Entrepreneurship & Mental Health
I suffer from anxiety and depression. It kinda fucking sucks. Interestingly, it's not something I was forthcoming about in my youth since it was stigmatized and is still not exactly accepted. I still get the "cheer up" or "just try harder" from time to time, which does surprise me. Also, I naively assumed that as you age, it just gets better, but ... I think I just get better at noticing the signs of when it happens and then, well, just dig in and cope (how Gen X of me).
So, when a bout of depression kicked in, my thoughts turned beyond my own entrepreneurship journey and on to what's happening to my peers writ large, I reached back out to Michael Freeman since we had him on the BetaKit podcast in 2021 talking about how entrepreneurs really do think differently. What I loved about speaking with him is that he's a psychiatrist, entrepreneur, and actually treats founders in SF. A cool combo of skills that is particularly relevant these days.
This time, I was curious: the pandemic seems to be waning in people's heads but there is a tech winter and an upcoming recession. Money's getting expensive. Funds are having trouble raising. What's that doing to founder mental health? I often joke that I waited to start my company until the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse started to ride. What better time to start something, right?
I found this discussion illuminating (despite constantly comparing myself to the archetypes Michael brings up) and truly fascinating. I hope you do too.