![]() You only have to look at the recent leaked Slack message from “Unicorn” startup Revolut’s CEO to see the negative effects of an “always on” mindset. When you will do anything, including committing your own life and health, to succeed, you begin to lean towards bad practices, because nothing is off the table, no demand “too far” if it means a higher chance at success. Not only does Hustle Porn have a dangerous effect on Founder mental health, it can also lead to internal toxicity and obsessive founders. ![]() We’d all do better to turn off the entertainment and find ourselves a real partner. It sells conference seats, it gets click throughs and retweets, but does it teach you how to act in real life? Of course it doesn’t. One is for entertainment, and one is for real life and we all understand that. Porn is a visual thing, it’s shocking and it gets your attention, but it doesn’t reflect the real sexual lives of (most) people. On the other side, Hustle Porn is called Hustle Porn for a reason. So there’s a predominant culture which is saying the way to succeed, is to basically work yourself to the ground and to commit completely, when actually, for your mental health this is the one thing that you want to avoid. It makes no sense financially, but if you’ve got no other option (and as a startup Founder, with odds stacked against you, that’s often how you do feel) then you have to buy into it. And there’s a reason why the first stage is called impossible. The startup trajectory is known as impossible, improbable, inevitable. The trouble is, in the early startup days you’ll listen to anyone who offers you a solution. On some level, most of us are aware that Hustle Porn + startup pressure = poor Founder mental health. The Hustle Porn pay day loan - want to buy it? Seeing something that suggests that I might be responsible for the downfall of my company, for doing something that at the start at least, began as a way to protect my mental health, perpetuates a growing problem. That’s why this particular tweet, which no doubt would initiate a feeling of guilt in Founders with hobbies, was a trigger for me. I began turning up to group Bodypump classes 3 times a week, and now I am a qualified Bodypump instructor, which means that I spend around 5–10 hours a week teaching Bodypump to others. Starting with, yep you guessed it, a hobby. I knew within that moment that I had to fix it and it was then that I religiously rebrought exercise back into my life. On the iceberg of mental health, that was still probably only the tip, but it felt very extreme to me. I wasn’t bereaved or anything that might justify it in a normal sense, the only way I can describe it was that it felt like a breakdown. When you’re crying and you can’t stop, or even explain why, it’s very scary. The breaking point came one night when I started crying and I couldn’t stop, or even speak. To say I was exhausted was an understatement. We were nearing the end of our runway at ScreenCloud, the country had just felt the first Brexit tremors, and I was pitching relentlessly to investors without much luck. How my hobby saved my sanityĪs I talk about in this podcast episode, in 2016 I experienced what I can only comprehend as a mini mental health breakdown. How do I know? Because like many Founders I’m sure, I have my own story to tell. Yet as a Founder, I think some periods of stress, anxiety and other mental strains, are unavoidable. That best bet is unlikely to be on the Founder who admits they’re struggling with crippling depression or anxiety. Despite what investors suggest is true, capital flows towards the best bet. ![]() Particularly as a Founder, where admitting to mental health conditions is far more of a taboo than admitting something more socially acceptable, like a sports injury or sickness. This comes as no surprise yet is something that’s often discussed but rarely disclosed. According to a study by founder-led community We Are 3Sixty, 78% of founders report that running a business has negatively impacted their mental health. This October 10th is World Mental Health Day and the theme for this year? Suicide prevention. Having worked in the tech industry for almost 20 years, I’ve seen first hand, the dangers of promoting a culture that startup Founders be “all-in” and that anything less than 100% commitment of time, energy (and the unsaid - health, both mental and physical) means that your company is doomed to failure. More worryingly, was a video tweeted in response by another SaaS Founder/CEO, that claimed:įOUNDERS WITH HOBBIES SLOW COMPANY GROWTH 20% This is a tweet, from a trusted SaaS Founder and investor, that I came across recently. “I worry about CEOs with too many hobbies”. ![]() Why “CEOs shouldn’t have hobbies” is not sound startup advice. ![]()
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