Startup Founder: You might not need balance, but you need boundaries.

Insights from Slush18, Part 1

For me, one of the most thought-provoking discussions this year at Slush was a panel where James Hewitt, Tomi Kaukinen and Nora Rosendahl were discussing the pressures of entrepreneurial life, experiences of burnout and how to deal with the notion of a work-life balance in the startup world. The panel combined the experiences of two entrepreneurs who have either gone through burnout (Tomi) or seen the signs of heading in that direction (Nora) with scientific knowledge provided by James, who is a performance scientist and researcher.

One of the key thoughts presented, which I totally agree with, is that the entire ecosystem needs to pay more attention to this, or burnout will disrupt the startup scene and it will not be pretty. With all the advances of modern science, we have yet to create a human being who does not need rest. But unicorn businesses can not be created on a 9-to-5 schedule, can they? Probably not. So here's the thing - being a startup founder will never be a balanced job and that's the double-edged sword we're dealing with. Touching upon this dilemma, the panelists also discussed that maybe we need to accept that we're working with extreme people and situations when working with startup entrepreneurs. They're doing things that haven't been done before, surrounded by a world that moves at the speed of light, and many of these entrepreneurs also get their energy from the passion and obsession they have for what they're doing. 

So if these people are fueled by rocket fuel and not diesel, you really don't want to take away all those highs in order to avoid the risks. Suggesting a traditional work-life balance (you know, the kind suitable for a 9-to-5 office job) will be met with eye-rolling, because balance in the world of a startup entrepreneur is a myth. 

What we need to find are tools and strategies to navigate this new type of work, through setting boundaries, finding recovery experiences (whether it's through detachment, relaxation or something else) and learning to switch off and let others switch off. Taking the time to master something so that it stops being a source of stress, or having autonomy in your work, so that you can actually control when and how you do things, are also powerful tools for recovery. We need to realize that switching off is a skill like any other and if you can periodically detach from work, it actually makes you more productive when you do work. As Eliot Buchanan, co-founder and CEO of Plastiq wrote, productivity is useless if it is not sustainable.

As the company grows, leaders need to realize that they reproduce themselves in the company culture - make sure you're letting everyone switch off when they need to. And the same goes for investors and other stakeholders. By the way, probably not everyone in a startup team is a high-powered entrepreneurial type - what if the others need a different rhythm than the most high-energy person of the bunch? In the endless competition for talent, who will want to work for your startup or even be in the ecosystem if all it does is grind you to pieces and does not let you stop yourself from burning out? 

Of course, founders also need to learn how to stop themselves, set their own boundaries and stick to them. In the panel at Slush, Tomi Kaukinen shared a story of how he ended up in the hospital after not stopping even though his body was screaming STOP in every possible way. He learned the hard way, but there are better ways. I firmly believe that these skills should be a part of every accelerator/incubator program, taken seriously by every investor and an integral part of entrepreneurial training. Saying that you've reached your boundaries is not a sign of weakness, it's a survival skill that everyone should learn, and I think it's the only way to make the startup founder lifestyle more sustainable.

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