Burnout Archives - Next Coast Ventures

The holiday season is often about taking time away from work to spend with family and friends, but as entrepreneurs ourselves, we know that is no easy feat for a founder. The entrepreneurial journey is 24/7, and with all the ups and downs, it can be an isolating experience fraught with burnout. But with the right support system, being an entrepreneur and scaling a company can be an incredibly rewarding experience. So we decided to speak with our portfolio leadership to see where they get their support from, and what they’re grateful for this holiday season.

“I’m most thankful for the entire EverlyWell team this year — which has grown from 13 to 50 since last holiday season. As a solo founder, I’m so grateful for colleagues who will run alongside me and who care deeply about our mission. It’s been a great transition to watch this year!”

“I am extremely thankful to NCV for allowing 101 to incubate in their offices for many months. Not having to worry about an office or rent allowed us to focus and blast off quickly. Perhaps just as importantly, the daily casual collisions with the NCV team also helped us solve problems and form our own thoughts - super helpful value add. The second thing I am extremely thankful for: NCV allowing us to completely overstay our welcome - helped us solve even more problems and form more thoughts!! Thanks NCV!”

“I could not be more thankful and appreciative for the amazing people on the AlertMedia team. Everyone here, some of them taking great risk to join us when we were small/early, has been an absolute pleasure to work with, and each has contributed meaningfully to AlertMedia’s success. Finding the best people has been our focus from the very beginning, and it remains our focus. That approach has resulted in a surprising and spectacular level of productivity, efficiency, customer success, and employee happiness (#3 on ABJ’s Best Places to Work!!). I’m thankful every morning I come to our office, because the people at AlertMedia are making my job so enjoyable and rewarding!”

“Just last week, we had 8 new employees start on the same day. It was our biggest new hire group to date, and we had to get a little creative with seating arrangements. We started the year out with 30 employees and could fit into a corner of our office space. Now, our office is bursting at the seams. Moments like this, when we’re compelled to look up from the work and take stock of our growth, inspire a lot of gratitude. This team we have built is amazing and I’m thankful to be their leader.”

“I'm incredibly thankful for my new wife (as of September) and all her support during the highs and lows of leading a high-growth startup. Her patience, perspective, and unwavering backing let me tackle each challenge with confidence. Beyond her… I'm thankful for a very long list of people.. including Next Coast for supporting us last Winter and the incredible partnership consistently demonstrated by Mike and Tom.”

“I’m grateful for my collective team - and that means our investors, employees, advisors partners, and families. It’s very challenging to go through a pivot, especially when you have raised capital and your profile to run after something else. To keep your team intact, and then to execute against a different set of goals, takes a tremendous effort and I’m lucky enough to be surrounded by the best people I could be associated with.”

“This year we are most thankful that Gen Z has finally(!) become the emerging “hot” topic when it comes to consumer and employee trends. We’ve been talking about Gen Z – and leading original research – on the generation as consumers and employee trendsetters for several years. Our new book on Gen Z comes out next year. Seeing this new, fast-emerging generation finally starting to get the buzz and attention we believe they deserve is very exciting for us as researchers and strategists, and we’re thankful for the interest because we believe this new generation will change the world. The sooner and more accurately we can share our understanding of this new generation, the sooner leaders can better unlock the generation’s tremendous potential.”

“My team as a whole. They are fantastic and their hard work and dedication make it much easier for me to sleep at night than if I didn’t have them.”

The board meeting is over. The directors have gone back to their busy VC world. And you, as the entrepreneur, are heading to an email inbox that now, is even more overloaded than it was four hours ago.

As you scan through Slack, sift through Gmail or gaze at your 15 unanswered text messages, you might be left with some unsettling thoughts. Did I get what I wanted out of that board meeting? If so, why do I still feel bad

It’s a valid question for entrepreneurs to consider… Just how should I feel after a board meeting?

The above scenario happened to me so many times I lost count. As an entrepreneur, I’d walk out of most board meetings with no clue how the meeting went. If, as the CEO, I did my job in the board meeting, why then did I feel so overwhelmed, frustrated and in desperate need of a drink?

After years of experience as the co-founder and managing director of Next Coast Ventures and as the CEO of ServiceSource (SREV), I have finally realized this whirlpool of feelings is typical.

If you are an entrepreneur and you walk out of your board meeting feeling slightly unsatisfied, you are probably doing it right.

Even the most accomplished business leaders walk out of board meetings with doubts—part of the purpose of a successful board meeting is to challenge and question your ideas and to take you out of your comfort zone. Like a good workout with a personal trainer that pushes you to the limit, you should leave a board meeting feeling a mixture of exhaustion and frustration with a healthy dose of skepticism. When taken in stride, entrepreneurs can turn the following potentially toxic emotions into catalysts for next steps:

1. Mental Exhaustion

Board meetings are important and entrepreneurs need to remain fully present and focused in order to defend their recent decisions and fight for their future ideas while driving the agenda of the meeting forward—and ultimately, the business. A board meeting should be the culmination of weeks of preparation and practice in order to hone your narrative. This extreme channeling of intellectual energy can be draining, so take it as a good sign if you feel tired after you leave. This is a sign that you have put in the necessary time and effort—and you lead a constructive meeting.

2. More Than Slightly Frustrated

A good board meeting will challenge and frustrate you. At every turn, your opinions will be debated and questioned under a microscope and you may feel like you are placed in the spotlight to defend an unpopular idea. Keep focused and use the opportunity to truly consider other points of view. Remember that the board isn’t trying to give you a hard time for the fun of it or without reason, they simply are doing due diligence in ensuring that all factors are being considered. Rather than getting defensive or dismissive, which can be counterproductive, look at the situation with a positive perspective and take this time to solicit honest feedback from a group of individuals clearly vested in your success.

3. A Bout of Skepticism

Leading a board meeting is all about presenting your ideas with confidence. However, when push back comes or you are unprepared for a line of questioning, it is normal to feel skeptical about the topic at hand. In my experience, there comes an exact moment when you realize that a decision made, hire completed or strategic direction communicated might be completely wrong. That is okay. Just take a deep breath and commit to no immediate action in the moment until you have had time to examine what happened and how you can move beyond.

And Yet, It Shouldn’t Be Torture.

While every entrepreneur should expect to encounter hurdles during a board meeting, there are several signs to watch out for that may indicate larger problems are afoot. Any of the above emotions, have the ability to become toxic or demotivating. An effective board should ask hardball questions and be straightforward about their concerns—while never directly criticizing or belittling an entrepreneur, even about disappointing results or decisions they disagree with.

The boardroom should be strictly professional and drama-free; it shouldn’t be fun, but it also shouldn’t be torture. If, as an entrepreneur, you consistently feel disrespected and dismissed by your board, it may reveal an underlying chemistry problem. If your negative emotions go beyond the standards detailed above, the makeup of your board may need to be evaluated.

At the end of the day, a board meeting should help provide perspective on recent performances and practical advice concerning future challenges. CEOs should leave a meeting exhausted, frustrated and skeptical—but also enthused, accomplished and eager to get to work.

Ultimately, you are all on the same team, and the role of the board is to support you. Just like that of a personal trainer who challenges you to perform more when you think you have nothing left in the tank, keep in mind that your board really does have your—and your company’s—best interests at heart.

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Note this blog post was originally published via Real Leaders on May 22nd 2017.