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

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From the trio of image, expectations, and ego, founders can turn some knobs around. We can paint our own self-image as work in perpetual progress. We can forgive ourselves and others and accept that we are not fully formed Greek Gods. At least not yet.

Our expectations of our work can be tied to self-transcendence as opposed to being stuck on hedonistic treadmills.

Our self-confidence need not collapse into self-doubt, leading into a downward spiral of fear and anxiety.

Above all, I often wonder if our ego can save us from frustrations, exhaustion, and this gnawing sense of hopelessness.

If yes, how do we go to this “ego-gym” and build this strange muscle inside us, in a healthy way?

Especially when the world out there has declared the ego to be the enemy.

The siren call of suicide is not exclusively restricted to those who have suffered setbacks or failure. Successful founders have often struggled with a sense of loss after the victory lap has been completed. An investor I knew really well committed suicide. He was a great friend, someone I would call as often as three times a week. We talked often, bantered, had fun, and had co-invested in dozens of companies. We spent time together on the cap-table as well as the dinner table. When in town, he would often stay with me. He was a part of mia familia yet I was clueless about his mental anguish. To this day, I wonder why he committed suicide, when he had made his millions.