Dear SaaStr: How Do You Take Care of Yourself As a Founder?
Quiet quitting, feeling sorry for yourself, working 30 hours a week, etc. — that doesn’t really work for a founder. It may feel good in the short term, but it doesn’t work. It doesn’t get you to success.
But you do need to take care of yourself, at least as much as possible.
What works:
Go hire one great VP. A VP of Sales, Marketing, Product, Engineering, Customer Success. It almost doesn’t matter. But if you hire one truly great one, they will take some of the load off your shoulders. Their first week.
Take one real vacation a year, and a bigger one every few years. Take a 2+2 vacation if you are truly burnt. More on that here.
Find a “late” co-founder. You don’t need to always have a great co-founder on Day 0. You can also find them later.
Drop one thing. Not everything. But drop one thing that you know matters — but that won’t move the needle.
Ship a game-changing feature. This always makes everyone feel better. Like they’ve finally moved the ball down the field.
Hang out with some other founders at your stage or later. This may not immediately make you feel better. But it may kick you in the arse a bit. And get you out of a pity hole.
A related post here:
How to Take Care of Yourself as a Founder