Burnout among early stage founders is a critical issue that can threaten both personal well-being and the future of a startup. According to a recent report, 72% of founders have experienced an impact on their mental health, with many facing high stress, anxiety, depression, and burnout. 

The relentless pressure to build, scale, and sustain a new business often leads to physical and emotional exhaustion. Through my years of advising and working with early stage founders, I’ve developed a few frameworks to help founders manage, and prevent burnout.

Recognizing Flow and Burnout Symptoms

As leaders, it’s crucial for founders to recognize the signs of burnout early. Being aware of the following signs can help founders recognize when they are in danger of reaching a burnout state. 

Signs of Founder Burnout:

  • Taking on too much work and being unable to prioritize or delegate
  • Chronic fatigue.
  • Sending emails and messages at unusual hours (for that individual).
  • Getting anxious over little things or acting out of character. 

On the flip side, flow is a state where individuals are fully immersed and engaged in their work, leading to higher productivity, happiness, and job fulfillment. Recognizing when you are in flow can help you understand when you are most productive and when you need a break.

Finding your flow can also help your startup succeed. Ask yourself, what activities in your day-to-day put you in a flow state by completely capturing your focus? That’s likely where you’ll find your competitive advantage.

To find your flow, the task difficulty level should match perfectly to your skill level. This is vividly depicted in the movie “Whiplash,” where the main character, Andrew Neiman, experiences a flow state during his intense drumming sessions. As he becomes completely absorbed in playing the drums, he loses track of time and everything else around him, achieving a state of perfect focus and performance.

In a more relatable work scenario, imagine an early stage engineer who is deeply immersed in coding. An hour goes by, but it only feels like five minutes. This deep level of engagement is characteristic of a flow state, where distractions fade away and the individual is fully concentrated on their work.

However, it’s important to note flow isn’t a constant state. It’s typical and natural for high performers to fall in and out of flow in a typical workday. People who are very good at flow are probably only in flow for an hour or two at a time.

Don’t Be Afraid To Ask For Help

Isolation is another common issue among founders who may feel they need to shoulder the burden of operating a startup alone. However, only 23% of founders have seeked professional help from a psychologist.

Our partners often work with founders to help them recognize that there is no shame in asking for help. Help does not have to come from a professional. Mentors, peers, and friends can do a lot to help you along your entrepreneurial journey by sharing lessons and advice. Reach out to founders and operators who are building similar things as you are on social media. Join professional networking groups, attend conferences, or show up to VC events to build your network.

For example, we organizes founder dinners, happy hours, workshops and other events for founders in the Initialized portfolio to meet one another, and exchange ideas. 

“We know inboxes get crazy, but open our newsletters to RSVP and show up to events when you’re feeling drained,” said Vivian Chaves, our head of community. “We regularly see magical moments where our founders meet each other for the first time at one of our events, and help each other succeed whether it’s a customer intro, candidate referral, or something else.”

Our own Garry Tan has openly talked about seeking help from Torch founder Cameron Yarbrough during a difficult time in his life dealing with conflict in a high-stress startup environment. 

Similarly, some members of our team here at Initialized have worked with Helen Mumford Sole, a senior executive coach based in New York.

However, before jumping right in with a coach, you should do your homework. Helen advises founders to ask themselves the following questions before signing up with someone.

  1. Am I open to new behaviors? How coachable am I? 
  2. How open am I to accepting challenging conversations? 
  3. Am I serious about this commitment? Do I have time for this? 

“You have to check in with yourself to make sure that you’re going to do your side of the bargain,” said Helen.

Once you find a coach, the work is not done. Helen suggests asking the following three questions before you start the onboarding process.

Questions to Ask A Coach:

  1. What’s your experience level, and how is that relevant to my situation? Look for a coach with knowledge or experience that feels relevant to you. Even better if you know they have walked in your shoes or understands the pain points you are going through. 
  1. What’s your approach? When you speak with them, you want to know what their approach is. It’s not one size fits all. It should be customized to your needs, your schedule, and your appetite for learning. 
  1. What tools, techniques and frameworks do you use? What tools and techniques and frameworks do they have? Do they have good quality research and content behind their work? Can they deliver value and insights to you? Do they read and keep up to date with the latest trends? 

“Chemistry is not the most important thing. That can come over time,” said Helen. “They don’t need to be your best friend right out of the gate, but you do have to be sure that those three questions are answered.”

Key Takeaways:

  • Build a robust support network of mentors, peers, and friends.
  • Seek professional help from therapists, coaches, and counselors when needed.
  • Ensure you’re ready to do the work, and ask the right questions before signing up for a coach.

Managing Workloads and Deadlines

Setting unrealistic deadlines is a common issue leading to burnout, especially with small teams. My advice for founders is to avoid setting deadlines that can’t be met, as this constant rush can lead to demoralization and burnout. Instead, break down deadlines into smaller, manageable pieces with frequent checkpoints. This steady approach helps avoid the frantic rush when deadline targets are missed.

Questions founders can pose to their team to break down major deadlines:

  1. What are your goals for the day, week, month?
  2. Can this task be accomplished to the same effect at a later time?
  3. Are there other stakeholders who can help inform and make decisions on my behalf?
  4. Do I play a critical role in the decision-making process here? 
  5. Celebrate the wins along the way. What “win” are you going to celebrate this week? 

One method we use at Initialized to break down big projects is RASCI, a responsibility assignment matrix that clarifies the roles and responsibilities of team members. RASCI stands for:

R – Responsible: The person or people who do the work.

A – Accountable: The person who makes the final decision and has the ultimate ownership.

S – Supporter: Individuals who provide resources or play a supporting role.

C – Consulted: Those whose opinions are sought; they provide input before decisions are made.

I – Informed: People who are kept informed of progress and outcomes, but do not contribute directly to the task.

“Establishing a RASCI for our organization made it clear who was responsible for key areas of the business and who to go to with questions or ideas,” said Dani Metz Shuval, our head of marketing and founder impact. “Now that there’s continuity and familiarity with the matrix, it’s painless for sub-teams to adopt it for any new project.”

Key Takeaways:

  • Avoid setting unrealistic deadlines for your employees.
  • Break down deadlines into smaller, manageable pieces with frequent checkpoints.
  • Use RASCI, or another method to assign roles and responsibilities, on large scale projects.