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Ask HN: I don't want to be a founder anymore

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Re: Ask HN: I don't want to be a founder anymore

#101

Post by dsacco »

chrisper wrote: post #97
dsacco wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I strongly second this suggestion. Unfortunately there is a stigma to speaking with mental health professionals, but I'm a strong proponent of doing so even when there is nothing necessarily "wrong" in your life. Speaking as someone who just recently experienced burnout for the first time in his career (along with losing several friends in the past year), and is now taking it easy for a while, you owe it to yourself…

>If you don't want to talk to a professional, go somewhere with your wife and talk about what you're feeling. In my experience, a friend and a spouse or a parent cannot replace a psychologist. I think the reason for that is because psychologists listen differently. In whatever you are telling them, you are hiding a call for help in a sense. A friend or a wife might not spot that call for help. Additionally, a psychol…

I agree. But if someone is resistant to professional help, then opening up to friends and family is better than nothing if they're supportive.

Re: Ask HN: I don't want to be a founder anymore

#103

Post by mabbo »

> Each morning for the past couple months, my first thought has been "What could today be like if I didn't work here?". I drift off into exploring what it would be like to work at Wal Mart, or the construction site outside, or as a bagger at a grocery store. It seems so stress free.

Here's the thing- it probably isn't stress free, just different kinds of stress. And you also need to ask yourself whether the feelings are caused by your job and stress, or if they're just coinciding with them.

As many others have said, look into talking to a therapist.

Also, talk to you wife about this! If she was crying the same way, you'd want to know, and you'd want her to trust you enough to tell you. If there's any person you need to be able to open up to, it's your spouse.

Re: Ask HN: I don't want to be a founder anymore

#104

Post by seibelj »

chatmasta wrote: post #16

Take a vacation, preferably to a beach. Use it to learn what processes at your company are dependent on you. Then when you get back, start documenting and delegating every process until you are no longer a critical dependency. Then take another, longer vacation. Sounds like you need one.

This is the "E-Myth Revisited" route, which to summarize is about decoupling the business from yourself and enabling other people to take "critical" work off your plate (because it really isn't that critical).[0]

[0] https://www.amazon.com/E-Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-Abo...

Re: Ask HN: I don't want to be a founder anymore

#105

Post by rcazangi »

simonebrunozzi wrote: post #95

Dear founder, I want to give you my $0.02 of advice: 1) Seek out a mentor, either someone you know well, or someone who can be introduced by a good friend of yours. The mentor should be someone with experience with founders, and hard situations like these. Another person, with a fresh, different perspective, can help you look at the situation and really see what's wrong, what can be fixed, etc. As good as Hacker News…

+1

Re: Ask HN: I don't want to be a founder anymore

#106

Post by ori_b »

Groom someone to take over your role. Be honest with your cofounders, tell them you're feeling burned out and you need to take a step back to keep your sanity.

> The product is just too complicated (tons of domain knowledge required) for someone to come in and take over.

I doubt that this is actually true. It may take them time to ramp up, but you're there to guide them and mentor them.

> Additionally, the product just isn't that interesting (glorified CRUD app) and it's been hard to retain developers.

The fact that you're deeply involved and don't feel that other developers can step in, and at the same time feel like it's a glorified CRUD app hints that you may not be giving other developers enough autonomy or context on the problem.

If they are just working on simple CRUD stuff and have no context, the job is going to suck. But simple CRUD with context could be much more interesting.

And if all else fails, pay more.

Re: Ask HN: I don't want to be a founder anymore

#107

Post by NicoJuicy »

Go to your wife and talk to her. Plan a vacation and depending profitability, check to shift some responsabilities to someone else.

Why is it hard to retain developers? It would definately be easier to retain developers to ease your burden. ( that's a problem where $$$ can easily be thrown at, if it's possible off course)

PS. For some (busy) people, doing sport actually helps a lot

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