Читать книгу The Resilient Founder. Lessons in Endurance from Startup Entrepreneurs онлайн

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— Friedrich Nietzsche

In the world of business, emotions are unwelcome appendages, to be checked in at the entryways of the boardrooms. Spreadsheets matter. The soul does not. Assets and annual recurring revenues (ARR) matter; anguish does not. As our balance sheets become stronger, our spirit becomes weak. And all the cash in the bank cannot buy any contentment. As human beings we are equal parts intellect and emotion, strategy and sorrow, joy and pain, achievements and unfulfilled aspirations. When we ignore the mysterious side and only measure the logical and tangible, we fail to serve our deeper self, relegating our start-ups into soulless machines. Yet the future depends on the state of our consciousness here and now. As Eckhart Tolle reminds us, “If the means did not contribute to human happiness, neither will the end. The outcome is inseparable from the actions that led to it and is already contaminated by those actions.”

Entrepreneur, investor, and author Brad Feld, with his authenticity and boldness gave me the impetus and permission to explore this topic. Brad has been one of the first venture capitalists to open up about his mental health, thereby giving the rest of us permission to feel. The world has encouraged us to think, become deep-thinkers and show off our rational sides, even compete on the logical plane. Yet here was a man who could bring deep feelings and show us his human side. When Brad and I co-authored Start-up Boards, the seeds for this book were planted. Founders shared their boardroom challenges, and when we started to dig deeper into the founder's own well-being, it was apparent that depression was rampant, unstated yet obvious – the huge elephant in the room.