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This Is What Startup Burnout Looks Like
Watch out. The emptiness will sneak right up on you.
A few weeks ago, I was at a startup investor event — my first time getting back out into the local scene in ages — when I was introduced to a founder I’ll call “Brian,” by an investor friend of mine who had invested in the seed round of Brian’s company.
That investment was eight years ago. The company was doing well, better than well actually, and the investor was all smiles, but Brian was visibly uncomfortable. See, the two of them had been having a discussion about the future, and Brian wasn’t happy.
The investor, an older guy who has seen it all before, was nodding in knowing empathy. And since I had just strolled up, the investor decided I was the perfect person for Brian to talk to about powering through the inevitable entrepreneur burnout.
In retrospect, I probably shouldn’t have said what I said. But at least it was the truth.
The Reckoning
My own personal startup burnout reckoning moment happened as I began my initial descent into Austin, where I’d be giving a talk at SXSW in less than 24 hours about the technology our startup had pioneered on its way to being acquired by a private equity firm two years prior.
