[b20000]

I've been dealing with depression off and on for a good 10 years now. My company was almost completely destroyed by nepotism and corruption and bad investors, beyond my control. This was back in Europe. I've tried to get traditional help (talking) and although I thought it was working I realized later on I was convincing myself it was working, while it was not, and that the person helping me would never understand me as a founder or understand what it is to start a business and then see it being destroyed at the point it is about to become really successful. They would never understand the endless hours someone spends on writing every single line of code, spending all savings, and the endless anxiety that comes with all that. I've looked around for specialized help but it doesn't seem to exist. Most founders are too busy to really talk about it, and the one psychologist/therapist I did find who is familiar with the tech world was going to be too expensive for me to afford, and was not in my health care network. What we really need IMHO is a specialized non profit that deals with mental health issues of founders, perhaps run by a variety of ex-founders, both those who were succesful and those who were not.

[markdjacobsen]

I'm a two-time failed founder. The first was a humanitarian drone nonprofit, and the second was a software development team internal to government. The first failure absolutely wrecked me. Your comment resonated because nothing prepared me for the unique experiences and traumas of presiding over a startup failure. I truly felt like I was on my own, trying to navigate the prolonged journey through failure, healing, and renewal.

I ended up writing a book to help other failed founders, titled "Eating Glass: The Inner Journey Through Failure and Renewal." Book here [0] and 60-pg sample here [1]. I plan to share it via "Show HN" soon, but given your plea for resources, I'd love to send you a free digital copy. Just send me an email address at [e-mail]. My passion with this book is really just to help other failed founders on their journeys.

[0] https://www.amazon.com/Eating-Glass-Journey-Through-Failure/... [1] https://markdjacobsen.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Eating-...

[TurkishPoptart]

>Fail fast, fail often, fail forward. That is the mantra in Silicon Valley. We celebrate failure like Viking raiders toasting comrades fallen in glorious battle. We clank our frothy steins and hail their courage and honor. We weave epic tales of their battlefield prowess and the journeys of their immortal spirits to Valhalla. We yearn for a death half as good as our fallen heroes. Any real warrior knows a battlefield death is not glorious. It is stupid mistakes, ill chance, screaming misery, urine and shit, fear and indignity. Dismembered youth strewn along the beach sob for their mothers.

Good heavens, sir, you are an excellent writer!

[b20000]

thanks for sharing your journey, I bought a copy on kindle, look forward to reading it.

[robocat]

Do you think the years of effort founders put in is psychologically distinct from the years of devotion people put into other things that can result in crushing disappoint like marriages, jobs, children, religion or sports?

[b20000]

I have no idea about other people's struggles, just sharing my story here and why I feel there is not enough being done for founders specifically. The things you list are things that most psychologists or therapists have experience with, and that is my point.