As you mentioned, many of the suggested techniques can only take you so far. And it's a problem of the privileged enough to think about a startup.
I find that one thing that can help, and that I would use both as self-help or as an investor judging a possible founder, is the amount of what I would call
"lucid self-awareness".
Is the founder able to phrase to others clearly what he is good on and why, and why the journey is worth taking, in more details than just: We should try or is where is the opportunity. Also is the founder also to detail where are the challenges and how can we overcame these.
At the personal level or at the corporate level. Warning signs would be explanations at the corporate level of the type: We have a certain runaway and we will work really hard. That is a plan running on statistical luck.
A positive explanation would be: We think we will not run out of runway because we have 10 paying customers and at the rate we are acquiring customers, we cover
expenses in 6 months.
At the personal level a warning sign would a behavioral pattern of overtime, overconfidence, depression, anxiety or irritability. Believe on the existence of an opportunity, relying on other founders deliverable without being able to articulate what they will be able to achieve, or for example not being able to clearly articulate what is your plan for failure.
As stress is mostly a symptom of lack of control, the founder able to articulate what parameters he can control, and what not under their control and what can be done to manage that, would engage in more appropriate stress management.
At the personal founder level, one example would be being able to articulate that: We don't have enough funds right now, and my other co-founder was just arrested and one of my VCs is really working for one of my competitors.
So I know where in 3 to 6 months I can get additional funds, even the objective is not guaranteed. I analyzed my co-founder legal problems and are likely to only affect his personal life. I have a plan not to share any more internal data with this VC or I will feed just standard info.
It's maybe not about the stress level, but about the existence or not of a plan to manage that stress level.
Although there might be a lot to criticize about Amazon, I always found, that this interview from 1997, is a good example of the lucid self-awareness, we should look for in a founder, and what might help manage stress:
Of course Jeff Bezos worked at an investment fund, so I am sure in case this Amazon thing had gone nowhere he had already a well fought failure plan.
So in shorter words, you are crossing a shark infested ocean, in a small raft, so make sure you prepare well. From your satellite phone, to your life raft, to provision, to navigation aids. If you are sail out and can still see the cost but you are already under stress, it's normal, but maybe reexamine the preparation you did before the journey, get back to port while you can.
Try later.
I find that one thing that can help, and that I would use both as self-help or as an investor judging a possible founder, is the amount of what I would call "lucid self-awareness".
Is the founder able to phrase to others clearly what he is good on and why, and why the journey is worth taking, in more details than just: We should try or is where is the opportunity. Also is the founder also to detail where are the challenges and how can we overcame these.
At the personal level or at the corporate level. Warning signs would be explanations at the corporate level of the type: We have a certain runaway and we will work really hard. That is a plan running on statistical luck. A positive explanation would be: We think we will not run out of runway because we have 10 paying customers and at the rate we are acquiring customers, we cover expenses in 6 months.
At the personal level a warning sign would a behavioral pattern of overtime, overconfidence, depression, anxiety or irritability. Believe on the existence of an opportunity, relying on other founders deliverable without being able to articulate what they will be able to achieve, or for example not being able to clearly articulate what is your plan for failure.
As stress is mostly a symptom of lack of control, the founder able to articulate what parameters he can control, and what not under their control and what can be done to manage that, would engage in more appropriate stress management.
At the personal founder level, one example would be being able to articulate that: We don't have enough funds right now, and my other co-founder was just arrested and one of my VCs is really working for one of my competitors.
So I know where in 3 to 6 months I can get additional funds, even the objective is not guaranteed. I analyzed my co-founder legal problems and are likely to only affect his personal life. I have a plan not to share any more internal data with this VC or I will feed just standard info.
It's maybe not about the stress level, but about the existence or not of a plan to manage that stress level.
Although there might be a lot to criticize about Amazon, I always found, that this interview from 1997, is a good example of the lucid self-awareness, we should look for in a founder, and what might help manage stress:
"Jeff Bezos 1997 Interview": https://youtu.be/rWRbTnE1PEM
Of course Jeff Bezos worked at an investment fund, so I am sure in case this Amazon thing had gone nowhere he had already a well fought failure plan.
So in shorter words, you are crossing a shark infested ocean, in a small raft, so make sure you prepare well. From your satellite phone, to your life raft, to provision, to navigation aids. If you are sail out and can still see the cost but you are already under stress, it's normal, but maybe reexamine the preparation you did before the journey, get back to port while you can. Try later.