Analysis

April 9, 2024

‘You feel like a hamster in a wheel: you run and run and there’s no success’ — The mental health toll of founding a startup

Founders share how the stress of running their startups has impacted their mental health


Sadia Nowshin

7 min read

Nele Wessels, founder of naeo

As Martina Viduka sat in the waiting room of the emergency department last year with extreme back pain, there was just one thing on her mind: getting the all-clear to fly to a business meeting in Canada for her healthtech startup, Advosense, two days later. 

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Swakara Atwell-Bennett, founder of BetterShared.Credit: Molly McHugh.
Swakara Atwell-Bennett, founder of BetterShared.
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Stephanie Melodia, who was founder of startup marketing agency Bloom.
Stephanie Melodia.
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Martina Viduka, founder of Advosense.
Martina Viduka, founder of Advosense.
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Sadia Nowshin

Sadia Nowshin was a reporter at Sifted covering foodtech, biotech and startup life. Follow her on X and LinkedIn

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