Founders care about the problem enough to build solutions to fix it. Who cares about founders? Here's my attempt on being intentional in supporting founders. Very similar to how I ran 1-to-1 coaching while on the road in Europe!
In December, Four founders met as strangers at this couch. They met here 3 times, in 3 months. They bared their souls, the good, the bad, the ugly. They listened intently, and supported each other generously. Today, They remain as strangers to all of you reading this. But no longer to each other. Back in December 2023, Nigel Teh and I decided to take a chance on something we were concerned about, founder mental health. In our careers, both of us had the privilege to spend time with founders as investors, and also to dip our toes into entrepreneurship ourselves. We both know that sometimes, Everything hurts, And nothing helps. Well, not exactly. talking helps. But Sifted’s survey showed that less than 20% of founders are open about their mental health. Of all respondents, 65% turn to partners/spouses for support, 41% lean on coaches or therapists, and 13% looked to investors. (Amy Lewin's article is linked in the comments) Anecdotally, I know many founders who simply soldier on (or IFYKYK, suck thumb 👍🏻 ) There’s no clear solution here, but Nigel and I cracked on. We knew talking helps, but we wanted to go one step further. Action. After a quick outreach and selection process, we pulled together a group of 4 early stage founders to join us on a journey. 3 months. 3 evenings. 12 hours. 1 goal. A commitment to openly sharing, actively listening and accountability to each other to take action. Under full confidentiality, our founders shared their problems, while the group brainstormed for solutions. Openly. Honestly. Vulnerably. Vulnerability is precious, and it is built on trust. In a room with no ears but ours, each person had their own hour where the others were committed to listening, empathising and helping. Our conversations went beyond startup problems. These were founder problems. We all cared deeply. Each time we met we created homework for each other. Goals and deliverables were formulated through genuine care and made to be borderline uncomfortably challenging. Each founder was accountable to be intentional in taking action, and mindful to share the experience and outcomes the next time we met. As quickly as our idea formulated last year, our “MVP” has come to a close. I can comfortably say that these hours have been one of the most powerful, insightful and honest hours I have had in any “startup” event. Every gathering had its moments. Tense. Punch in the gut. Emotional lump in my throat moments. I am so thankful to have found someone like Nigel Teh, to have shared values and the same (if not more!) willingness to materialise it. Big thank you hugs to the 4 unnamed founders for dedicating one long evening every month, to face demons and to help conquer the demons of others. This 3 month experimental programme has challenged my views on community building. And it has gotten me thinking. But I’ll leave that for another day.