Many founders are not prepared for the journey. Now for the first time, there’s evidence of just how stressful it can be.
Chicago, IL (PRWEB) August 21, 2015
Startup Therapist Jeff Hyman interviewed legendary venture capitalist Brad Feld today. The new video is available at http://www.startuptherapist.com/brad
In this exclusive candid interview, Hyman & Feld discuss a wide range of emotional issues facing today’s entrepreneurs. These form the basis for S.A.D. Entrepreneur Syndrome, a term coined by Hyman for Stress, Anxiety, and Depression.
In July 2015 alone, a number of startup founders either committed suicide or were found dead under questionable circumstances.
“The growing number of suicides in the startup community is an indication not only of how stressful the journey is, but also of how ill-prepared many founders are. Ironically, new data shows that the startup world attracts founders who can have psychologically-challenging backgrounds to begin,” said Startup Therapist Jeff Hyman.
It is no surprise that starting a new company is immensely stressful, the stressors include:
- Difficulties raising investor funding
- Hiring A-Player employees on a limited budget in a tight job market
- Not meeting sales projections
- Customers not wanting the product or service
“We’ve actually identified 42 different stressors in startup life,” Hyman said, “and I haven’t found an entrepreneur yet who doesn’t face one or two dozen of them at a time.”
Many founders are not prepared for the journey. Now for the first time, there’s evidence of just how stressful it can be. “Are Entrepreneurs Touched With Fire?” is a new comprehensive study of 242 entrepreneurs conducted by Dr. Michael Freeman, Dr. Sheri Johnson, Paige Staudenmaier, and Mackenzie Zisser. In this groundbreaking study, the researchers find that:
- Self-reported mental health concerns were present across 72% of the entrepreneurs in the sample, a proportion that was significantly higher than that of the comparison group.
- Entrepreneurs reported significantly more symptoms than the comparison participants, as 49% reported having one or more lifetime mental health conditions, 18% reported having three or more lifetime mental health conditions, and 23% reported being asymptomatic members of highly symptomatic families.
- The entrepreneurs were significantly more likely to report a lifetime history of depression (30%), ADHD (29%), substance use conditions (12%) and bipolar diagnosis (11%) than were comparison participants.
Startup Therapist Jeff Hyman is available for media interviews, including via video. He is a seasoned media professional – clips available at http://www.startuptherapist.com/media
About Startup Therapist
Startup Therapist is Jeff Hyman, a 5-time successful entrepreneur. Based in Chicago, Hyman has started companies in online recruiting, talent management, and health & wellness. Currently, he serves as Chairman of venture-funded Retrofit, the leading online weight loss company. As Startup Therapist, Hyman works with dozens of entrepreneurs across the country. Through his exclusive “Office Hours” service, he meets 1:1 with each entrepreneur for one hour each week via Skype video to counsel them through the startup process. He shows Founders how to master the “people part” of startups which is the key to more customers, rockstar culture, and happy investors. Startup Therapist can be reached at http://www.startuptherapist.com or (855) 657-8278.
Contact:
Jeff Hyman
Startup Therapist
(855) 657-8278
hello(at)startuptherapist(dot)com