I was 10 months into a brutal financing and I was in utter despair.
I found myself crying on the floor of my apartment almost daily.
My financing pitches seemed lifeless. I wondered if I even cared about my mission.
In hindsight, it’s clear to me that I was burning out.But it wasn’t obvious to me then because I didn’t understand burnout.
It wasn’t about the number of hours I put in or the workload.
It was about another category of burnout we don’t often think about: CONTROL.
I felt like I had little control over the resources I needed to achieve my dreams.
So what did I do? I dug DEEP. I gritted my teeth and kept going. I found inspiration in my team, who I adored and wanted to continue working with on the day to day.
I used a chip on my shoulder. I felt misunderstood by venture capitalists who thought I wasn’t out for blood. And I wanted to prove them wrong. So I fought.
I leaned on my co-founder and founder friends. During the darkest times when I had zero hope, I called them so they could remind my burned out brain why I was still in the fight.
Ultimately, I would go on to raise $40M for my company. But I hacked away at it in the hardest way imaginable.
That’s why I became an executive coach after I sold my company.
I’m on a mission to help founders/execs heal their burnout so they can scale their companies and find joy.
If you resonate with this story and want to re-gain control, please reach out for a consult in the link above.
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