hi Wayne! This is so true, I feel the same even in creator and YouTubers e.g. Love your content and edition, really inspiring! Cheers =)

[tenbagger]

How many years does being a VC take off hahaha

[helloara]

Great content well presented - I'm watching all your vids for sure. This is scary sorry.

[silvertheshine]

I am ceo of my phone 😶 now what will happen to me!