Post YC Depression

Two years ago I went through YC. During and leading up to it, my cofounder and I worked 100+ hour weeks, talked to no one, and burnt-out. My story 👇

https://www.bmaho.com/articles/post-yc-depression

I wrote this article for myself and for other founders like me. Too often, we hear stories that make us feel like shit—written by people that want us to think they're crushing it.

If you're going through something similar or have a story to share, I'd love to hear it.

Brendan Mahony

posted to

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on March 3, 2020

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When we worked 100 hour weeks, our business was not booming.

I had a similar year or two during/after YC where all I did was code, sun up to sun down. Or I tried to, anyway. I spent a lot of time staring at my computer screen blankly, distracted, exhausted, just messing around online or watching videos or playing games, thinking, "I should be working." And my business failed anyway. Should've spent that time with friends.

It's much, much better to time box work, which forces you to do less and therefore focus. I still struggle with this today, though. Work can be addictive, and it's easy to want to bite off more than you can chew in a reasonable number of hours.

csallen

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4 years ago
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  Hey Courtland!
  
  Thanks so much for reading and for sharing your story. I can relate to feeling distracted, exhausted, and not actually getting any work done.
  
  Also - I loved the article you shared and couldn't agree more. As a founder (and I assume so many other professions) everything you read, listen too, watch, etc. all tell you: you're not doing enough, you're not good enough, do more and more and more. When in reality, you're completely right. The less you do and the more you focus, the better chance you will have to create quality in your niche and succeed.
  
  Obviously, something that is far easier said than done. I'm still struggling with that and assume I always will. But I think the stories you share really help founders like me do that.
  
  Thanks so much again for all that you do in the founder community. Truly appreciate it.
  
  bmaho
  
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  4 years ago
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Thank you for sharing that.
This topic is of particular interest for me as I went through a similar phase.

vladwulf

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4 years ago
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  Thanks so much for reading - really appreciate it. Sorry to hear that you went through a similar phase. I hope you're doing better now!
  
  bmaho
  
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  4 years ago
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I agree that the "work, work, work" culture being promoted by the startup mythology is not healthy. Financial and emotional sustainability should be a goal from day 1.

inamesh

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4 years ago
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  Financial and emotional sustainability should be a goal from day 1.
  
  Such an underrated piece of advice.
  
  Taking insane risks or sacrifices financially or emotionally is almost always not necessary for startup success.
  
  It's more important to stay alive and healthy -- both mentally and physically -- to fight for another day.
  
  simplisticallysimple
  
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  4 years ago
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  Preach - couldn't agree more!
  
  bmaho
  
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  4 years ago
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” Twilight/Cry-Gate” 😂 this is amazing, thank you for sharing! I relate with a lot of what you wrote here. I went through a pretty rough burn out 2 years ago. Still coming out of the “daze” to be honest and constantly have to remind myself that overwork is often times not the right approach to success.

AlexDaro

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4 years ago
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  Thanks so much for reading and glad it seemed to resonate.
  
  So sorry that you went through a rough burn out. It really does take a long to come out of it (I'm still coming out of it as well!). I really appreciate you sharing your story though - helps to hear when others have gone through similar things and are there to support.
  
  bmaho
  
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  4 years ago
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This is a great post, and the antidote to people feeling bad that they're not living up to the ridiculous fake expectations of some entrepeneur gurus out there.
BTW I was interested in reading your other post on the blog on 3D design, but the links for it take me to the YC post. That's what happens with this URL:
https://www.bmaho.com/articles/3d-design-is-in-become-a-pro-in-10-minutes

wavehopper

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4 years ago
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  Thanks so much for reading and glad it seemed to resonate.
  
  AH and thanks so much for pointing that out - just pushed a fix. THANK YOU!!!
  
  bmaho
  
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  4 years ago
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This was a really good read. Thanks for talking about something that gets ignored a lot. Followed you on twitter.

BurntToast

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4 years ago
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  Thanks so much - really appreciate it! Definitely agree it's something that often gets ignored, trying to change that a tiny bit :)
  
  bmaho
  
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  4 years ago
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This comment was deleted 4 years ago.

DeletedUser

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4 years ago