Threatened by Funding Crisis and IPO Halt, Startups Face Survival Challenge
Already withered cash piles and founders being pushed by cautious investors to refund their money are looming at the horizon of a potential bloodbath.
Brad Svrluga, a co-founder and general partner at Primary, a New York City-based early-stage startup investor, has expressed grave concerns about an oncoming mental health crisis among founders.
“We’re experiencing the beginning stages of an unprecedented founder mental health crisis,” he said, highlighting increased emotional stress caused by financial strains and investor restraint.
Loneliness Amplified: Founder Mental Health in a Downturn Toll
This loneliness is something that entrepreneurs have become well-acquainted with during their journeys through startups’ harshest moments, characterized by self-doubt, loneliness and sleepless nights.
However, according to Svrluga, in the midst of a tech downturn, leading as a founder incites this isolation and makes an already lonely role even lonelier.
Founders burdened with the pressure of maintaining a strong face for employees and investors when there is no money are feeling anxious.
The outcome has been massive layoffs like that seen in Convoy or Zume as well as several other companies that collapsed in this bust.
For instance, difficult economic times coupled with remote working arrangements; political turmoil; turbulent political climate among others have combined to raise anxiety levels among founders.
Unusual Strain Levels Prompt Psychological Breakdowns
Entrepreneurs have been experiencing panic attacks lately, allegedly due to the never-ending uncertainty in capital markets and expected funds crisis in 2024.
This surge points to a disturbing trend where entrepreneurs, who are stressed about not having enough money, end up attacking each other because of panicking.
According to Jennifer Wolf of Initialized Capital, these concerns are further confirmed as she speaks on the increasing pressure exerted on founders during company transitions and dwindling financial runways for startups.
The pressure induced by this has led to an environment of desperation and tension that is clearly noticeable within the entrepreneurial community.
Stigmatizing Mental Health Impedes Open Dialogue
Whilst many suffer quietly due to concerns around their teams or investors’ perceptions on them.
This becomes particularly real given the stigma associated with mental health in entrepreneurship.
Indeed, founders are often forced to hide their plight behind a strong exterior due to the stigma surrounding mental health in business circles.
Open conversations about mental health challenges are often seen as a sign of weakness and consequently may result in being replaced by investors.
Initiatives for Founder Mental Health Gain Traction
Conversations surrounding mental health in entrepreneurship are becoming less taboo; this is quite heartening.
A number of investors have launched programs aimed at combating founder burnout and addressing mental health issues.
These venture firms like Felicis Ventures and Seven Seven Six set aside additional funds from their investments to help subsidize coaching and therapy options for founders.
Investors Step Up: Support Systems for Struggling Startups’ Founders
Primary is one of the investment firms that acknowledges these kinds of mental challenges among founders and thus uses its portfolio companies to tackle founder burnout.
To this end, Primary has partnered with Alma, a platform that facilitates therapy seeking where intimate sessions led by clinicians can be organized for their portfolio founders.
Subsequently, as the coming days turn out to be harder, Initialized Capital expects an increase in benefits geared towards entrepreneurs’ well-being.
The firm maintains regular office hours with its portfolio founders and recommends services like executive coaching from companies like Torch so as to provide proper mental health support.
Prioritizing Mental Health for Founder Resilience
However, even as the startups’ ecosystems continue to face an uphill battle, some rays of hope emerge around investor and firms prioritizing founder mental wellbeing.
By destigmatizing mental health conversation through various initiatives intended to build practical support structures, the industry hopes to empower founders with tenacity required during turbulent times ahead.