Balderton Capital has launched a Founder Wellbeing and Performance Platform, based on research among 230 founders as well as 20 years of experience investing in European entrepreneurs.
The research interrogated the inevitable pressures startup founders are under, and how best to optimise performance in a high pressure environment. It found that although pressure is unavoidable, putting in ever more hours isn’t always the way to unlock improved performance.
One of the founders who completed the survey said: “I was in the burnout zone most of last year. Mixture of challenging markets and endless investor meetings with bad sleep, bad diet and low exercise.
“Putting more and more hours in as the solution… It was lose-lose-lose for everyone. It impacted strategic decision-making, team dynamics, morale and performance.”
Another wrote: “I find that when I’m under a lot of pressure, I am terrible at longer-term thinking. Setting strategy and direction requires deep thinking, research and creativity.
“This is vastly reduced under high pressure – your mind is not free to explore when it’s crowded.”
Instead, a holistic approach – optimising factors such as sleep, nutrition, as well as personal and psychological support in place – is needed to boost performance. Furthermore, the research showed a clear role for VCs to offer greater support and resources.
“Starting and growing a business is hard, even more so when the economic landscape is uncertain and challenging,” said Suranga Chandratillake, general partner at Balderton Capital and a former co-founder and CEO of Nasdaq-listed blinkx. “However, the historic approach of simply working harder and putting in more hours no longer makes sense.
“Rather than resulting in more success, Balderton’s research shows that, past a point, this can negatively impact decision making, creativity, and even result in burnout, which is cited as one of the top reasons that startups fail.
“By changing the dynamic and resetting expectations in the startup ecosystem, we can increase the chances of success, both for the founders and investors.”
Balderton believes that the startup ecosystem can learn from the way professional athletes train and strive for peak performance. They consider a number of factors, including physical health, nutrition, sleep and mental health. They also have a strong network and team of coaches supporting them.
This is the structure on which the Founder Wellbeing and Performance platform, available to all portfolio company founders, is based.
It includes a health and fitness program – led by a team of clinicians, this six-month program takes a personalised approach to improving physiology, nutrition, fitness, sleep and mindset in order to optimise for performance.
It also has a CEO forum – peer-to-peer support, bringing together small groups of CEOs in an intimate setting to discuss the personal and professional challenges they face as leaders.
Also key is executive coaching – an on-staff executive coach is available to support founders and CEOs as they navigate discreet high pressure moments, in addition to Balderton’s directory of pre-vetted expert coaches who can provide ongoing support.
And its dedicated program of events, webinars, content and resources is designed to empower and educate founders to help them perform at their best.
“Founders, like elite athletes, are expected to manage stress and anxiety under pressure, sustain motivation, optimise concentration and communication skills, and contribute to a culture of accountability, while mitigating the risk of burnout, exhaustion and failure,” said Dr Simon Marshall, a former Professor of performance psychology and resilience at the University of California San Diego.
“Professional athletes do this by training their brain and central nervous systems to manage stress more effectively, by embracing uncertainty and discomfort, and prioritising self-care, especially when work-life balance feels impossible.”