A really interesting survey by Sifted appeared this week* about start-up founders. It’s not specific to tech of fintech, although that’s the bulk of Sifted’s audience, but the results are fascinating. The reason? The fallout of funding.
I called out a fintech bloodbath over a year ago (October 2022) and, a year later, here it is, with 45% of founders saying that they thought their mental health was ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’ at the moment. 85% said they’d experienced high stress in the past year, while 75% said they’d had anxiety in the same period. 61% said they’d considered leaving their company, while 49% said they were considering doing so in the coming year.
What’s the problem?
Mainly their financial runway, work-life balance and burnout.
The three factors are intertwined however, as a startup needs to get funding on a regular basis and, if you can’t get it, you have to cut, layoff staff, stop running towards the vision and stress over everything.
55% of founders told us they’d suffered from insomnia in the past year, while 53% said they’d experienced burnout. 39% said they’d experienced depression, while almost all founders (85%) said they’d had high stress.
“I cannot sustain this rhythm anymore,” one founder told us. “Solving problems seems the only purpose in my life and while doing it my mental and physical health is deteriorating.”
“My personal life suffering and cost of living/startup wages are not enough to support my family,” said another, while a third told us “the fundraising environment has nearly broken both me and the business.”
“I have been at extremely high levels of stress pretty much non-stop and I am tired and exhausted most of the time,” said a fourth, whilst another said it just wasn’t “fun anymore” and they wanted a “simpler, easier life”.
I know the feeling but hey guys, it will all come back. Things are not that bad. It will get better.
You can read the whole survey insight here.
* The survey was of 156 founders of which two-thirds are male, with the remaining third identifying as female. Just under a third are solo founders.
Chris M Skinner
Chris Skinner is best known as an independent commentator on the financial markets through his blog, TheFinanser.com, as author of the bestselling book Digital Bank, and Chair of the European networking forum the Financial Services Club. He has been voted one of the most influential people in banking by The Financial Brand (as well as one of the best blogs), a FinTech Titan (Next Bank), one of the Fintech Leaders you need to follow (City AM, Deluxe and Jax Finance), as well as one of the Top 40 most influential people in financial technology by the Wall Street Journal's Financial News. To learn more click here...
