Entrepreneurs & Mental Health

This last week, Brad Feld, a managing director at Foundry Group in Boulder, Colorado – shared a video (below) he’s made for an upcoming event about Entrepreneurship & Mental Health. Brad as an entrepreneur who went on to become a VC belongs to the small group of VCs (including Fred Wilson, Mark Suster) who are both prolific and compelling writers – demystifying the venture world, entrepreneurship and often taking a very pro-entrepreneur stand. I’d thought of Brad alway as different given his location in the Rockies (Colorado) rather than either of the coasts (Silicon Valley, Boston or New York) where most of the well-known VCs are based.

Brad’s open discussion of mental health issues, including his own depression, that he’s written about (here) and spoken about (here) makes him a very special person. In India, we’ve seen folks such as Indian actress Deepika Padukone recently talk about her battle with depression (video) and young entrepreneurs such as Richa Singh, who founded YourDost, and Shipra Dawar who started ePsyClinic try to help young people address mental health issues. Last October at the demo day of the Brandery, I saw Jordan Axani present his startup Bounde, which is “Tackling mental health through technology.”

In India, as many folks have commented two big challenges lie in the way of people getting the mental health support they need

• Social stigma – both ignorance and the stigma (or fear of being branded) mentally unstable
• Access to good counselors/psychologists and psychiatrists

In the US while neither of these issues is fortunately as big a hurdle, as Brad points out in his video – entrepreneurs in the US (and in India) suffer from the social pressure (real or perceived) of having to be strong leaders, without too much any self-doubt or exhibiting weakness. Also in both countries, certainly in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, there is little or no talk of mental health issues – which is a big shame. With folks such as Brad talking about it openly and with young entrepreneurs who’ve faced mental health issues themselves or seen in around them, we’ve taken the first step.

Entrepreneurship is hard enough without physical, emotional or mental health issues. But addressing these is critical for both individual entrepreneurs and the ecosystem. And talking about it is the first step. So break the silence and talk about it. Doing so gives others both permission and encouragement to do so. What are you waiting for?