They tell you building a company is a rollercoaster. What they don’t tell you is that sometimes the rollercoaster goes off the rails, and you’re left picking up the pieces in the dark. I’ve been there. More than once.
I’m Sahin Boydas, and I’ve built and sold two companies, RemoteTeam to Gusto and MovieLaLa to Gfycat. I’ve also angel-invested in over 200 startups, including some you might have heard of like Anthropic and OpenAI. I’ve seen the highs, the billion-dollar valuations, and the champagne-popping exits. But I’ve also seen the lows. The crushing weight of responsibility, the gnawing loneliness, and the constant, gut-wrenching fear of failure. It’s a side of the founder journey we don’t talk about enough.
Let’s be real. The “hustle culture” is toxic. It glorifies burnout and treats mental health as an afterthought. I’m here to tell you that’s not just wrong, it’s a recipe for disaster. Your mental well-being isn’t a luxury; it’s the bedrock of your success. You can’t build a world-changing company if you’re running on empty.
The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Founder
I remember the early days of RemoteTeam. We were a small, scrappy team, scattered across the globe. I was working 18-hour days, fueled by caffeine and a relentless belief in our mission. But as the company grew, so did the pressure. I was responsible for my team’s livelihoods, for our investors’ money, and for the future of the company. It was a heavy burden to carry alone.
And it is a lonely journey. Your friends and family, as much as they love you, can’t fully understand the weight of what you’re carrying. Your team looks to you for answers, for strength, for unwavering confidence. You can’t show them your fear, your doubts, your moments of sheer panic. So you bottle it up. You put on a brave face. And you soldier on, alone.
This is the reality for so many founders. We’re surrounded by people, yet we feel utterly isolated. It’s a dangerous place to be. It’s where burnout takes root, where depression sets in, and where the dream of building something great can turn into a nightmare.
My Battle with Burnout
I hit my breaking point in 2019. RemoteTeam was growing fast, but I was falling apart. I was exhausted, irritable, and completely disengaged. I’d lost my passion for the work. I was just going through the motions, a ghost in my own company.
I had to make a change. I started by admitting to myself that I was in trouble. That was the hardest part. As founders, we’re supposed to be invincible. We’re supposed to have all the answers. But I didn’t. I was lost.
I started therapy. I started meditating. I started exercising regularly. I forced myself to take time off, to disconnect from work, to reconnect with myself. It wasn’t easy. It felt selfish. It felt like I was letting my team down. But I knew that if I didn’t take care of myself, I wouldn’t be able to take care of my company.
Slowly, things started to change. I started to feel like myself again. My energy returned. My passion for the work was reignited. I was a better leader, a better husband, and a better person.
Building a Culture of Mental Wellness
My experience with burnout taught me a valuable lesson: you have to build a company culture that prioritizes mental health from day one. It’s not about beanbags and ping pong tables. It’s about creating a safe space for people to be vulnerable, to ask for help, and to take care of themselves.
Here are a few things we did at RemoteTeam that made a real difference:
- Unlimited PTO: We didn’t just offer it, we actively encouraged people to take it. We tracked vacation days to make sure people were taking enough time off.
- Mental health days: We offered a certain number of “no questions asked” mental health days each year. Sometimes you just need a day to recharge, and you shouldn’t have to justify it.
- Flexible work hours: We trusted our team to get their work done on their own schedule. As long as the work was getting done, we didn’t care when or where they did it.
- Open communication: We created a culture where it was okay to not be okay. We talked openly about mental health, and we made it clear that it was a priority for the company.
These aren’t groundbreaking ideas. But they made a huge difference. They sent a clear message to our team that we cared about them as people, not just as employees. And that, in turn, made them more engaged, more productive, and more loyal.
The Road Ahead
I’m not going to lie to you. The founder journey is still hard. There are still days when I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders. But now I have the tools to deal with it. I know how to recognize the signs of burnout, and I know how to ask for help.
My hope is that by sharing my story, I can help other founders who are struggling in silence. You’re not alone. There’s no shame in admitting that you’re not okay. In fact, it’s a sign of strength.
So, let’s start a new conversation about founder mental health. Let’s build a new culture of entrepreneurship, one that values well-being as much as it values growth. The future of innovation depends on it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do all experts agree with this view?
No, and that's fine. The best ideas in business are often contrarian. I share my perspective based on my experience and data, but I encourage you to seek out opposing viewpoints and form your own conclusions.
What's the most common pushback you get on this?
People often push back by citing exceptions or edge cases. And they're usually right that exceptions exist. But building a strategy around exceptions rather than patterns is a losing game for most founders.
What experience informs this perspective?
This perspective comes from over a decade of building companies in Silicon Valley, two successful exits (RemoteTeam to Gusto, MovieLaLa to Gfycat), and investing in 200+ startups including Anthropic, OpenAI, and Scale AI. I write about what I've lived.