Columbia study: 21 of 22 wealthy exited founders were depressed
Jason Cohen · From Burn-Out to $100M in ARR with Jason Cohen, Founder of WP Engine · Jan 8, 2019 · at 2:07
Jason Cohen, founder and CTO of WP Engine, is giving a presentation on founder burnout and mental health after successful company exits.
0:00 / 0:16exact quote · 16.3s
▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube → 720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“So there was a study, ah, ah, by Columbia Business School of 22 entrepreneurs who all exited their businesses and made ten million or more personally from it. So in other words, success. 21 out of the 22 were depressed after having that success.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Jason Cohen
Cohen: Servant leadership leads founders to do scut work and burn out
“This crappy word, servant leadership, it leads to stuff like this. This is the scut work that needs to be done, and I can do it, so I'll do it so the team doesn't need, doesn't have to do it. That sounds altruistic, and what it does is burn you out because you…”
Cohen: Terminated employees have required restraining orders and committed suicide
“What if they get violent, and you have to take out a restraining order? I've had to do that. What if they get depressed afterwards and kill themselves, and you have to explain it to everybody? That has happened to me.”
Cohen: Founders cannot master non-core skills in months to hire A-players
“The idea that you can become an expert in something important, something that's an entire career for someone else in a few months and then hire an A player. That's, of course, not true. So you're actually a C player at best.”
Cohen: Believing new hires cannot match founder impact means poor hiring
“Oh, you're so blessed and awesome as a founder that no one could possibly impact the business as much as you? Well, then you're not hiring impactful people, and that's your problem.”
Cohen: Founders must make emotionally difficult choices throughout to avoid burnout
“I think you have to make emotionally difficult choices, and I'll be very specific, all along the way to build a healthier company and to make you also maybe avoid this fate”
Cohen: Be General Patton on firing decisions, Mother Teresa on the exit
“Delaying only hurts everybody, everybody, you, the team, the person. Be decisive. Our CEO, Heather Bruner, has a terrific phrase about this, which is, General Patton on the decision, Mother Teresa on the exit. Be decisive, and then be kind.”