[Spooky23]

I think it depends on the person.

Some people can leverage extreme stress / being busy to suppress whatever issues they have. (At least for awhile -- suppressing things usually results in an explosion later.) Other people's depression manifests as an inability to make effective decisions or motivate.

Either way, it's a ticking time bomb, unless that person has well-developed coping mechanisms and a support network. I wouldn't want to invest in or work for a founder without that.

I think the risk of battling severe depression while operating a fledgling company is that by its nature, you're kind of on your own. Anyone -- even someone NOT suffering from depression, needs to have super strong support networks.