So, I cut my hair. Let me explain...

About six months ago the VC funding world melted down. You may have heard about it. My pithy framing back then was that early-stage companies would have the following experiences in 2023:

• The companies who previously had a pretty easy time raising their?Pre-Seed or Seed rounds would have a straightforward time raising either a Seed or Seed Extension. After all, their investors believed in the team and market and neither of those probably changed in the ensuing 12 months or so. They were going to get another swing at bat.
• New companies would have a normal shot at raising a Pre-Seed round. There's a still a shit-ton of money at that end of the market and, while no one is getting a free pass any more, great founders with great ideas would get their opportunity to go to market.
• The companies who?had a hard time raising their Pre-Seed or Seed round were largely fucked. Their investors probably didn't truly believe in the team and/or market in the first place, but when money is free, fuck it, roll the dice. Unless those companies broke out or got to break even, the outlook was not good.

Fast forward six months and that has largely borne out. Some of my client companies are having an easy time raising their next round. Some of my companies, all led by smart, awesome and talented CEOs, are struggling big time.

In a few cases, those latter clients had meaningful revenue and made unbelievably hard cost-reductions and are Actually. Figuring. It. Out.?

In other cases, there was no revenue, because finding Product/Market Fit is fucking hard, and they ran out of time to figure it out.

So, as expected, my coaching revenue has taken a pretty massive hit. Pay attention to the phrase "as expected" because it's important. I *knew* this was coming. Intellectually, I was prepared for it. This. Is. Not. A. Surprise. Is what I'm trying to say.

And yet...

This weekend, that old voice crept back into my head. The one that says I suck. That I'm never going to be successful. That I'm not nearly as good of a coach as I thought. That I'm going to be poor.

It doesn't matter that I have already been wildly successful by many measures and that I *know* I'm a goddamned good coach (said with all the humility in the world, I swear). All that mattered was a bunch of my clients had to end their coaching engagements and I was back to feeling like shit about myself.

So I cut my hair. Swear to god, on Saturday it felt like the only thing I really had control of were my long, lovely locks. So I told the stylist to cut it all off. Start that shit over. Wartime hair for a wartime general.

But this isn't a pity party. As much as I love listening to The Cure and wearing all black, no one ever RSVPs and the last thing I need is to be alone. And I doubt that I am.

There's a decent chance that you've been affected by the same shit that I have. If you're a founder, you might be finding it difficult, or even impossible, to raise capital. You're probably sleeping worse than I am. If you're an employee, you may have been laid off or now you just constantly live with that fear. You've probably seen your net worth decrease, whether that's a dropping home value or a shrinking 401k.

Deep down inside, most of us believe we're the center of the universe. And that means that no matter how rationally we look at these things, emotionally we feel like this is simply justice served. It's either because we're not good enough, or it's karma, or whatever. It's the evidence that proves "I earned this because I really do just suck."?

First off, let me just say that you don't suck. I don't waste time with sucky people and if you're reading this, it's probably because I added you to this newsletter (new readers, I apologize for my presumption; there's an unsubscribe link at the bottom).

But just in case my thinking you're awesome isn't enough to fix your own existential crises, here are a couple of suggestions.

1. You aren't alone. We're all going through this shit together. If you ever need to talk, call me. Email me. Interpretive dance. Send a fucking carrier pigeon if you have to. Whatever it takes.
2. If not me, share your stress with someone else you consider a peer. When I'm sitting alone, listening to that bullshit voice, my rational voice has no power. I can't convince myself that I'm actually a good and talented person. But when I talk to someone else, my irrational voice sounds silly and that same rational voice?carries real?weight.?And, BONUS, in having that conversation with another person, it gives THEM an opportunity to share their own worries and?lighten their own load. Win-fucking-win.
3. Create forcing functions so that every week you do something that matters to you. Boxing and playing my bass guitar are both important to me, but I often let those passions?lapse for months or even years at a time.?I now pay my boxing coach to come to my house at 5:30a because there is literally no excuse for not doing the work. Like, where else do I have to be? And I?signed up for School of Rock because it's a commitment to not being the one jerk who shows up and can't play the songs every week.?Self-care creates?resilience to stress.
4. Remember that this is a long game. Now is a great time to invest in opportunities that will pay off years from now (thanks to both? Nicole Glaros and JASON AYACHI for reminding me of this). Tell your own story, build your own brand, grow a community of people who believe in you even when you don't believe in yourself. Everything goes in cycles and when this economic clusterfuck is over, you'll be glad for the seeds you're planting?now.

So, yeah, short hair again. And I don't suck, no matter how much I may sometimes feel that in the moment. Nor do you.

#founder #mentalhealth #entrepreneurship