- Starting a company can be lonely and overwhelming, and many founders experience rough times and depression.
- It is important to find ways to cope with these emotions and not bottle them up.
- Talking to friends and family outside of the startup world can be helpful, but professional help should be sought if needed.
- It is normal to go through difficult times, and it is better to address and deal with depression proactively.
- Founders should support and help each other through tough times to create a better community.

YC Partner and Tutorspree cofounder Aaron Harris on how to cope with founder depression.

https://twitter.com/harris

***

Someone asked us online how to overcome founder depression.

You're doing a thing that is in some ways kind of crazy and maybe a little bit stupid, and that you're taking a huge risk and you're out on your own and you'll feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders.

And as the company gets bigger or changes, this actually just gets harder and harder because you start thinking about people's salaries that you have to account for, promises you've made, things you've said you were going to do.

And so I think the first thing to know is that pretty much all founders go through rough times.

If you're feeling this way, it's not the only, you're not the only person in the world.

A lot of other people have experienced similar things.

I went through some pretty dark times when I had a startup.

There were times when things just weren't going well, whether I was fighting with my co-founders or the business wasn't going well.

And it's hard and it's normal to feel those emotions.

It would actually be kind of weird if you were always really, really excited, happy, thought everything was going great and didn't have any issues.

So when you think about it, you need to find a way not to bottle everything up deep down inside.

When you bottle things up, they tend to explode in bad ways.

And different people have different mechanics of working through their emotions.

1 of the things that was really helpful for me is I always had friends and family that were outside of the startup world that I could talk to honestly about how things were going.

It's really important to try to find that.

But it's also important to recognize that sometimes it's not enough to just have a friend or a family member to talk to.

And if you are feeling depressed, you should seek professional help.

There are people who spend their entire lives trying to help other people work through bad times and through depression.

It's not something that you can flick a switch with and fix.

It's often a lot more than just going through a hard time with your startup.

Find someone who knows what they're doing.

But don't let it simmer for a really long time because you think it's weird or bad or any of that stuff.

And the faster you deal with it, and the more proactive you are in dealing with it, the better.

If you're a founder, you probably have some other friends that are founders.

And if you think they're going through hard times, don't just ask them how things are going and let them respond with, oh, it's great.

Really be there for your friends and for fellow founders.

Try to help people if you see them going through things that you've gone through.

I think that by Helping each other, we create a little bit of a better world.

It's a little hokey, but I think it's true.

The community of founders is actually fairly small, and it's a better place when we just look out for each other.


Speaker 0: Someone asked us online how to overcome founder depression. Starting a company is hard. It is often very, very lonely. You're doing a thing that is in some ways kind of crazy and maybe a little bit stupid, and that you're taking a huge risk and you're out on your own and you'll feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders. And as the company gets bigger or changes, this actually just gets harder and harder because you start thinking about people's salaries that you have to account for, promises you've made, things you've said you were going to do.

And so I think the first thing to know is that pretty much all founders go through rough times. If you're feeling this way, it's not the only, you're not the only person in the world. You're not alone. A lot of other people have experienced similar things. I went through some pretty dark times when I had a startup.

There were times when things just weren't going well, whether I was fighting with my co-founders or the business wasn't going well. And it's hard and it's normal to feel those emotions. It would actually be kind of weird if you were always really, really excited, happy, thought everything was going great and didn't have any issues. So when you think about it, you need to find a way not to bottle everything up deep down inside. When you bottle things up, they tend to explode in bad ways.

And different people have different mechanics of working through their emotions. 1 of the things that was really helpful for me is I always had friends and family that were outside of the startup world that I could talk to honestly about how things were going. Most importantly, my wife. It's really important to try to find that. But it's also important to recognize that sometimes it's not enough to just have a friend or a family member to talk to.

And if you are feeling depressed, you should seek professional help. There are people who spend their entire lives trying to help other people work through bad times and through depression. It's not something that you can flick a switch with and fix. It's often a lot more than just going through a hard time with your startup. And you need to talk about it.

Find someone who knows what they're doing. Find someone who can help you. But don't let it simmer for a really long time because you think it's weird or bad or any of that stuff. It's normal. And the faster you deal with it, and the more proactive you are in dealing with it, the better.

I'll close with 1 last thing. If you're a founder, you probably have some other friends that are founders. And if you think they're going through hard times, don't just ask them how things are going and let them respond with, oh, it's great. Right now everything's going well. It's rarely ever the case.

Really be there for your friends and for fellow founders. Try to help people if you see them going through things that you've gone through. I think that by Helping each other, we create a little bit of a better world. It's a little hokey, but I think it's true. The community of founders is actually fairly small, and it's a better place when we just look out for each other.

Thank you. You you

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Aaron Harris - Coping with Founder Depression