The University of Berkeley conducted a study in which it found that 72% of startups report problems with mental health of founding entrepreneurs. What is surprising about this figure is not only the large percentage of affected startupers, but also how little is said about this problem. We live in an ecosystem that considers this statistic “normal”. Worse yet, we don’t want to be aware of it.
Mental health of entrepreneurs?
As a startup founder, for many years I believed that if I worked more hours, I would be a better entrepreneur. That my entrepreneurship was more important than any relationship in my life, including myself.
Don’t get me wrong, entrepreneurs, there are times when we have to work from Monday to Monday without stopping.
We are action-oriented beings and the time we have to get to Product Market Fit often depends on run way what we have.
The big problem is believing that this is normal, that we always have to be in war mode, that the company is always going to be more important than ourselves.
There were times when the more my company grew, the emptier I felt. I thought that with the next client, the next big hire or the next round of capital, everything would improve, but it didn’t.
During the times when I was disconnected from myself, I was also disconnected from my work team, and therefore from my clients. Result? The work environment was very hostile turnover of the team was high, and this later translated into an increase in churn rate Of customers. If for the leader it is not important that the people of the team are well, why would it be important for the team that the clients are well? Surely for taking care of their work, but this is a short-term motivation.
Internal solutions, not external miracles
The solution does not come from outside, it comes from within. It took me several years, and hard lessons to understand. I had my first approach to the world of coaching and self-awareness thanks to Wayra, Telefónica Movistar’s corporate innovation hub. They were among our first investors and, in a great initiative, they gave us hours with a business coach, Francisco de Cárdenas, who not only helped me as an entrepreneur, but also as a leader and human being. Without his contribution, today my company would not be where it is.
Today I am aware that if you are a good leader, you can create a healthy work team. If the organization is strong, they can consistently provide quality products and services to customers. If the customers are happy, then the company will grow. If the company grows, investors will receive the expected return.
This is the correct meaning of the equation, not the other way around as I believed for many years: “When my company grows, then I will feel better”.
The objective of this text is to raise awareness about this problem in the ecosystem, and highlight that there are immediate solutions that we can take:
- Accelerators and investors: Invest in coaches for your founders. It is one of the best ways to help your portfolio.
- Entrepreneur: Invest time in yourself, talk about these issues with your team, look for a coach. If you are not well, your company will not be in the long term. It is possible to create something great and enjoy the journey.
By Alexander Mayor, co-founder & COO of FITCO, a startup promoted by Wayra Hispam
Wayra Hispam It is the most global, technological and connected open innovation hub of Telefónica Movistar. In addition to its operations in Latin America (Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru), Wayra also operates in Brazil, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom. More than 500 startups participating in Telefónica’s Open Innovation program are still active, and more than 100 startups are doing business with Grupo Telefónica.