Founders Taboo 2023 Reflection
Since the conception of Founders Taboo, 2023 stands out as a pivotal year marked by a surge in awareness and signals of readiness for change surrounding founder*?mental health and wellbeing.
Whilst to date much of the focus has been on documenting the health and wellbeing challenges of founders in the startup space (which has been invaluable), now we are seeing a growing chorus of voices (founders, VCs, practitioners, researchers) advocating for change and moving towards identifying and implementing wellbeing support and initiatives.
If there is one defining shift we have seen this year, it is the increased recognition that a flourishing business is inseparable from the wellbeing of its founder (s) and team.
A founders’ mental and emotional wellbeing forms the bedrock of their ability to lead, innovate and navigate the challenges inherent in entrepreneurship.
Investing in mental health and wellbeing is not solely a response to challenges and crises (reactive approach), but equally for proactively equipping oneself to weather the demands of entrepreneurship and enhancing performance in moments of strength.
Actively supporting founder wellbeing is not just a compassionate gesture; it’s a strategic imperative for venture capital firms,?funds and accelerators looking to support and fortify the backbone of their portfolio companies, optimise returns and establish a distinctive edge.
It is a shared responsibility. Founders, VCs and all ecosystem stakeholders play a crucial role in fostering an environment that recognises mental health and wellbeing as a human and business priority.
Yet, there is still much to be done.?
For one, the context of entrepreneurship is unique, and heterogeneity exists among entrepreneurs.? Therefore finding the right means of supporting founders and their teams requires research, trialling, iterating and above all, a collaborative effort.
Further, founders, and those with a vested interest continue to face blockers that delay them from addressing the topic and prioritising mental health and wellbeing. For founders, there is the recovery paradox**, time and financial constraints, fear that sharing their challenges with stakeholders will lead to negative repercussions, perceived-trade offs with productivity,? issues sourcing relevant and tailored support, and so on.?
For those supporting/invested in cohorts of founders, we often see questions around duty of care and responsibility, demonstrating ROI on wellbeing initiatives, resource allocation and prioritisation, balancing investor expectations with founder wellbeing, and uncertainty around the best means of providing support.
The bottom line is that all ecosystem stakeholders have a role to play and a favourable return in doing so. By definition, the startup ecosystem is an interconnected network of players that collectively contribute to the creation, growth, and success of startups, and by extension the betterment of our world.
Founders and their teams have a strong bearing on venture success, yet equally the success of a startup is influenced by the strength and effectiveness of the surrounding ecosystem. We all know a vibrant ecosystem requires elements such as access to funding, a supportive regulatory environment, networking opportunities and so forth.
Yet, amidst the challenging and volatile conditions we have seen this year, we are now recognising now more than ever that there also needs to be a culture that recognises, values and encourages investment in health as a central aspect of the entrepreneurial journey and startup success.
2023 in particular has shown us that language and meeting others at their vantage point are critical catalysts in stimulating action. Of course timing is a huge contributor, but equally tailoring communication to resonate with each key stakeholder is paramount in conveying the value of making wellbeing a priority. Meeting someone at their vantage point, and showcasing the value add is how we can foster buy-in across the ecosystem.
For VCs and funds, beyond the human case, this is often delineating the business case (e.g. fortifying the backbone of portfolio companies, optimising ROI, establishing a distinctive edge).?
For Founders, it is often about highlighting the value in terms of risk mitigation (personal and venture-level), performance enhancement, and better positioning themselves, their ventures and teams for sustainable success.
For practitioners, we frequently speak at the level of better tailoring support for an underserved population and unlocking a new specialism/domain.?
Strengthening the applicability of research outcomes and using evidence and best-practice reviews to inform policy development and differentiate national startup ecosystems is often a discussion bridging the gap between academia and governments.
We look forward to continuing these discussions on all fronts next year. Thank you to all the individuals, communities, and initiatives that have and continue to contribute towards building a healthier ecosystem.?
Our commitment moving into 2024, beyond continuing to raise awareness and building new support offerings for founders, is to continue:
See you all in the new year!
In the meantime. Founders, should you wish to join the movement and contribute to a growing field of research by sharing your experience and perspective, we invite you to complete our live founder wellbeing survey here
**In this blog, we are using the term founder and entrepreneur?interchangeably.
**Recovery Paradox, as described in ?“Let’s focus on solutions to entrepreneurial ill-being! - Recovery Interventions to Enhance Entrepreneurial Well-Being”, refers to?a phenomenon where in intensely stressful career contexts, when recovery is most needed, it can become elusive. Those who seemingly need to recover from stress the most, such as entrepreneurs, often find it especially challenging to carve out time for recovery.
Founder @Entreprana: Entrepreneur Well-being ??
11 个月So thrilled to have found Founders Taboo, and to find like-hearted efforts toward this cause. Entrepreneurs of all kinds (founders included) take on immense risk and demanding executional rigor that challenge every bit of our mental and emotional capacity... we need all the help we can get. ?? Thank you for what you're doing!