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Suffering From Depression? Don't Do That Start-up

jacquesmattheij.com

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Re: Suffering From Depression? Don't Do That Start-up

#51

Post by jacquesm »

pyalot2 wrote: post #49
jacquesm wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Frequently, a startup is their option of last resort--since the working world has already failed them. That's an excellent observation and I had not taken this into account. This may be one of the reasons why start-ups are so attractive to people with issues in some area, it affords them the freedom to write their own ticket. The problem with that is that start-ups aren't really a solution for the problem, it will…

You know that the line between a startup and a life-style business is pretty much non existent of course. Oh, and before we go into that "it's all immense stress, don't do it" thing, ever noticed how a ton of startups/founders are very fond of balancing this to be a lifestyle choice? Anyhow, stress/failure isn't the only contributing factor to a balanced mental life. Even somebody with a more varied emotional makeup…

There is a huge difference between a life-style business and a start-up. Though the one could grow into the other the chances of that happening are fairly remote.

Most life-style businesses have built in limits to scale, most start-ups consider not scaling up and out a failure of sorts. As soon as compound growth is involved you're out of lifestyle business levels.

A typical life-style business is A typical start-up is one that is started by Start-ups will take outside investors, life-style businesses will not.

Re: Suffering From Depression? Don't Do That Start-up

#52

Post by spellboots »

The plural of "anecdote" is not "data".

I'm sorry for what you have been through but ultimately, this article, whilst coming from a thoughtful and heartfelt place, is ultimately just displaying misunderstanding and bias against mental illness.

Some people should not do startups. Some people suffer from some degree of mental illness. There will be some overlap in these groups but it is insensitive and prejudiced to suggest that the groups are the same.

Re: Suffering From Depression? Don't Do That Start-up

#53

Post by jacquesm »

twitchhiker wrote: post #27

This is just about the most patronising, idiotic, misguided and damaging piece of bullshit I've ever had the misfortune to read. For some people, yes, a high pressure environment that risks failure will put some in harm's way. But if somebody is prone to suicidal thoughts, it's likely that simply living life will put them at risk. Rejection in love. Loss of income. The death of a family member. There's so much in lif…

Hey Paul, congratulations on coming out and showing there are survivors of exactly that setup.

Have any of the people in your accelerator program killed themselves?

Would you reconsider your stance if they did or would you stick with it?

Are you trying to identify people who may have mental issues from the population of founders of your seed stage companies?

And if so do you

- help to get them professionally looked after?

- refuse them entry into the program?

Re: Suffering From Depression? Don't Do That Start-up

#54

Post by jacquesm »

spellboots wrote: post #52

The plural of "anecdote" is not "data". I'm sorry for what you have been through but ultimately, this article, whilst coming from a thoughtful and heartfelt place, is ultimately just displaying misunderstanding and bias against mental illness. Some people should not do startups. Some people suffer from some degree of mental illness. There will be some overlap in these groups but it is insensitive and prejudiced to su…

Of course those groups are not the same. But from where I'm sitting it looks like one of the groups has significant overlap with the other group.

Re: Suffering From Depression? Don't Do That Start-up

#55

Post by jacquesm »

fmavituna wrote: post #50

Ferruh's guide to risk free startup (for depression prone people and the rest) = Prerequisites = * You have proven technical skills * You have minimum amount of social and business skills (if you don't have this, don't do startups anyway) = What not to do = * Do not attempt to start the next Facebook, Twitter etc. Start small. If you like your next company can be the next big thing, for now don't do it. * Do not star…

> risk free startup

That's a new one!

Nice list, it definitely mitigates some of the risks.

Re: Suffering From Depression? Don't Do That Start-up

#56

Post by lhnz »

I'm not sure I agree.

You seem to think that extreme stress from your mentality makes it difficult to deal with extreme stress in your job. For many it is the opposite. If you're riding a rollercoaster then another rollercoaster is not so scary. It will hurt but it is expected.

The point when you decide to leave a 'comfortable' existence in BigCorp™ is the point in which you no longer feel comfort there, and at that point you are no longer looking to find comfort in another large company, you're looking to take the high level of stress you have and actually get something out of it. Oh, sure, it's 'risky' but it's nowhere close to as risky as somebody who has never dealt with depression founding a start-up...

Don't assume that life at a company in which you don't have control over what you work on, have no impact, and are beholden to corporate politics is somehow more comforting and safe for depressives.

Re: Suffering From Depression? Don't Do That Start-up

#57

Post by singular »

benologist wrote: post #41
derefr wrote: post #2

> For some reason start-ups are a magnet for people that suffer from depression. I posit: it's hard to hold a steady job while suffering from untreated depression. (Or ADD. Or social anxiety. Or any number of other things.) Between your (inevitably short) periods of employment, you tinker. Tinkering leads to projects, projects become startups, and--if you're good at what you do--before you know it, you're under a ton…

Maybe pysch-evals should be part of due diligence by investors?

Why not check on the state of their marriage/chances of their kids dying from a drug overdose too? Those would affect the investment too!

Ugh. Come on, there has been a line of privacy somewhere.

Re: Suffering From Depression? Don't Do That Start-up

#58

Post by pyalot2 »

jacquesm wrote: post #51
pyalot2 wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You know that the line between a startup and a life-style business is pretty much non existent of course. Oh, and before we go into that "it's all immense stress, don't do it" thing, ever noticed how a ton of startups/founders are very fond of balancing this to be a lifestyle choice? Anyhow, stress/failure isn't the only contributing factor to a balanced mental life. Even somebody with a more varied emotional makeup…

There is a huge difference between a life-style business and a start-up. Though the one could grow into the other the chances of that happening are fairly remote. Most life-style businesses have built in limits to scale, most start-ups consider not scaling up and out a failure of sorts. As soon as compound growth is involved you're out of lifestyle business levels. A typical life-style business is A typical start-up…

That's one of several definitions of a startup, and it's not the only one, or even an accurate one.

- There are any number of companies that started without outside investors.

- There are any number of startups that take outside investment but never scale.

- There are lifestyle businesses that turned out to scale at some point or another.

- To interpret compounding only in terms of taking investment and throwing away your life is a very narrow minded point of view.

Re: Suffering From Depression? Don't Do That Start-up

#59

Post by precisioncoder »

It's worth Googling "CEO Disorder" and looking through the results. Apparently Bipolar and manic depressive people have a correlation with being CEO's and successful entrepreneurs. Whether this is simply an interesting correlation or if there is a causation from one side or the other is an interesting topic to think about.

Re: Suffering From Depression? Don't Do That Start-up

#60

Post by benologist »

singular wrote: post #57
benologist wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe pysch-evals should be part of due diligence by investors?

Why not check on the state of their marriage/chances of their kids dying from a drug overdose too? Those would affect the investment too! Ugh. Come on, there has been a line of privacy somewhere.

The results don't need to be shared necessarily, it could be as simple as mandatory evaluation + unbeknownst to the investor, treatment if that's what is recommended.
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